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More than you ever wanted to know about Chess - Part One
I am still on such a high after seeing this, that I was up at 9, even though I'd only had 5 hours sleep :P So having obsessively read what other fans thought of the night and checked out some photos (I didn't take any during the show and I'm glad - the flash photography of those less considerate than me was really effing annoying), I figured I ought to knuckle down and get my mammoth, monster review sorted out. It's going to be detailed, because an edited version will be posted up on a couple of fan sites so brace yourselves, it's gonna be long! EDIT: In fact, it's so long, it's now two parts. Ooops.
I wouldn't say I was fidgeting and bouncing a lot Monday morning/early afternoon, but I got so twitchy, I left fifty minutes earlier than I'd planned and caught the extra early train, neatly missing rush hour. I'm actually glad I did this, because it was unbelievably warm and the Tube is miserable enough in such weather without adding the sardines-in-a-tin effect of eleventy billion workers trying to get home all at once.
Safely in London, I scampered to Leicester Square to find a spot to sit in the sun near the statue of Charlie Chaplin. For lo, I was meeting![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
thessalian for dinner and she'd suggested this meeting spot. Needless to say, the square was packed, not helped by two things. One was the sixty plus strong French school party milling around and squeaking about the tourist tat they'd bought, although I instantly gave bonus points to the student who'd apparently bought two boxes of tea :) The other was the Odeon in the was gearing up for the "Sex and the City" premiere so there were barricades and early crowds on that side of the square. Happily, the students cleared off just before Thess arrived so she was able to find me easily.
She led me to Tokyo Diner, a cheap and cheerful Japanese restaurant just on the edge of Chinatown. There we had a delicious meal, that cost each of us just a fiver. I was impressed. I had something I now can't spell, but was a bowl of rice with spring onions and egg and possibly other things, with miso soup and a dish of pickles. :) Very tasty. Foolishly, Thess mentioned that there was a place further down that did the best tempura ever and so was promptly press-ganged into agreeing to meet me again next Tuesday so we could go there :D
Having finished absurdly early, I led her to The Porcupine pub where I indulged in a half of cider. Thess, bless her, cheerfully talked at me and just about stopped me hyperventilating. We were joined byadelpha, who'd very kindly diverted to central London to meet me, and a happy 45 minutes was spent yakking about Role playing on LbN, for adelpha has been lured there and now plays Mage :) Finally, at 6.45, with me now thoroughly starting to bounce and hyperventilate, I said my goodbyes and scampered to the Tube to go to the Royal Albert Hall.
I've been to the RAH before, to see Victoria Wood, and I have to say, having got in and found my teeny tiny seat waaay up in the second tier, it didn't look anything like I remembered it. Clearly I wasn't paying attention back then, or I had a seat much lower down and so didn't really get the overall view, I'm not sure. Happily, despite being waaay up, I had a good view of the stage. There was the familiar chess logo on the floor of the stage, that defined the small area the actors had to play in. Then there was the orchestra section, then higher up the choir sat in two banks of 3 rows. Charmingly, the choir was dressed in alternate blocks of black and white, each section (bass, tenor, alto etc) wearing a t-shirt of one colour, so that you had the chess board effect. Pretty neat. In between them and above the orchestra, was a giant screen that displayed various graphics throughout the show of hotels, and hotel rooms and geographical locations, just to help give a sense of where the characters were during the story. Below the screen, in between the various orchestral ranks, was a raised platform, on which there was a chessboard on a dais. This was used for several numbers and was pretty effective. Plus it meant everyone got a good view of the actors :)
The show started when Tim Rice was introduced and came out. I was kind of expecting him to do more of a pre-amble, but he really just said "thanks for coming, this is hopefully the last time we'll tweak the show to get it how we want it...maybe....please welcome the stars" and then he introduced Josh, Idina, Adam et al and they came out to rapturous applause. And then we were off! The orchestra kicked into the overture and the main cast either left the stage (in Kerry's case, we didn't see her again until the second act), while those that featured in the first numbers took seats on stools on either side of the orchestra. In the first half, everyone was dressed in black, except for Adam who was completely in white. I'm sure there was some ongoing theme about this, because there were tweaks in the second act. Idina looked very smart in black jacket, camisole top and black trousers, with her hair pulled back into a pony tail.
