"I knew very little about chess the game, and even less about Chess: The Musical, but the real draw was Lea Michele. Who wouldn't want to see the allegedly illiterate diva with indisputable pipes serenade you in the flesh? I knew Chess was scored by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus of ABBA, a group that knows how to write a certified banger."
"If you, for some reason, did not think Chess would be literally about chess, the set makes it clear. All the scenes take place in front of a series of repeating columns filled with chess pieces: knights, rooks, pawns, you get the picture. In case it is still unclear, there is also a big neon sign above the orchestra reading, you guessed it: CHESS."
A theatergoer accepted an extra ticket to see Chess: The Musical starring Lea Michele. The score was written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus of ABBA and contains songs such as "I Know Him So Well" and "Heaven Help My Heart." The production foregrounds chess with a set of repeating columns filled with pieces and a neon sign reading CHESS. The opening number, "The Story of Chess," narrates the game's vague origins and spread across Europe. The plot jumps to 1979 and introduces American champion Freddie Trumper and Soviet rival Anatoly Sergievsky, establishing a personal and geopolitical rivalry.
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