After years of hype and multiple workshops, the first major Broadway revival of the cult musical Chess officially opened November 16 at the Imperial Theatre. The new production stars Aaron Tveit as volatile American chess champion Freddie Trumper, Nicholas Christopher as his Soviet rival Anatoly Sergievsky, and Lea Michele as strategist Florence Vassy.
The revival marks a high-stakes return for a show that has long had a devoted fanbase thanks to its soaring ABBA-composed score and Tim Rice lyrics. Chess has always been famous for classic songs including One Night in Bangkok and I Know Him So Well, but also equally infamous for a complicated storyline that critics have called nearly impossible to stage.