Marti Pellow, playing the Arbiter, kicked things off with "The Story of Chess". He was in fine voice throughout and I can see why he's still in demand for musicals (I saw him in Chicago years ago and he's even better now). Amusingly, he started by attempting to don some white gloves, which didn't initially co-operate bringing sympathetic giggles from the audience. He dealt with it calmly though, wrestling them into submission. In addition to the choir and the main cast, there was a group of soloists who accompanied them on many numbers, playing journalists or whatever the scene required. They featured heavily in The Story of Chess and I was impressed with all of them, they added an excellent dimension to the sound.
Opening number done, we went into one of my favourite songs, "Merano", which is sung by the choir and sets the scene for the first act, which takes place in the Austrian town of that name. They really outdid themselves and were clearly having a ball. There were some nice touches, such as at the end, before they hit the last big note, they all dipped down and when they stood up again, they all branded Austrian flags which they waved vigorously. During the number, there's an interlude when the American, Freddie, and his second and love, Florence, sing a raw rock number "What a Scene, what a Joy!". Adam Pascal, as Freddie, was one of the highlights of the night for me, his voice was as perfect for the role as I thought it'd be. Idina was in stunning form, and sang lines of the song that aren't normally sung by Florence (or at least they weren't on the original album or in the London production) and did them full justice.
I may have gotten a little choked up here, just with the sheer "OMFG, they're nailing this show!" feeling of it all. But then you all know I'm a mushball, right? :)
Now the show kicks off into the plot. It's a convoluted one and this has always been one of the toughest things about bringing it to the stage, the risk of confusing the audience hopelessly. I think they did better this time around, certainly it was an improvement over the London production I saw. As simply as I can, the story centres around two world Chess Championships and the people who play them. In the first Act, Freddie Trumper (yeh, I hate that name too), the American World Champ, is up against Anatoly Sergievsky, the Russian Challenger. It's 1979 and things are tense on the political scene so all eyes are on this East v. West competition. In the middle of all this, Freddie's love/manager and second, Florence, finds herself in emotional turmoil as she falls in love with Anatoly, while Freddie's behaviour towards her just gets worse. It's essentially a love story but there's a lot of political machinations behind the scenes, which is where the plot gets complex. Now to return you to the your regular scheduled viewing..
Idina and Adam have some excellent scenes in the first act, following on "What a joy.." with "Commie Newspapers", a song not on the original album but added for the original London production. Not a song I know well and I couldn't follow the lyrics so good but it sounded great ;) (As an aside, a lot of people have said the sound at the RAH was awful. I didn't think it was that bad but then I'm not the best judge, really. I was ok when it was a song I knew but not when it wasn't, so maybe they have a point. Hopefully they'll tweak that for tonight's show.) Josh Groban, playing Anatoly, then got to take centre stage for a while, with "Molokov and Anatoly" and the lovely "Who Needs a Dream". We saw the slimy Molokov for the first time, outstandingly played with just the right balance of menace and charm by David Bedella, who I know I've seen somewhere but can't quite place. Both men were excellent in the first song, neatly setting Josh up for "Who Needs a Dream", where he got to demonstrate his range for the first time. I have to be honest, I'm not a huge Josh Groban fan, but boy howdy, he rocked this role, which he has played before. Credit where credit's due, he was fantastic.
