Joanna ‘JoJo’ Levesque Will Return to Broadway in Chess

Levesque will succeed Lea Michele in the role of Florence Vassy.

March 25, 2026 By Meg Masseron

Multi-platinum pop and R&B artist Joanna “JoJo” Levesque will return to Broadway in Chess—currently running at the Imperial Theatre—beginning June 23. Levesque will succeed Lea Michele in the role of Florence Vassy, with Michele’s final bow set for June 21 as previously announced. Levesque is set to continue in the role through September 13, which also means the production has extended its run yet again.

Tickets for the newly revealed performances are now on sale.

Levesque last appeared on Broadway in 2023 in Moulin Rouge! The Musical, making her Broadway debut starring as Satine. At 13, Levesque burst onto the scene with her self-title debut album, whose breakout smash “Leave (Get Out)” made her the youngest-ever solo artist to have a debut number-one single in the U.S. Levesque's album eventually sold over four million copies. In 2016, she returned with Mad Love, which debuted in the top 10 on the Billboard Top 200. In 2020 her song "Say So" with PJ Morton won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Song. On film, she has appeared in Aquamarine and RV, among others.

Levesque will star alongside Aaron Tveit and Nicholas Christopher, both continuing in their own starring roles since opening the revival last year, with Christopher as Anatoly Sergievsky and Tony winner Tveit as Freddie Trumper. The cast also includes Hannah Cruz (Suffs) as Svetlana, Bradley Dean (The Phantom of the Opera) as Molokov, Sean Allan Krill (Jagged Little Pill) as Walter, and Bryce Pinkham (Holiday Inn) as The Arbiter.

The company also includes Kyla Louise Bartholomeusz, Daniel Beeman, Shavey Brown, Emma Degerstedt, Casey Garvin, Adam Halpin, Sarah Michele Lindsey, Michael Milkanin, Aleksandr Ivan Pevec, Aliah James, Sydney Jones, Sean MacLaughlin, Sarah Meahl, Ramone Nelson, Fredric Rodriguez Odgaard, Michael Olaribigbe, Katerina Papacostas, Samantha Pollino, Adam Roberts, Regine Sophia, and Katie Webber. Casting is by Jim Carnahan and Jason Thinger.

READ: Lea Michele Says the Chess Score Is a 'New Anthem' for Her

With music from ABBA’s Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, and lyrics by Tim Rice, this revival is refreshed with a new book by Emmy winner Danny Strong (Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 & 2). Choreography is by Lorin Latarro (Waitress) and Brian Usifer serves as music supervisor.

The creative team also includes scenic designer David Rockwell, costume designer Tom Broecker, lighting designer Kevin Adams, sound designer John Shivers, video designer Peter Nigrini, associate director Johanna McKeon, and associate choreographer Travis Waldschmidt.

Based on an idea by Rice (and originally featuring a book by Richard Nelson), Chess tells the story of American and Russian chess champions playing a match against each other—and competing for the same woman—at the height of the Cold War.

READ: Danny Strong Has Spent a Decade Rewriting the Book for Chess. Now It's Finally Coming to Broadway

The musical began as a concept album released in 1984, after Tim Rice had mulled over the idea of a musical about the Cuban Missile Crisis for nearly a decade with his frequent collaborator Andrew Lloyd Webber, never quite beginning the project. In the early 1980s, he approached Andersson and Ulvaeus, who had been itching to find creative projects outside of their hit pop music group ABBA. The concept album dominated the charts worldwide, reaching number three on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and earned global critical acclaim. Elaine Paige and Barbara Dickson's duet "I Know Him So Well" even ranked number one on the U.K.'s singles charts for a month, and "One Night in Bangkok" was an international hit.

WATCH: Learn About Chess' Complicated Journey Back to Broadway in New Streaming Documentary

Chess is being produced by Tom Hulce, Robert Ahrens, and The Shubert Organization, along with Creative Partners Productions. The production is being presented by arrangement with Three Knights and Robert Fox Ltd.

Visit ChessBroadway.com