'Chess' To Return To Broadway.
'Chess' To Return To Broadway.
MamasDoin'Fine
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/28/08
#2re: 'Chess' To Return To Broadway.
Posted: 9/3/09 at 11:08pmAs long as it's not the version that played Broadway last time, I'm fine with it.
"There is no problem so big that it cannot be run away from."
~ Charles M. Schulz
#2re: 'Chess' To Return To Broadway.
Posted: 9/3/09 at 11:33pmPlease DON'T let Menzel anywhere near it!
Those Blocked: SueStorm. N2N Nate. Good riddence to stupid! Rad-Z, shill begone!
#3re: 'Chess' To Return To Broadway.
Posted: 9/3/09 at 11:38pmAlso, please, let's bring back some rock elements in the score. I'm not saying go all Euro-pop opera with it, but let's put some heavy guitar in there and some real rather than programmed percussion, eh?
"There is no problem so big that it cannot be run away from."
~ Charles M. Schulz
ashbash1990
Broadway Star Joined: 10/15/06
#4re: 'Chess' To Return To Broadway.
Posted: 9/3/09 at 11:42pmI'm super-excited@
What a night! I was in more laps than a napkin!
#5re: 'Chess' To Return To Broadway.
Posted: 9/4/09 at 12:20amIt will never work. They have a fantastic score but no one ever clearly thought out the story. The recent concert version on TV really drove that home.
Cast albums are NOT "soundtracks."
Live theatre does not use a "soundtrack." If it did, it wouldn't be live theatre!
I host a weekly one-hour radio program featuring cast album selections as well as songs by cabaret, jazz and theatre artists. The program, FRONT ROW CENTRE is heard Sundays 9 to 10 am and also Saturdays from 8 to 9 am (eastern times) on www.proudfm.com
#6re: 'Chess' To Return To Broadway.
Posted: 9/4/09 at 12:28am
I LOVE this score. I LOVE this show.
But it is a mess.
Michael Bennett is the only one who could have made it work. And he almost did.
Here's to a BIG, EXTRAVAGENT staging and the original London orchestrations.
P
loveapiano2
Swing Joined: 7/25/09
#7re: 'Chess' To Return To Broadway.
Posted: 9/4/09 at 12:36am
i want to see autumn hurlbert in this show. she would sing the shiznit out of it!!!
(i am a big fan of hers and chess... so, there's my two cents... 
philly03
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/20/07
#8re: 'Chess' To Return To Broadway.
Posted: 9/4/09 at 1:27amI think Linda Eder should be whichever random complicated character sings "Anthem"!
#9re: 'Chess' To Return To Broadway.
Posted: 9/4/09 at 1:33amAnthem is sung by a man. I adore this score but the book is troubled. Why don't they let Doyle direct it.
philly03
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/20/07
#10re: 'Chess' To Return To Broadway.
Posted: 9/4/09 at 1:43am
Oh I know Bobby, but Linda's is my favourite. She should just do Man of La Mancha in the title role instead!
I don't think anything can really save the whole concept of the show - even when it makes sense it's just boring, and when it's too complicated it keeps you wondering why is that happening there or why is this so dramatic, it's chess?
nickysfriend
Swing Joined: 8/14/09
#11re: 'Chess' To Return To Broadway.
Posted: 9/4/09 at 1:46amSNAFU, can i ask, out of pure curiousity, why you wouldn't want to see Idina in this?
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#12re: 'Chess' To Return To Broadway.
Posted: 9/4/09 at 2:06am
I would LOVE to see this back on Broadway. It's one of my favorite musicals.
I'm a fan of Idina's, but based on the concert I don't think she's right for Florence. I really liked Julia Murney in the role.
#13re: 'Chess' To Return To Broadway.
Posted: 9/4/09 at 2:16amDid you see the recent televised concert of it? Egads that is my case right there!
Those Blocked: SueStorm. N2N Nate. Good riddence to stupid! Rad-Z, shill begone!
#14re: 'Chess' To Return To Broadway.
Posted: 9/4/09 at 3:08am
"I'm a fan of Idina's, but based on the concert I don't think she's right for Florence"
I like Idina, I'm not a huge fan of hers, but I thought she was brilliant! Actually she is my 2nd favorite Florence after Judy Kuhn.
"People have their opinions and that doesn't mean that their opinions are wrong or right. I just take it with a grain of salt because opinions are like as*holes, everyone has one".