We then moved onto the opening ceremonies of the Chess Championship. The soloists plus Molokov did "Difficult and Dangerous Times", to set the political scene for us. Then Marti returned as the Arbiter to sing (oddly enough) "The Arbiter", which was a great number, a rocking anthem of "I'm the arbiter, my word is law! From square one I'll be watching all 64!" There's a touching anthem to Chess "Countries, classes, creeds as one, in love of Chess" such by the company and then we get the Merchandisers, coming in and saying actually "we don't mind we'll sell you something anyway!" This was one of the most fun numbers of the night, in terms of audience participation, because as the dancing, singing cheerleaders finished the number, a firework rig was detonated right above the arena, and all around the second tier, and right above my head, firework type effects shot out in bright streaks of light. It was fabulous! :D
Now Adam and Josh played the first game of chess in the championship - I still think they really need a better way to handle this; the music and dancing are lovely but it doesn't half slow the show down. Anyway, they built up to the bad tempered climax which leads to both players storming off, setting the scene for one of the most complex songs of the night, "Quartet: A Model of Decorum and Tranquillity". This is a complex interweaving harmony of a song, sung by Anatoly, Florence, The Arbiter and Molokov. Do I need to say they rocked it? No, of course not :)
There was a neat scene between Molokov and Florence, and then *glee* we get the first row between Florence and Freddie, leading to "Nobody's Side". Oh boy howdy, Idina totally kicked this song's arse. I've seen some people complaining she didn't do the G sharp, whatever the hell that sounds like, but it sounded like the song from the album to ME so I'm guessing (until I'm proved wrong) that was an ornamentation added by Julie Murney for the American production. This version certainly won over the crowd, Idina got a great reception for this one and rightly so.
Bitter from the row, Florence goes to a meeting with Anatoly and they recognise that they have feelings for each other in "Mountain Duet". This was the first duet for Josh and Idina and yeh, it sounded really good. It's not one of my favourite songs but I really liked this one, so kudos to them both for winning me over :) Difficulties resolved, the two chess players go back to the world championship, to the background of "Chess #2" which tediously takes about ten minutes to resolve. With Anatoly leading 5-1, Freddie takes it out on Florence for the last time and she quits ("Florence Quits") - Idina clearly enjoyed this number, biting off the lyrics and matching Adam snarl for snarl. Great stuff!
Now Florence is with Anatoly and he decides to defect, which was the cue for one of the comedy numbers - "Embassy Lament", as four staid British civil servants complain about the problems of defectors. "If these people can't strike for freedom/With a valid visa, we don't need them/If we seem offhand than please remember/This is nothing very special, he's the fourth we've had since last November!"
Announcing his defection to the press, Anatoly is asked how he can leave his wife, children and his country. Bitter, he lashes out that he won't really leave, which cues up Josh Groban's big moment as he gets to sing one of the finest songs in the score, "Anthem". Dear gods, just typing this is making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up on end. Again. Just like they did last night as he belted out "My land's only borders, lie around my heart!" It was a stunning end to Act One and quite rightly got a mini-standing ovation.
Phew!! Time for a break!
I wouldn't say I was fidgeting and bouncing a lot Monday morning/early afternoon, but I got so twitchy, I left fifty minutes earlier than I'd planned and caught the extra early train, neatly missing rush hour. I'm actually glad I did this, because it was unbelievably warm and the Tube is miserable enough in such weather without adding the sardines-in-a-tin effect of eleventy billion workers trying to get home all at once.
Safely in London, I scampered to Leicester Square to find a spot to sit in the sun near the statue of Charlie Chaplin. For lo, I was meeting
thessalian for dinner and she'd suggested this meeting spot. Needless to say, the square was packed, not helped by two things. One was the sixty plus strong French school party milling around and squeaking about the tourist tat they'd bought, although I instantly gave bonus points to the student who'd apparently bought two boxes of tea :) The other was the Odeon in the was gearing up for the "Sex and the City" premiere so there were barricades and early crowds on that side of the square. Happily, the students cleared off just before Thess arrived so she was able to find me easily. She led me to Tokyo Diner, a cheap and cheerful Japanese restaurant just on the edge of Chinatown. There we had a delicious meal, that cost each of us just a fiver. I was impressed. I had something I now can't spell, but was a bowl of rice with spring onions and egg and possibly other things, with miso soup and a dish of pickles. :) Very tasty. Foolishly, Thess mentioned that there was a place further down that did the best tempura ever and so was promptly press-ganged into agreeing to meet me again next Tuesday so we could go there :D
