I always wind up in something of a funk after I see a show I really like. I'm not sure why; maybe it's that because it’s a play, I can't have that experience again (much as I inevitably want to see the show multiple more times). If I don't stop myself, I wind up listening to the songs over and over...which really doesn't help. I ran into a problem with Arcadia--because it's a straight play, I had no cast recording. I did have the script, but reading the scene multiple times doesn't really help. And I wonder if I'm more affected by shows I don't know incredibly well; on the one hand, I remember this vividly from the first time I saw Miss Saigon (surprisingly, no, I wasn't familiar with it beforehand; at that point, I didn't even know Les Mis, if you can imagine); on the other, familiarity didn't stop my obsession with Jesus Christ Superstar (which was aided by the fact that it was videotaped, so I could watch over and over and over and over).I saw Chess at the Signature the other night and it was phenomenal. I was vaguely familiar with the story, and I knew a few of the songs quite well ("I Know Him So Well" is one of my absolute favorites; I have multiple versions of "Pity the Child" and "Anthem", and of course everyone knows "One Night in Bangkok") and had watched the preview video and listened to the concept album to have an idea of what to expect. Plus, it was a show at the Signature. I knew it would be great.
And wow, it didn't let me down. Chess is the story of a chess match between an American, Freddie (Jeremy Kushnier), and a Soviet, Anatoly (Euan Morton). Each has a second; for Anatoly, it's Molokov (Christopher Bloch), a KGB agent; for Freddie, it's Florence (Jill Paice), a Hungarian who grew up in the U.S. after the 1956 uprising. Freddie is clearly based on Bobby Fischer; he's lou
d, brash, doesn't care about the rules. Anatoly is quiet, controlled. And Florence is being pushed to the limit by Freddie's antics. So when she meets the level-headed Anatoly, there's an instant attraction.The music is by the B's of ABBA and the lyrics are Tim Rice (whose bio in the program alone is worth the price of admission), so there's a definite rock edge to it. Kushnier winds up with the majority of the rock songs, and does them fabulously. Paice has to balance ballads and rock numbers—sometimes in the same song ("Nobody’s Side" has elements of both, and she absolutely kills on it; she practically got a standing ovation at the end of the number). Morton gets mostly quieter numbers and does them wonderfully; honestly, the cast as a whole were great. A friend commented that he found Chris Sizemore as the Arbiter a bit too "musical theater" but I didn't have that problem at all.
And the acting. Oh, the acting. Kushnier is just absolutely riveting. Freddie is a character who's hard to like; throughout the show, he's amusing, but doesn't do anything likeable. At all. To anyone. And yet, I wanted him to be on stage the entire time. Kushnier was great when strutting around stage for photographers, but probably my favorite moment of his was near the end of the play, while waiting for Anatoly to arrive for the final chess game. He's just sitting in a chair, staring at a chess board...but it was fabulous.
Anatoly, more than the other characters, goes through a real journey, particularly in the second act. Florence is the character screwed over at the end, but Act 2 is a methodical crushing of Anatoly. Morton goes from happy at the top of the act to being completely broken at the end--and the transformation is clearly visible. The whole range of emotions he has to portray come across perfectly. If Kushnier's moment was waiting for Anatoly at the final game, Morton's moment is at the end of the reprise of "You and I" when he grabs Florence and kisses her. There's a desperation there that was undoubtedly part of the reason that half the women in the ladies’ room at the end of the show were in tears.Florence is really the heart of this version of Chess. I had expected the two men to be the leads--which they are, of course, but Florence is the glue and gets the last curtain call. As well she should. Jill Paice's vocals just absolutely blew me away (for serious, watch the preview video and listen through to the end).
Which is not to say that the show is perfect. I'm still not sure of some of the characters' motivations (including a fairly large plot point), and though I enjoyed the choreography for the most part, there were moments when it felt a bit off. I'm still not sure how I feel about the sort of goth look for the ensemble, though the show did come off otherwise as wonderfully 80s.
Obviously, this was a fabulous production. I've heard rumors that higher-ups in the theater world watched how it fared--a Broadway revival in the works? One can only hope. And, if so, please bring this cast.