-Felicia Finley-
Craww
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/13/06
#15re: 'Chess' To Return To Broadway.
Posted: 9/4/09 at 3:33am
I like Idina and I thought she was terrible. I didn't enjoy her vocally, but the worst part was somehow her diction and rhythm being poor and ruining the flow of the songs. And her acting choices were too girlish. She has a good look for the role, I like the "she's a handsome woman" type for Florence, but her mannerisms definitely don't match her appearance.
NEWAYZ. I love Chess and really hope this happens.
broadwayjim42
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/19/03
#16re: 'Chess' To Return To Broadway.
Posted: 9/4/09 at 6:59am
I'm with the anti-Idina crowd. The whole concert was kind of dead weight, but she was by far the worst offender...her voice did not fit the material. Kerry Ellis blew her away vocally.
This has always been a great score in search of a decent book and I'm not sure they will ever find one. Casting would be crucial to me seeing it since the concert was such a disappointment.
After Eight
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/5/09
#17re: 'Chess' To Return To Broadway.
Posted: 9/4/09 at 7:24amWhy are they bringing this back? It's simply a lousy show with some good songs. It failed the first time, justifiably, and it's even more dated now. Its prospects don't look good to me.
#18re: 'Chess' To Return To Broadway.
Posted: 9/4/09 at 8:51am
What exactly about the score do you all enjoy? Forgive me, as I have only seen the recent Royal Albert Hall concert footage, but I do not understand the praise. I found the score to be not at all subtle and very (dare I say) pretentiously, gradiose.
...I am open to being enlightened.
Ed_Mottershead
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/20/05
#19re: 'Chess' To Return To Broadway.
Posted: 9/4/09 at 8:54amIMO, Cheyenne Jackson as Anatoly and Will Swenson as Freddy?
BroadwayEd
#20re: 'Chess' To Return To Broadway.
Posted: 9/4/09 at 10:25am
Why bother? Just buy the recording and love that, because the show is a complete mess.
(So Freddy is a jerk throughout the entire show, and then sings a sad song about how Daddy [and Mommy!] didn't love him, and we're supposed to care? Why do Svetlana and Florence sing "I Know Him So Well," and then completely contradict that song during "Endgame"? How are we supposed to pity Anatoly for making his entire life about chess ["It's the only thing I can stay true to..."]? Why does Florence sing almost nothing but ballads? Why does Anatoly's wife have ONLY THREE SCENES?! Why is the show so incredibly self-important!? Why?! Why?! Why?!)
"Y'know, I think Bertolt Brecht was rolling in his grave."
-Nellie McKay on the 2006 Broadway production of The Threepenny Opera, in which she played Polly Peachum
Updated On: 9/4/09 at 10:25 AM
-Nellie McKay on the 2006 Broadway production of The Threepenny Opera, in which she played Polly Peachum
Jonwo
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/16/06
#21re: 'Chess' To Return To Broadway.
Posted: 9/4/09 at 11:13amThe score of Chess is fantastic but the book is a mess and no amount of revising and rewriting is ever going to make it work. I think Benny and Bjorn should concentrate on getting Kristina to Broadway which IMO is more likely to succeed than Chess.
#22re: 'Chess' To Return To Broadway.
Posted: 9/4/09 at 11:23am
I still think Idina's a good fit with the right director. Concerts with virtually no rehearsal period are not really a good barometer for judging an actor's potential in a role. Case in point is Patti LuPone in the concert of Sweeney (atrocious) and the revival of Sweeney (raves).
If Chess does return to Broadway, in whatever incarnation, I just hope I get the chance to see it. I just hope they don't wimp out on the production and try to go for some sort of minimalist, orchestra-on-stage concert staging.
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#23re: 'Chess' To Return To Broadway.
Posted: 9/4/09 at 11:41amChess is like a leaden pudding flecked with the occasional raisin of a decent song. You eat and eat and plow your way through it, waiting for one of those juicy raisin, and when one comes, you realize....I don't even like raisins.
broadwayjim42
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/19/03
#24re: 'Chess' To Return To Broadway.
Posted: 9/4/09 at 12:02pm
The problem is Idina's voice...while it may work for "Wicked," here it sounded reedy and strident. It just was not a good fit.
Seeing "Kristina" in less than three weeks and fingers are crossed. I think it's beautiful and epic, but if one of the previous posters thought the score of "Chess" was grandiose...
