Bjorn Ulvaeus, Tim Rice - Chess (1988 Original Broadway Cast)
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Free Music Notes for Chess (1988 Original Broadway Cast)
Free Music Review: Chess musical
Hit: 3 Stars
Chess is the musical Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus of ABBA wrote with Tim Rice after the disbanding of ABBA. The music is superb. The lytics are witty. Chess was a big hit in London's West End in the mid-1980s. It was a different story when the show moved to Broadway in 1988. The critics hated it. Chess closed almost as quickly as it had opened. Why? For one reason, the soundtrack was of nowhere near the quality of the London/Stockholm recording. New characters were added, and the song sequence was moved around. Furthermore, in the 1980s, America was in a patriotic mood and unwilling to accept a show which portrayed a Russian as a good guy and an American as a bad guy. Chess toured in 1990 and did well on the road. I saw it in Louisville, Kentucky.Free Music Review: Truly great Broadway
Hit: 5 Stars
May 24, 1988 -- I will always remember the date I saw the original Broadway production of CHESS. I guess I'm one of the lucky few who actually saw this show at the Imperial, since it only ran for about seven weeks. I was absolutely blown away by the production and the cast.
First, Judy Kuhn is simply one of the greatest live performers I've ever seen. She is not only a stunningly strong singer, but also a fantastic actress. David Carroll and Philip Casnoff were equally is impressive on the stage. This recording captures most of that magic, missing only a few musical numbers from the show.
I know many fans of the original British production were disappointed by this production, since many of the lyrics were changed and several parts of the story were re-worked, but this version of CHESS stands well on its own as a touching and powerful musical.
I believe that CHESS fell victim to the era of the mega-musical that was happening on Broadway in 1988. THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA had just opened, LES MISERABLES was still going very strong, and one of Stephen Sondheim's best, INTO THE WOODS, was drawing the critical raves and awards. Had CHESS come along two years earlier or two years later, I feel it would have been much more a success, but it just couldn't compete with the overblown expectations of audiences in 1988.
It's disappointing that the Broadway cast album has gone out-of-print, as it is a truly great recording. If you can find a copy of it, I suggest you snap it up quickly.
As a postscript, I've always wondered why there has never been a video release of CHESS -- the evening I saw CHESS there were multiple cameras in various places around the theatre, so I know it was being filmed. I'd absolutely love to have it on DVD....
Free Music Review: Not the whole show
Hit: 3 Stars
I did my best not to judge this CD against the spectacular London concept album; it is what it is, a watered-down and fuzzied-up version of a devastating original idea. (I admit that when I saw a community theatre version of it I started shaking my head "No" during "I Know Him So Well" and didn't stop until the end. Weird, unnecessary and incoherent changes.)
HOWEVER, seeing the Broadway version made me want to listen to this album. I liked it well enough, though the women were in fact better than the men, as some reviewers have mentioned. What really bothered me was that not all of the songs from the show were on the album, probably to keep it to one disk. This disappointed me a lot, particularly because most of the songs left off were not on the original concept album, which is why I wanted this one in the first place. You can get a script from Samuel French and read the songs left out, but this was a major disappointment for me.
Since the show was a flop on Broadway and (I'm alternately sorry and glad to say) is pretty dated now, I don't expect a new, 2-disc album any time soon--or ever. But if there were one I'd buy it in an instant.
Free Music Review: Love it
Hit: 5 Stars
This is if not my favorite musical, then my favorite modern musical. The music is breathtaking. The lyrics are mostly excellent too. In the liner notes that came with my copy, there is a note that the words to the last song had been changed due to american censorship. The show is European. It's about a chess match between a quiet, tormented Russian and a loud, obnoxious, jingoistic american. He has problems of his own. The singers are all fine. Free Music Review: CHESS THE AMERICAN VERSION
Hit: 3 Stars
Not as good as the English production, but stilla good show. Not enough "bite" to this version. I'll be working on a production ofCHESS in Las Vegas in 2006. Teri