A thousand variations to be played
Last weekend, I saw the BLOC production of Chess at the Theatre Royal. Chess is one of my all time favourite musicals, and this was the first time I had seen it on stage, even as community theatre.
They based it on the London version instead of the Broadway version, which pleased me greatly - although I didn't know which way they were going to go until the end, which made the climax genuinely suspenseful.
Both Anatoly and Freddie were well cast - very believable as the flawed and conflicted chess champions - and they delivered great performances, with one exception. 'One Night in Bangkok' is meant to be a showstopper, but unfortunately Freddie didn't give it quite the energy and attitude needed to pull it off. But then I guess it's hard to top Murray Head. Freddie's performance was admirable in other respects though; his 'Pity the Child' was almost better than the original.
Unfortunately, Walter was somewhat strident and the Arbiter a bit weak, but they were the only flawed performers among the seven main cast. Molokov was exactly as I imagined him to be, the tall, bearded, impeccable, sinister mentor. Svetlana conveyed the perfect mix of anger, wisdom, and hard patriotism. Both were great in their roles.
And Florence?
Oh man. It was worth the price of admission to see her alone.
Or rather, to hear her. I don't how to describe her voice, but it had all the range and power needed for the role, and some extra quality of emotion that was thrilling to listen to, each solo a highlight to be anticipated. On the CDs I own, Florence is secondary to the two chess players, but here she stole the show. Why she did not get top billing I do not know - she certainly garnered the most applause at the end.
What I found interesting was that the producers of this adaptation moved the song 'Nobody's Side' to the end. This is Florence's song, and making it the finale made the musical Florence's story - her standing alone at the end, after the whole tangled drama of loyalty and betrayal and choices, realising that you have to trust yourself and make it on your own. And that is fascinating, because Chess is a musical that is infamous for being revised and reinterpreted, to varying degrees of success, and this makes me wonder how many other versions of the story are possible.
Each game of chess
Means there's one less
Variation left to be played
An interesting footnote: it was through fandom that I first encountered Chess. The AmberMUSH Operetta Libretto based two of its songs off 'Quartet' and 'Heaven Help My Heart', and Mary Van Deusen vidded Blake's 7 to 'Where I Want To Be' and 'One Night in Bangkok'. Both intrigued me enough to seek out the original source. Yet another reason I love fandom.
They based it on the London version instead of the Broadway version, which pleased me greatly - although I didn't know which way they were going to go until the end, which made the climax genuinely suspenseful.
Both Anatoly and Freddie were well cast - very believable as the flawed and conflicted chess champions - and they delivered great performances, with one exception. 'One Night in Bangkok' is meant to be a showstopper, but unfortunately Freddie didn't give it quite the energy and attitude needed to pull it off. But then I guess it's hard to top Murray Head. Freddie's performance was admirable in other respects though; his 'Pity the Child' was almost better than the original.
Unfortunately, Walter was somewhat strident and the Arbiter a bit weak, but they were the only flawed performers among the seven main cast. Molokov was exactly as I imagined him to be, the tall, bearded, impeccable, sinister mentor. Svetlana conveyed the perfect mix of anger, wisdom, and hard patriotism. Both were great in their roles.
And Florence?
Oh man. It was worth the price of admission to see her alone.
Or rather, to hear her. I don't how to describe her voice, but it had all the range and power needed for the role, and some extra quality of emotion that was thrilling to listen to, each solo a highlight to be anticipated. On the CDs I own, Florence is secondary to the two chess players, but here she stole the show. Why she did not get top billing I do not know - she certainly garnered the most applause at the end.
What I found interesting was that the producers of this adaptation moved the song 'Nobody's Side' to the end. This is Florence's song, and making it the finale made the musical Florence's story - her standing alone at the end, after the whole tangled drama of loyalty and betrayal and choices, realising that you have to trust yourself and make it on your own. And that is fascinating, because Chess is a musical that is infamous for being revised and reinterpreted, to varying degrees of success, and this makes me wonder how many other versions of the story are possible.
Each game of chess
Means there's one less
Variation left to be played
An interesting footnote: it was through fandom that I first encountered Chess. The AmberMUSH Operetta Libretto based two of its songs off 'Quartet' and 'Heaven Help My Heart', and Mary Van Deusen vidded Blake's 7 to 'Where I Want To Be' and 'One Night in Bangkok'. Both intrigued me enough to seek out the original source. Yet another reason I love fandom.