Tag: Chess

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Lea Michele & Broadway Cast/Orchestra of CHESS Perform ‘Nobody’s Side’

Lea Michele and the cast and orchestra of the Broadway revival of CHESS

Emmy Award-nominee Lea Michele, along with the Broadway cast and orchestra of Chess, threw down this terrific performance of “Nobody’s Side” from the hit revival last week on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

Michele sounds great, although her acting in the song feels a bit muddled for my taste. I love that the show’s ensemble and full orchestra were featured. And mad props to Colbert’s lighting team. Continue reading “Lea Michele & Broadway Cast/Orchestra of CHESS Perform ‘Nobody’s Side’”

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TBT: ‘Anthem’ From Chess The Musical

For a musical throwback Thursday I was recently reminded of this symphonic concert version of the musical Chess (penned by ABBA geniuses Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus and Lloyd Webber collaborator Tim Rice). The show used the game of chess as a metaphor for Russia/US cold war politics and “game play.” I saw the show in London before it made the trip across the Atlantic to Broadway. I loved the show in the West End, but the version that reached New York City wasn’t the same. The original director/choreographer, Michael Bennett, had cast and commissioned the set designs for London but then stepped away due to poor health. Trevor Nunn took over in London, but was left with Bennett’s casting choices and some concepts in place. The show ran three years in the West End. When Nunn brought the show to New York, it underwent radical rewrites and was not well-received. The production ran about three months before closing. But fans love the score. This song, “Anthem,” is sung by the original star Tommy Körberg who played the Russian for the concept album and in London. The moment comes at the end of Act One as the Russian chess player Anatoly has decided to defect from Russia. The melody, lyrics and Körberg’s spectacular voice come together perfectly. The entire concert can be viewed below as well.

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Highlights: Ramin Karimloo & Samantha Barks in CHESS

Ramin Karimloo and Samantha Barks in CHESS
Ramin Karimloo and Samantha Barks star in CHESS in Osaka. #perfection
Samantha Barks sings ‘Nobody’s Side’ in CHESS
I loved working with Samantha in CHICAGO in LA at the Hollywood Bowl. What a knockout talent! And the most down-to-earth person you’d ever want to meet. And Ramin is, well, Ramin. It’s a proven impossibility for me to listen to him sing anything just once. The cast also features Luke Walsh and Takanori Sato.
Ramin Karimloo sings ‘Anthem’ in CHESS
I have a slight obsession with this musical. I saw the original production in London starring Elaine Paige and Tommy Körberg, both of whom delivered gorgeous performances. That production ran three years. The Broadway production fared less well as Trevor Nunn attempted to ‘fix’ the show. And he fixed it into a flop. But the gorgeous score remained including a new song for the leadling lady Florence in the form of “Someone Else’s Story.” Tony Award nominee John Herrera starred in the first U.S. national touring company along with Carolee Carmello and Stephen Bogardus (I can’t believe I know them all) which attempted to re-fix the show again. Part of the problem with the show was it was written during the Cold War with Russia. As the world moved past that political impasse, it’s now hard to make that aspect of the story play. If you head over to Wikipedia, there’s an extensive breakdown of the history of the show and the many attempts to bring it to the level of success so many of us want to see. In any case, the score (by ABBA’s Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus) remains a glorious thing. Lucky Osaka… For now, we have this:

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Thursday Theatre Throwback: Julia Murney & Sutton Foster “I Know Him So Well” From CHESS

Pretty close to perfect here.

The late 80s musical CHESS, about the game itself and geo-political gamesmanship, had an excellent Actors Fund concert redux back in 2003 starring Julia Murney, Josh Groban, Tony Award winner Sutton Foster, Norm Lewis and Adam Pascal.

This duet of “I Know Him So Well” with Murney and Foster requires hitting “repeat” several times, it’s so good.

Love the score, and I’m a big fan of the ladies here.

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Broadway: Original video press footage from “Chess”

I actually got to see this short lived production.

Great voices and great score. The staging failed a bit, but the show had some thrilling moments.

Snippets of some of the major numbers from the musical:
Someone Else’s Story – Judy Kuhn
One Night In Bangkok – Philip Casnoff
Terrace Duet – Judy Kuhn & David Carroll
Anthem – David Carroll
Pity the Child – Philip Casnoff