Chess Revival
2 Hours 40 Minutes, Including one 15 Min Intermission
Buy Tickets From $72
Chess Broadway Tickets, News, Info & More
Imperial Theatre (Broadway)
249 West 45th St. New York, NY
This fall, see powerhouse trio Tony Award® winner Aaron Tveit (Moulin Rouge!), acclaimed stage and screen star Lea Michele (Funny Girl, Glee), and breakout talent Nicholas Christopher (Sweeney Todd, Hamilton) in CHESS, a seductive showdown of love, loyalty, and power on a global stage. As two of the greatest chess players in the world compete for something beyond victory, the woman between them is caught in a high-stakes battle of desire and devotion.
Featuring a legendary score by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus of ABBA and EGOT winner Tim Rice (Evita, Jesus Christ Superstar), an exhilarating new book by Danny Strong (Dopesick, The Butler), and direction by Tony winner Michael Mayer (Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Funny Girl), CHESS is Broadway’s boldest move yet and the must-see event of the season.
Chess - Broadway Cast
FEATURED REVIEWS FOR Chess
Review: ‘Chess’ on Broadway is ridiculously fun ’80s entertainment
8 / 10
This is the Broadway show of the fall that some will claim to dislike and yet most everyone will enjoy, even if that has to be in secret. Happily, that’s a match for one of the main themes of a 1980s musical that always saw geopolitics, even the dangers of nuclear proliferation, as games played by those who enjoyed the strategizing.
Chess - Board stiff.
5 / 10
All of the above might make for an entertaining evening if Chess were just a concert, which unfortunately it is not, despite Mayer’s concert-style staging: the orchestra is onstage, with minimal sets (by David Rockwell and video designer Peter Nigrini) but maximal lighting and sound (by Kevin Adams and John Shivers, respectively). The problems with Danny Strong’s new book present themselves instantly in the obnoxious form of the Arbiter (Bryce Pinkham), whose smarmy metatheatrical narration, when it isn’t restating the obvious, often seems to be making fun of the rest of the show. Though never welcome, and usually shouty, his narrator is at his absolute worst when he strains for humor.
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Chess FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Chess History
Other Productions of Chess
| 1984 | London Fringe |
London Concert London Fringe |
| 1986 | West End |
Original London Production West End |
| 1988 | Broadway |
Broadway Production Broadway |
| 1992 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway Revival Off-Broadway |
| 1992 | Milburn, NJ (Regional) |
Paper Mill Production Milburn, NJ (Regional) |
| 1997 | Australia |
Australian Revival Australia |
| 1998 | New York |
New York Concert New York |
| 2001 |
Nyack Concert |
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| 2003 | Broadway |
Actors' Fund Concert Broadway |
| 2018 | Washington, DC (Regional) |
Kennedy Center Broadway Center Stage Revival Washington, DC (Regional) |
| 2018 | West End |
London Coliseum Revival Production West End |
| 2025 | Broadway |
Broadway |
Chess Broadway Awards and Nominations
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Lead Performance in a Musical | Nicholas Christopher |
| 2026 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Musical | Chess |
| 2026 | Drama League Awards | OUTSTANDING REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL | Chess |
| 2026 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Lead Performer in a Broadway Musical | Nicholas Christopher |
| 2026 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Musical | Chess |
| 2026 | Tony Awards | Best Lighting Design of a Musical | Kevin Adams |
| 2026 | Tony Awards | Best Orchestrations | Brian Usifer |
| 2026 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical | Bryce Pinkham |
| 2026 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical | Nicholas Christopher |
| 2026 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical | Hannah Cruz |
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