Having finished absurdly early, I led her to The Porcupine pub where I indulged in a half of cider. Thess, bless her, cheerfully talked at me and just about stopped me hyperventilating. We were joined by
adelpha, who'd very kindly diverted to central London to meet me, and a happy 45 minutes was spent yakking about Role playing on LbN, for adelpha has been lured there and now plays Mage :) Finally, at 6.45, with me now thoroughly starting to bounce and hyperventilate, I said my goodbyes and scampered to the Tube to go to the Royal Albert Hall.I've been to the RAH before, to see Victoria Wood, and I have to say, having got in and found my teeny tiny seat waaay up in the second tier, it didn't look anything like I remembered it. Clearly I wasn't paying attention back then, or I had a seat much lower down and so didn't really get the overall view, I'm not sure. Happily, despite being waaay up, I had a good view of the stage. There was the familiar chess logo on the floor of the stage, that defined the small area the actors had to play in. Then there was the orchestra section, then higher up the choir sat in two banks of 3 rows. Charmingly, the choir was dressed in alternate blocks of black and white, each section (bass, tenor, alto etc) wearing a t-shirt of one colour, so that you had the chess board effect. Pretty neat. In between them and above the orchestra, was a giant screen that displayed various graphics throughout the show of hotels, and hotel rooms and geographical locations, just to help give a sense of where the characters were during the story. Below the screen, in between the various orchestral ranks, was a raised platform, on which there was a chessboard on a dais. This was used for several numbers and was pretty effective. Plus it meant everyone got a good view of the actors :)
The show started when Tim Rice was introduced and came out. I was kind of expecting him to do more of a pre-amble, but he really just said "thanks for coming, this is hopefully the last time we'll tweak the show to get it how we want it...maybe....please welcome the stars" and then he introduced Josh, Idina, Adam et al and they came out to rapturous applause. And then we were off! The orchestra kicked into the overture and the main cast either left the stage (in Kerry's case, we didn't see her again until the second act), while those that featured in the first numbers took seats on stools on either side of the orchestra. In the first half, everyone was dressed in black, except for Adam who was completely in white. I'm sure there was some ongoing theme about this, because there were tweaks in the second act. Idina looked very smart in black jacket, camisole top and black trousers, with her hair pulled back into a pony tail.
Marti Pellow, playing the Arbiter, kicked things off with "The Story of Chess". He was in fine voice throughout and I can see why he's still in demand for musicals (I saw him in Chicago years ago and he's even better now). Amusingly, he started by attempting to don some white gloves, which didn't initially co-operate bringing sympathetic giggles from the audience. He dealt with it calmly though, wrestling them into submission. In addition to the choir and the main cast, there was a group of soloists who accompanied them on many numbers, playing journalists or whatever the scene required. They featured heavily in The Story of Chess and I was impressed with all of them, they added an excellent dimension to the sound.
Opening number done, we went into one of my favourite songs, "Merano", which is sung by the choir and sets the scene for the first act, which takes place in the Austrian town of that name. They really outdid themselves and were clearly having a ball. There were some nice touches, such as at the end, before they hit the last big note, they all dipped down and when they stood up again, they all branded Austrian flags which they waved vigorously. During the number, there's an interlude when the American, Freddie, and his second and love, Florence, sing a raw rock number "What a Scene, what a Joy!". Adam Pascal, as Freddie, was one of the highlights of the night for me, his voice was as perfect for the role as I thought it'd be. Idina was in stunning form, and sang lines of the song that aren't normally sung by Florence (or at least they weren't on the original album or in the London production) and did them full justice.
I may have gotten a little choked up here, just with the sheer "OMFG, they're nailing this show!" feeling of it all. But then you all know I'm a mushball, right? :)
Now the show kicks off into the plot. It's a convoluted one and this has always been one of the toughest things about bringing it to the stage, the risk of confusing the audience hopelessly. I think they did better this time around, certainly it was an improvement over the London production I saw. As simply as I can, the story centres around two world Chess Championships and the people who play them. In the first Act, Freddie Trumper (yeh, I hate that name too), the American World Champ, is up against Anatoly Sergievsky, the Russian Challenger. It's 1979 and things are tense on the political scene so all eyes are on this East v. West competition. In the middle of all this, Freddie's love/manager and second, Florence, finds herself in emotional turmoil as she falls in love with Anatoly, while Freddie's behaviour towards her just gets worse. It's essentially a love story but there's a lot of political machinations behind the scenes, which is where the plot gets complex. Now to return you to the your regular scheduled viewing..
