Review | In Chess,'the music attacks but the book retreats | amNewYork

"For those unfamiliar with it, Chess is one of musical theater's great paradoxes: a phenomenal pop-opera score attached to a famously unwieldy book about a Cold Warera chess showdown between two world championshot-headed American prodigy Freddie Trumper (Aaron Tveit) and dignified Soviet grandmaster Anatoly Sergievsky (Nicholas Christopher)and Florence Vassy (Lea Michele), Freddie's brilliant and long-suffering second who becomes personally drawn to Anatoly."

"The show attempts to fuse a love triangle with EastWest propaganda, surveillance, and psychological maneuvering, but these elements have never fully cohered. Conceived in the early 1980s by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus of ABBA with lyrics by Tim Rice, Chess began as a hit concept album, spawned international singles, opened in London in 1986, and flopped on Broadway in 1988 after extensive rewriting. Ever since, fans have clung to the score, while directors have triedand consistently failedto fix the show's storytelling."

"The new Broadway revival once again attempts the impossible, under the direction of Michael Mayer and book writer Danny Strong. On paper, their involvement suggested a clear-eyed rethink: Mayer excels with emotional pop-rock material (Spring Awakening, American Idiot), while Strong has a reputation for structuring complex political narratives (Dopesick, Empire). In reality, the production feels caught between apologizing for the musical and re-enacting itall while relying on its three stars to deliver the songs that keep the evening afloat."

Lea Michele stars as Florence Vassy, Aaron Tveit as hot-headed American prodigy Freddie Trumper, and Nicholas Christopher as Soviet grandmaster Anatoly Sergievsky. The musical combines a phenomenal pop-opera score with a notoriously unwieldy book built around a Cold War–era chess showdown, mixing a love triangle with East–West propaganda, surveillance, and psychological maneuvering that rarely cohere. Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus conceived the piece with Tim Rice lyrics; it began as a concept album, opened in London in 1986, and flopped on Broadway in 1988 after extensive rewriting. The new production by Michael Mayer and Danny Strong leans on the stars’ singing while struggling to resolve storytelling flaws.

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