Lea Michele Is Returning to the Theatre She Made Her Broadway Debut in For CHESS
30 years after playing Young Cosette in Les Misérables, Michele returns in Chess to play Florence Vassy.
By: Michael Major Jun. 25, 2025
For her next Broadway show, Lea Michele is going back to where it all began. For her sixth Broadway show, the Glee alum will be returning to the Imperial Theatre where she made her Broadway debut in Les Misérables. 30 years after playing Young Cosette, she returns in Chess, where she will play Florence Vassy.
Michele took to Instagram to commemorate yesterday's announcement that the long-awaited revival has found its home. She shared a photo of herself as Young Cosette, with a Playbill from the original production of Chess hung up behind her.
"This moment isn’t just about doing another show. It’s a homecoming. A celebration of the long, winding, extraordinary journey that’s brought me back to where it all began," she wrote in the caption.
Chess will begin performances Wednesday, October 15, 2025, and officially open Sunday, November 16, 2025. Joining Michele in the production will be Tony Award winner Aaron Tveit (Moulin Rouge) and Nicholas Christopher (Sweeney Todd).
Featuring a new book by Emmy Award winner Danny Strong (“Dopesick”), with music and lyrics by Emmy and Tony Award nominees ABBA’s Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus and Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award winner Tim Rice (Evita), and based on an idea by Tim Rice, this new production will be directed by Tony Award winner Michael Mayer (Spring Awakening) and choreographed by Drama Desk Award nominee Lorin Latarro (Waitress), with music supervision by Brian Usifer. Chess will be presented by arrangement with Three Knights, the Shubert Organization and Robert Fox Ltd.
Chess is the iconic musical where power and passion collide, and the stakes couldn’t be higher. It’s America versus Russia at the World Chess Championship, where the espionage and romance are as complicated and exhilarating as the game itself. For the two players and the woman torn between them, everything—personal, professional, and political—is at risk… and nobody’s rules are the same.
Photo Credit: Bruce Glikas