Photos by Scott Suchman
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2 comments:
One of the great things about "Chess", despite the flaws of both the NY & London books (the Sig production was mostly based on NY, with some additional changes), is that even though the characters play a very black & white game, their morality is definitely gray - EVERYONE'S motives are suspect. Even the Arbiter, whose song was imported for the Sig version from the London score*, acknowledges that he's beholden to both the game AND the tournament sponsors.
The NY book...well, it's generally regarded as being weak. (OK, that's an understatement. It's generally regarded as being crap.) A number of fairly significant changes were made to to the story, in part to adjust for 'American tastes' (the London version was more of an operetta & Florence wasn't American), in part to make it shorter (although my acting teacher at the time reported sitting through a 3 1/2 hour preview), and in part to bring in younger principals.
The conversion into a traditional book musical probably created more issues than it solved. Moving the action from the late 70s to 1988 was supposed to make the story more contemporary, but by default also makes Florence 10 years older, as she's supposed to be very young (7-8ish) when she escaped Hungary in 1956...and yet Elaine Paige, who was born in 1948 and would have matched up almost perfectly with NY-Florence on age, was considered too old to play the role in NY, making way for Judy Kuhn, who was born 2 years after the fall of Budapest and, therefore, was about 8-10 years too young to play NY-Florence, but would have matched well with London-Florence.
Updating also watered down some of the juicier Cold War-era storytelling; Walter's role, for instance, is expanded in the NY version, but it's also made less ambiguous compared to the London plot, thanks to a weaker cover story - NY-Walter is Freddie's 'manager' - not to be confused with a chess second - rather than a presenter for Global Television. Being Freddie's manager may give him closer access to the Molokovs of the world, but the TV presenter cover allows far greater freedom of movement and far less scrutiny; the TV presenter cover would have also been more appropriate for 1988, with the rise of CNN and ESPN only years earlier. This also puts him directly in the middle of the Florence/Freddy relationship, whereas in the London version he and Molokov serve more as puppeteers than direct actors.
There's also the little matter of the ending, but I could write a whole blog post just on that.
(Oh, and one more thing: The woman who sang Svetlana on the London concept recording? Barbara Dickson.)
Regarding the ensemble's costumes: my thought at intermission was "Wow. Someone travelled in time to 1988 and raided every Chess King in a 50mi radius of the theater to dress this show." I didn't mind it so much, although a more neutral costume would have worked just as well (and would have been easier to accessorize for the various roles played by the ensemble members).
*According to the Samuel French acting edition of the NY book, a version of the Arbiter's Song was originally written to open Act 2 and serve as a bridge between the Bangkok and Budapest settings; in the cut scene, which takes place approx. 8 weeks after the end of Act 1, the Arbiter is at JFK waiting for a Pan Am (!) flight to Budapest, answering questions about the match, Freddie's antics and Anatoly's defection to the west - the first verse was rewritten to fit this context.
I like how your commnt is about as long as my post. ;)
It was interesting watching the show as someone who vaguely knew its history and the music. The audience around me, who didn't seem to know either, absolutely LOVED the show.
As I stated, I didn't have huge problems with the book; assuming the London version was similar to the concept recording (which I don't know for sure, and don't feel like heading to Wikipedia to check), it seems equally odd. I like that Anatoly and Freddie only play each other; the addition of a third player seems unnecessary. Plus, it seems like the story works with Freddie (SPOILER!) winning in the end.
My main problem is Walter's motivation in the second act and his dealings with Anatoly. I just don't understand why he does what he does. Other versions are more explicit, it seems, which would've been nice. I did like the ending; well, I liked that they didn't totally kill Florence, which seems to be typical in other productions.
Also, I can pretend that in 5 years, when the Soviet Union falls, she and Anatoly can get together!
(I suggested this to Eleasha Gamble, who played Svetlana. She told me that once she gets Anatoly, he stays had. She was charming and funny and a joy to talk to.)
And yes, I do know that it's Barbara Dickson on the album. I also have her as Peron's Mistress in a version of Evita, so I also regard that song as mine. Despite my inability to sing. She was also the mother in Blood Brothers, which is another show I love.
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