B'way/Off-B'way Review: Chess; Practice

Aaron Tveit (c.) and cast in Chess.
Credit: Matthew Murphy

The big question is does the first Broadway revival of Chess solve the cult musical’s previously impossible problem of the messy book dragging down the magnificent, memorable score? The short answer is no, but it does provide powerhouse singer-actors (Aaron Tveit, Lea Michele, Nicholas Christopher, Hannah Cruz) the opportunity to display their impressive vocal chops and limning skills. Is it worth sitting through the Cuckoo-for-Coco-Puffs script to get to those compelling, stirring songs by Tim Rice and the Abba team of Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus? That’s a matter of taste. It was rough going for me for the show’s nearly three-hour running time, but when the stars opened the mouths to vocalize, I forgot the melodramatic excesses and lame jokes in Danny Strong’s new book.

Chess is one of those shows that just won’t die. It began life as a 1984 concept album like Rice’s collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita. A fully-staged 1986 adaptation played London’s West End for three years, but a highly revised Broadway version closed after only two months in 1988. Ever since, the property has re-emerged in regional revivals, concerts, and recordings. The reason for Chess’s long game is the brilliant score. The sexy, catchy “One Night in Bangkok” was a Top 40 earworm. The sweet ache and passionate regret of “You and I” has always brought me to tears. “I Know Him So Well” is a tender duet expressing reflection over a failed love affair with gorgeous intertwining vocal lines. “Someone Else’s Story” is another beautiful ballad, heartbreaking in its simplicity.

Aaron Tveit and Lea Michele in Chess.
Credit: Matthew Murphy

The crazy story arc which contains these wonderful songs involves chess masters, affairs, the 1956 Soviet invasion of Hungary, the CIA, and the KGB. Plus this new version by Strong asks us to believe the fate of the entire world hangs on the chess matches—there are two of them, one for each act—with US and Soviet commanders poised to press the nuclear button depending on who emerges victorious. 

Strong has streamlined the crowded storyline (but not enough) and treats the material with a satiric, almost campy tone, with the Arbiter character transformed into a devilish narrator who constantly reminds us we’re watching “ a Cold War musical” and laying out the subtext in case we don’t get it. This narrator device removes us from the romantic-triangle aspects of the story and inserts contemporary groanworthy quips about RFK Jr. and his brainworm, Joseph Biden running for a second term, and just the mention of our current president (Tveit’s character name is Trumper, get it?). It doesn’t help that Bryce Pinkham, who has been a delight in previous musicals such as A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder and Holiday Inn, delivers every line like a WWF ring announcer. He’s at full volume and intensity from his first entrance and has nowhere to go but over the top. Michael Mayer’s direction does flow smoothly with David Rockwell’s sleek, ultramodern set and Kevin Adams’ flashy lighting providing for swift, cinematic transitions. Mayer and choreographer Lorin Latarro also effectively employ a top-notch chorus to move the story along and provide background.

Nicholas Chrisopher in Chess.
Credit: Mathhew Murphy

Luckily, we have a stellar line-up selling the score. Aaron Tveit captures Freddie Trumper’s narcissism masking his tortured vulnerability, particularly in “Pity the Child.” As Florence Vassy, his strategist and lover, Lea Michele delivers the goods on her ballads and conveys the character’s conflicting attractions between two chess champs. Nicholas Christopher emerges as a major Broadway star with his soaring interpretation of Anatoly Sergievsky, pouring his passion into “Anthem,” a declaration of love transcending borders. Hannah Cruz is most impressive as Svetlana, Anatoly’s Russian wife who emerges in the second act to reclaim her errant hubby from Florence. (Florence switches between Freddie and Anatoly.) Sean Allen Krill and Bradley Dean do their best to add resonance to a pair of stereotypical rival intelligence agents. 

The problem remains that the songs don’t connect strongly with the book. Hearing them on the original cast CD or as stand-alone solos evokes strong emotional responses, but the lyrics don’t always fit with the libretto. Too often the songs feel like generic ABBA hits. “Someone Else’s Story” was originally in the first act and has been pushed to the second to give Michele a 10 o’clock number, but here feels anticlimactic. In the battle between the book and the score, Chess still achieves a draw.

The cast of Practice.
Credit: Alexander Mejia, Bergamont

Just as Chess bangs us over the head by blatantly spelling out the authors’ intent, Nazareth Hassan’s Practice at Playwrights Horizons, tells us the theme rather than letting us figure it out for ourselves. Hassan is an intriguing playwriting talent. Practice offers a captivating look at power politics and manipulative behavior within an avant-garde theater company. But, as with their previous play Bowl EP, presented earlier this season at the Vineyard, the author spends too much time telling us what their play is about rather than showing us. In Bowl EP, Hassan profiled two rapper-skateboarders hiding their mutual attraction and damaged psyches with coded references to pop culture. Then a symbolic figure popped up and explained the resolution. 

Practice suffers from a similar tendency to explain for the audience. The first long act effectively details the dehumanizing efforts of dictatorial non-binary director Asa (a cunningly charismatic Ronald Peet) to bend his pliable young actors to his will. Each of the eager performers reveals embarrassing, dirty secrets which Asa unscrupulously incorporates in his performance piece. That process was intriguing, smartly directed by Keenan Tyler Oliphant, and performed with subtext and conflict by a proficient ensemble. (Karina Curet is particularly moving as a Chilean daughter of privilege fighting for her place in the company.) 

Roland Peet in Practice.
Credit: Alexander Meijia, Bergamont

But the second act is Asa’s resultant theatrical work, clumsily labelled Self-Awareness Exercise 001, in which all of his manipulations and deceptions are laid out. Set designer Afsoon Pajoufar encloses the company in a glass cage and costume designers Brenda Abbandandolo and Karen Boyer dress them in post-apocalyptic rags. Though this (perhaps intentionally) pretentious and repetitive segment runs only 30 minutes, it felt like three hours. It’s unclear if Hassan is satirizing self-indulgent theater artists or if they want us to sympathize with Asa and their damaged acolytes. As with Chess, there’s an imbalance here. A smart, intriguing first act is pitted against a boring mess of a second act. This time the better act wins, but just barely.

Chess: Opened Nov. 16 for an open run. Imperial Theater, 249 W. 45th St., NYC. Running time: two hours and 45 mins. including intermission. telecharge.com.

Practice: Nov. 18—Dec. 14. Playwrights Horizons, 416 W. 42nd St., NYC. Running time: three hours including intermission. playwrightshorizons.org.