Idina and Adam have some excellent scenes in the first act, following on "What a joy.." with "Commie Newspapers", a song not on the original album but added for the original London production. Not a song I know well and I couldn't follow the lyrics so good but it sounded great ;) (As an aside, a lot of people have said the sound at the RAH was awful. I didn't think it was that bad but then I'm not the best judge, really. I was ok when it was a song I knew but not when it wasn't, so maybe they have a point. Hopefully they'll tweak that for tonight's show.) Josh Groban, playing Anatoly, then got to take centre stage for a while, with "Molokov and Anatoly" and the lovely "Who Needs a Dream". We saw the slimy Molokov for the first time, outstandingly played with just the right balance of menace and charm by David Bedella, who I know I've seen somewhere but can't quite place. Both men were excellent in the first song, neatly setting Josh up for "Who Needs a Dream", where he got to demonstrate his range for the first time. I have to be honest, I'm not a huge Josh Groban fan, but boy howdy, he rocked this role, which he has played before. Credit where credit's due, he was fantastic.
We then moved onto the opening ceremonies of the Chess Championship. The soloists plus Molokov did "Difficult and Dangerous Times", to set the political scene for us. Then Marti returned as the Arbiter to sing (oddly enough) "The Arbiter", which was a great number, a rocking anthem of "I'm the arbiter, my word is law! From square one I'll be watching all 64!" There's a touching anthem to Chess "Countries, classes, creeds as one, in love of Chess" such by the company and then we get the Merchandisers, coming in and saying actually "we don't mind we'll sell you something anyway!" This was one of the most fun numbers of the night, in terms of audience participation, because as the dancing, singing cheerleaders finished the number, a firework rig was detonated right above the arena, and all around the second tier, and right above my head, firework type effects shot out in bright streaks of light. It was fabulous! :D
Now Adam and Josh played the first game of chess in the championship - I still think they really need a better way to handle this; the music and dancing are lovely but it doesn't half slow the show down. Anyway, they built up to the bad tempered climax which leads to both players storming off, setting the scene for one of the most complex songs of the night, "Quartet: A Model of Decorum and Tranquillity". This is a complex interweaving harmony of a song, sung by Anatoly, Florence, The Arbiter and Molokov. Do I need to say they rocked it? No, of course not :)
There was a neat scene between Molokov and Florence, and then *glee* we get the first row between Florence and Freddie, leading to "Nobody's Side". Oh boy howdy, Idina totally kicked this song's arse. I've seen some people complaining she didn't do the G sharp, whatever the hell that sounds like, but it sounded like the song from the album to ME so I'm guessing (until I'm proved wrong) that was an ornamentation added by Julie Murney for the American production. This version certainly won over the crowd, Idina got a great reception for this one and rightly so.
Bitter from the row, Florence goes to a meeting with Anatoly and they recognise that they have feelings for each other in "Mountain Duet". This was the first duet for Josh and Idina and yeh, it sounded really good. It's not one of my favourite songs but I really liked this one, so kudos to them both for winning me over :) Difficulties resolved, the two chess players go back to the world championship, to the background of "Chess #2" which tediously takes about ten minutes to resolve. With Anatoly leading 5-1, Freddie takes it out on Florence for the last time and she quits ("Florence Quits") - Idina clearly enjoyed this number, biting off the lyrics and matching Adam snarl for snarl. Great stuff!
Now Florence is with Anatoly and he decides to defect, which was the cue for one of the comedy numbers - "Embassy Lament", as four staid British civil servants complain about the problems of defectors. "If these people can't strike for freedom/With a valid visa, we don't need them/If we seem offhand than please remember/This is nothing very special, he's the fourth we've had since last November!"
Announcing his defection to the press, Anatoly is asked how he can leave his wife, children and his country. Bitter, he lashes out that he won't really leave, which cues up Josh Groban's big moment as he gets to sing one of the finest songs in the score, "Anthem". Dear gods, just typing this is making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up on end. Again. Just like they did last night as he belted out "My land's only borders, lie around my heart!" It was a stunning end to Act One and quite rightly got a mini-standing ovation.
Phew!! Time for a break!
no subject
I'm really glad you enjoyed the show! I'd certainly be up for watching the DVD some time :)
no subject
If you can't make next Tuesday, never mind, but we'll see nearer the time :)
Познавательный блог
Хороший блог!
Спасибо за инфу