Auckland Music Theatre to Present CHESS, May 2012

Auckland Music Theatre will present CHESS from 12th-26th of May, by arrangement of The Play Bureau (NZ) Limited. 

Chess, set in 1984, is a Rock Opera/Musical with music by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus, of the mega 70s Swedish and world wide phenomenon pop group ABBA. Lyrics are by Tim Rice, an Academy Award, Golden Globe and Tony Award winning lyricist. Rice is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita. For Disney, Rice has collaborated on Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King.

The story involves a romantic triangle between two top Chess players, an American (Freddie Trumper) and a Russian (Anatoly Sergievsky), in a world chess championship, and a woman who manages one and falls in love with the other (Florence Vassy); all in the context of a Cold War struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union, during which both countries wanted to win international chess tournaments for propaganda purposes. Although the protagonists are not intended to represent any specific individuals, the character of the American is loosely based on chess grandmaster Bobby Fischer, while elements of the story may have been inspired by the chess careers of Russian grandmasters Victor Korchnoi and Anatoly Karpov.

Chess was released in 1984. The first theatrical production of Chess opened in London's West End in 1986 and played for three years. A much-altered U.S. version premièred on Broadway in 1988, but survived only for two months. Chess is well known for the two major chart topping Pop Hits that came from the 1984 concept album, “One Night in Bangkok” – Murray Head and “I Know Him So Well” – Elaine Paige and Barbara Dickson.

The Creative team is led by Richard Neame, Director; Chris Moore, Musical Director; and Teesh Szabo, Choreographer. For more information, visit AMT.

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