The cast and creative team of Broadway's upcoming revival of Chess are hard at work in the rehearsal room to bring the cult-favorite musical back for its first-ever Main Stem revival. Step into the rehearsal room with stars Aaron Tveit, Lea Michele, Nicholas Christopher, and more in the gallery below.
Previews begin at the Imperial Theatre October 15 ahead of a November 16 opening night, with the run currently scheduled to continue through March 15, 2026.
Christopher is leading the musical's Broadway return as Anatoly Sergievsky, with Tony winner Tveit as Freddie Trumper, Michele as Florence Vassey, 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 will also include 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, Regine Sophia, and Katie Webber. Casting is by Jim Carnahan and Jason Thinger.
Aaron Tveit, Lea Michele, and Nicholas Christopher
Company of Chess
Sean Allan Krill, Bradley Dean, Hannah Cruz, Nicholas Christopher, Lea Michele, Aaron Tveit, and Bryce Pinkham
Lea Michele and Hannah Cruz
Sean Allan Krill, Bradely Dean, and Bryce Pinkham
Danny Strong and Michael Mayer
Lorin Latarro and Brian Usifer
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 will be refreshed with a new book by Emmy winner Danny Strong (Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 & 2), and a creative team featuring director Michael Mayer (Spring Awakening) and choreographer Lorin Latarro (Waitress). Brian Usifer will serve 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.
Michele previously hinted to Playbill what audiences can expect from the production's new book, saying Strong has “brought the heart across. He’s really straightened our characters’ storyline and aligned the music with the story really well.”
Added Tveit: "We hope that amidst the great music and humor and love story, there’s going to be a little bit of thought that takes place from the audience that sees the show."
Chess 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
The album's popularity seemed to promise a successful theatrical adaption, but the original West End production opened in 1986 to mixed reviews. Elaine Paige, Tommy Körberg, and Murray Head, who all performed on the concept album, brought their roles to life onstage as part of the original London cast, with Siobhán McCarthy taking Barbara Dickson's place. Prolific director Michael Bennett was originally signed on to helm, but pulled out due to his declining health, and Cats director Trevor Nunn took over. Bennett's vision initially was to create a "multimedia" experience for audiences, with the theatre filled to the brim with television monitors, and the stage transformed into a tilted chess floor. The stage show's book expanded the original plot explored in the concept album, with the runtime peaking at three hours and 15 minutes long. London critics were admittedly dazzled by the score and scenic vision for the show, but nearly all expressed the book as being problematic to what would otherwise be a creative revelation.
The subsequent Broadway production—which starred David Carroll, Judy Kuhn, Philip Casnoff, and Marcia Mitzman—opened to an even more negative critical reception, with reviewers nevertheless praising the score and the individual performances. Closing after just 17 previews and 68 performances, it seemed Chess' chance for success had passed. But via the concept album and later cast recordings from various stage productions, Chess found a devoted audience in the years since its premiere. In addition to several tours and West End revivals, a 2008 London concert staging featuring Josh Groban, Idina Menzel, Adam Pascal, and Kerry Ellis was recorded and released both as an album and a concert film.
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.
