BrightSide Theatre Presents CHESS In Concert

Artistic Director Jeffrey Cass and Executive Director Julie Ann Kornak will continue BrightSide Theatre's  SEASON 12 – The Season of Passion – with the masterful musical Chess in Concert. 

Chess in Concert will run February 9 – February 18, 2024 at Madden Theatre, North Central College (171 Chicago Ave, Naperville 60540)

Tickets are on sale now at www.brightsidetheatre.com, or by phone at 630-447-TIXS (8497).  $37 for adults/$32 for seniors and students. For Group Ticket pricing for 10+, please call 630-447-8497. 

Affordable Subscription Tickets for BrightSide Theater's 2023-24 SEASON, providing opportunities for Season  Subscribers, Groups and Individuals to enjoy our SEASON OF PASSION as only BrightSide Theatre can  produce. Individual tickets and Subscriptions are on sale NOW. For more information on purchasing tickets, visit us at  www.BrightSideTheatre.com or call the Box Office at 630-447-TIXS (8497)

Composed by the men of supergroup ABBA and the smash hit Mamma Mia! featuring ‘80s hits One Night in Bangkok, I  Know Him So Well, and Anthem, Chess In Concert is a modern classic that explodes into life. It's the 1980s and the Cold  War is at its darkest. Two chess masters meet in Bangkok to battle for the world championship, but their greatest  contest is for the love of one woman. In this story of love and political intrigue that takes us from Bangkok to Budapest  where the players, lovers, politicians, and spies all struggle to get the upper hand. 

A talented ensemble of actors makes up the cast of Chess in Concert: 

Florence Vassy Julie Ann Kornak (Naperville) 

Anatoly Sergievesky Justin Miller (Utica, KY) 

Freddie Trumper Michael Metcalf (Elgin) 

Molokov/Alexander/Male Ensemble Edward MacLennan (Bolingbrook) 

Walter Anderson/Male Ensemble Jim Heatherly (Bloomingdale) 

Svetlana Sergievsky/Female Ensemble Meg McGarry (Plano) 

The Arbiter/Male Ensemble Zach Gibson (Warrenville) 

Gregor Vassy Stan Austin (Winfield) 

Male Ensemble Henry Alloway (Chicago) 

Female Ensemble Amy Bamberger (Naperville) 

Male Ensemble Andrew Buel (Montgomery) 

Female Ensemble Kristina Drendel (Hampshire) 

Female Ensemble Marianne Embree (Arlington Heights) 

Male Ensemble Nicholas J. Greanias (Lemont) 

Female Ensemble Meghan Kessel (Chicago) 

Female Ensemble Christine Ronna (Wilmington) 

Male Ensemble John Salomone (Shorewood) 

Female Ensemble Amy Steele (Naperville) 

ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM 

Artistic Director – Jeffrey Cass 

Music Director – Aaron Zimmerman 

Stage Manager/Assistant Director – De Haddad 

Sound Mixer – Tim Elliott 

Jeffrey Cass (Artistic Director/Director) is a Joseph Jefferson Award Nominee has successfully directed over 25  Productions for BrightSide Theatre, most recently A Little Night Music and She Loves Me, City of Angels and Gypsy from  last season and played Edna in BST's production of Hairspray. He holds a B.F.A. in Musical Theater Performance from  Roosevelt University. He previously served as the Producing Director for Circle Theatre where he directed 8 Productions  including The Who's Tommy (6 Joseph Jefferson Nominations including Best Musical and Best Director).  

AARON ZIMMERMAN (Music Director/Vocal Director/Keys 1) (He/Him) is a music director, pianist, and composer.  Favorite past music direction credits include Titanic, (WDI), Sweeney Todd (WDI, NRP), Ragtime (Metropolis PAC),  Company (Point2Productions).

Benny Andersson (Music) Born 16 December 1946 in Stockholm. 1952: Received accordion lessons from his father  and grandfather. 1964-68: Member of the Hep Stars, Sweden's most popular rock band in the 1960's. During this time,  he began composing music. "Sunny Girl" and "Wedding" were huge hits for the Hep Stars. 1972-82: ABBA. 1982- 84: Composed the music (together with Björn Ulvaeus and Tim Rice) for the musical, Chess. 1987: Began collaborating  with Orsa Spelmän. Recorded three albums deeply rooted in Swedish folk music: Klinga Mina Klockor, November 1989  and Fiolen Min. In 2001, this collaboration led to the formation of Benny Andersson's Orchestra, a 16-man constellation  with vocalists, Helen Sjöholm and Tommy Körberg. Thus far, this has resulted in five CD albums and several summer  tours. 1990-95: Composed the music to Kristina from Duvemåla. Premiered in October 1995. 1995: Received the title of  professor from the Swedish government. Inducted to in the Royal Swedish Academy of Music in 2007. Appointed  Honorary Doctor of the College of Humanities at Stockholm University in 2008, and at Luleå University of Technology in  2012. Married to former TV producer, Mona Nörklit. They have one child, Ludvig Andersson. Benny Andersson also has  two children from a previous marriage, Peter Grönvall and Helene Odedal. He has five grandchildren: Charlie, Felix,  Fabian, Malin and Viola. 

BJÖRN ULVAEUS (Music/Lyrics) was born in 1945 in Gothenberg on the west coast of Sweden. After a successful local  career in Sweden with a folk group in the mid 1960s, he started his collaboration with Benny Andersson. They then went  on to form ABBA with Agnetha Faltskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. Even during the ABBA years, the idea of writing a  musical seemed appealing and, in 1981, Björn and Benny met Tim Rice and co-wrote Chess with him, which opened in  the West End in 1986. In 1995 Björn and Benny opened a new musical called Kristina Från Duvemåla, which played for  three years in Sweden. Their most recent musical is the Stockholm production Hjälp sökes, which opened in 2013. Bjorn  is one of the producers for MAMMA MIA! The Party, which opened in Stockholm in January 2016. 

Tim Rice (Lyrics/Book) born November 10, 1944, Amersham, Buckinghamshire, England is a lyricist and author. He is  best known for his collaborations with Disney on Aladdin, the Lion King, the both stage adaptation of Beauty and the  Beast and the live-action film adaption, and the original Broadway musical Aida; with Björn Ulvaeus and Benny  Andersson of ABBA, with whom he wrote Chess; and with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote, among other  shows, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Evita. He also wrote lyrics for the  Alan Menken musical King David, and for DreamWorks Animation's The Road to El Dorado. 

Rice was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for services to music in 1994. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, is a  1999 inductee into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and is the 2023 recipient of its Johnny Mercer Award,[1] is a Disney  Legend recipient, and is a fellow of the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers, and Authors. In addition to his  awards in the UK, he is one of eighteen artists to have won an Emmy, Oscar, Grammy and Tony in the US.  

BrightSide Theatre (Jeffrey Cass, Artistic Director and Julie Ann Kornak, Executive Director) BrightSide Theatre  is committed to Enlighten, Educate, and Entertain through comedies and inspirational stories from across the globe. A  unique blend of award-winners, premieres, modern works and timeless classics meant to reflect upon and inform our  community inhabit BrightSide's stage. BrightSide Theatre is partially supported and funded by a generous SECA Grant,  the DuPage Foundation, Illinois Arts Council Agency, and the Saints. For more information on BrightSide Theatre, please  visit www.brightsidetheatre.com.