THEATRE REVIEW: "Chess" at the Imperial Theatre (New York, NY)
On April 22nd, 2026 I saw the matinee performance of the Broadway Musical Revival "Chess" at the Imperial Theatre in New York City. "Chess" features lyrics by Tim Rice; and Music by Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson. This revival of "Chess" features a new book by Danny Strong. Richard Nelson wrote the book for the Original 1988 Broadway Production; Tim Rice wrote the Book for the 1986 London Production. The 1990 National Tour, and 1990 Chicagoland Production (in Lincolnshire, IL), utilized Richard Nelson's book, eventhough the Original Broadway Production closed after a couple months, while the Original London Production ran for about three years. While Danny Strong made significant changes to "Chess," all versions of the musical use the game of chess to symbolize the Cold War. At the performance of "Chess" that I saw, the cast included Aaron Tveit (Freddie Trumper), Lea Michele (Florence Vassy), Nicholas Christopher...