I admit it, I have a soft spot for the oeuvre of Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, whether we’re talking ABBA, their solo albums or their musicals. Of the latter I even love “Chess,” which is a textbook musical maudit. I’ve only seen it live once, and it wasn’t even a real production but a staged concert for an Actors’ Fund benefit in 2003 — with a nifty cast, mind you: Josh Groban (who should do a real musical on Broadway, seriously), Raul Esparza, Julia Murney, Adam Pascal, Norm Lewis and Sutton Foster.
Anyway, the common wisdom about “Chess” is that it’s unstageable despite a terrific score (which gave us “One Night in Bangkok” and “I Know Him So Well,” among others). But this article made my mouth water: So maybe it can be done after all, just with guys in chaps and girls in garter belts. Frankly that’s not the first thing that comes to mind for a show set during a Cold War chess tournament but hey, sometimes it’s the counterintuitive moves that work.
Watching this video, you can tell director Craig Revel Horwood borrowed from several seemingly mismatched sources: TV’s dance competitions (Horwood was a judge on the UK’s “Strictly Come Dancing”), Kander and Ebb’s “Cabaret,” John Doyle’s instruments-on-stage stagings, vintage Judas Priest. The show is at the Princess of Wales theatre in Toronto until October 30. Hmm, wonder what the airfare’s like…