SELDOM in the history of "major musicals" performed in Australia has there been genuine creative input from all the areas that contribute to a production: direction, design, orchestration, choreography and performance.
In its third manifestation, following a London hit and New York miss, this production of Chessdeserves, first and foremost, to be acknowledged for the quality of its Australian content.
The overall production values are as high and as slick as anything on Broadway or the West End. Jim Sharman has brilliantly coordinated the visuals wrought by Brian Thomson (sets), Tess Schofield (costumes) and Nigel Levings (lighting) to create the towering glass and marble atrium of a luxurious hotel in Bangkok.
Sharman's staging, with choreography by Chrissie Koltai, is vivid and dynamic in numbers such asOne Night in Bangkok, where images of steamy sex and gaudy tourism overlay the saffron coloured quietude of Buddhism. It is poignant in the quartets and duets as the contestants and their partners (Svetalalna and Florence) manoeuvre around issues of love, ambition, loyalty and guilt; and Sharman brings a whimsical cynicism to numbers such as Embassy Lament and The Soviet Machine, which are pieces worthy of Gilbert and Sullivan at their best.
As Anatoly Sergievsky, the leading edge of that Soviet chess machine, Robbie Krupski not only walks away with the world title, he walks away with the show. Krupski made his stage musical debut as Tsar Nicholas in Rasputin. He has a glorious voice, and the experience of that ill-starred part, enhanced by Sharman's direction, has enabled him to produce an outstanding performance.
Not quite so, yet, his American rival, Freddie Trumper, played by David McLeod, whose voice and presence on stage are strained. As the rivals for Sergievsky's affections, Jodie Gillies and Maria Mercedes are well matched. Both are blessed with superb voices and they absolutely soar in the climactic duct, I Know Him So Well. The other real delight in this show is the performance of John Wood, in the role of the bearish Alexander Molokov, apparatchik of the Soviet machine.
Here's the crunch. Chess is graced by a strong production from Jim Sharman, but underlying all the good work there are still flaws in the musical's structure that are to do with the stakes of the game and the love-match, which it's really supposed to be all about.
Neither the narrative nor the lyrics build the suspense of the game. It's too schematic, nor does the outcome ever matter.
More importantly, the relationship between Sergievsky and Florence Vassy, which pits them against their countries and their respective partners, happens so fast and develops so little that its outcome - which is meant to matter - is less than compelling.
The scheming of the Soviet politicos and the American money-men isn't enough to tease out Tim Rice's central concerns about individual freedoms, the role of the State and the place of love.
Still, Chess has wit - Tim Rice is an adroit lyricist and his words are carried by a tuneful and sophisticated score from Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus - and certainly Chess attempts more musically and lyrically than something like Big River .
The Australian Rosemary Neill 05.02.9
An across-the-board winner
DISSATISFIED with the versions of Chess which have been staged in London and New York. Australian director Jim Shannan promised Sydney a refurbished and definitive version of the glitzy musical.
I am pleased to report that there are few discrepancies between Sharman's stated intention and the physical accomplishment of his objective. For his version of Chess is slick, lavish and, for the most part, engenders a resistless sense of exhilaration.
Chess, which had its world premiere in London nearly four years ago, melds drama, spectacle, legend and an internationally significant sports event within the confines of the populist, romantic musical. Unlike the West End and Broadway productions - which amplified the East-West struggle embedded in the text and lyrics - this production is essentially a love story with a politically charged backdrop.
The story centres around two chess warriors, the American world champion Freddie Trumper, and the Russian challenger Anatoly Sergievsky, who meet in Bangkok to conduct a tournament for the world title. Although the story is set at a time when the Cold War is giving way to a political openness, the tournament soon becomes a battleground for rival East-West ideologies. (Despite some witty references to both glasnost and perestroika, in my view the Soviet delegates are portrayed as Stateserving and emotionally robotic stereotypes.)
The tournament also serves as an amorous battlefield as Florence, Freddie's lover and second, falls in love with the Russian champion. Ensuing scenes throw up a double betrayal, a defection and attempted blackmail, as sport, love and politics become a function of mercenary gamesmanship. Ultimately, no one gets everything (or indeed anything) he or she wants - a sombre conclusion which situates Chess among the tougher post-war musicals.
For this production, Sharman - in collaboration with British lyricist Tim Rice - dropped some pieces of music and condensed the timespan and settings. While these structural changes have enhanced the musical's continuity and sense of tabloid urgency (I saw the London version in 1986) I think that Sharman's prime achievement is his culling of several magnificent performances from his extremely youthful cast.
Jodie Gillies, who plays Florence, is clearly the show's star. She is a magnetic actor, and her voluptuous voice makes a blast furnace out of her numerous torch songs. Robbie Krupski (who only made his theatrical debut in 1987) plays Anatoly, while Maria Mercedes plays Svetlana, his wife. Both of these performers are fine actors, and they extort from their vocal cords a rich spectrum of sound. While David McLeod deftly animates Freddie's gymnastic petulance, and Laurence Clifford's Arbiter resounds with clinical indifference, I feel that both of these performers have rather limited vocal ranges.
My chief criticism of Chess concerns the score, which I don't find as seductive or as consistently vivifying as say, that of LesMiserables. The catchiest and best-known song in Chess is perhaps One Night in Bangkok, and the opening night rendition of this tune sounded tinselly and underpowered, and bore scant resemblance to the boppy, echoic number we heard on the radio some years ago.
During the show's opening minutes, I feared that Brian Thomson's teeming, high-tech set and its avalanche of special effects would overwhelm and devitalise the text and music. Fortunately, though, Thomson's impressive and opulent designs are ultimately utlised in a more leavened fashion.
Financial Review Richard Synott & Ian Rogers 09.02.90
No deep thought, but Chess is worth checking out Music critic Richard Synnott and Australian chess Grandmaster Ian Rogers enjoyed the entertainment but discovered a few questionable moves when Jim Sharman's production opened in Sydney.
Richard Synnott:
CHESS has come to Sydney, to the same Theatre Royal where Cats and Les Miserables ran and and ran, seemingly for most of the 1980s. With a reported $3 million tied up in the production, the investors are no doubt hoping that this show will draw the public as strongly as its mega-musical predecessors did.
The entrepreneurs are certainly taking no chances. A massive marketing campaign is gearing up to sell the Sydney Chess out in the suburbs and provincial centres to the punters. At the same time,Chess director Jim Sharman has been making a play for the upper middle-brow market in media interviews. "Chess has all the things you expect from a spectacular musical," Sharman is quoted as saying, "but it also offers a working out of more sophisticated themes - themes of love, sacrifice and betrayal... maybe this is the rock 'n' roll Strindberg."
It's an interesting line of thought. Could it be that this mega-musical might be more than just another big night out in the commercial theatre? Could Chess be a breakthrough into music theatre that has both mass-appeal and high artistic quality?
There are certainly loads of talent, artistry and commitment evident in this production. Robbie Krupski as the Russian challenger, Sergievsky, is particularly impressive: strong characterful voice, great stage-presence. And Jodie Gillies brings a searing energy to the part of Florence, the American World Champion's assistant and lover. On a more subtle note, John Wood as Molokov, the Russian manager, suggests a Kissinger-Iike amiability which masks a deeply odious manipulativeness.
Jim Sharman's staging is consistently attractive, demonstrating his unerring eye for elegance of effect. Brian Thomson's single architectural set works beautifully. On the musical side, too, there's much to admire in the skill with which Alan John's orchestration and arrangements have imbued the score with a delicate oriental flavour. What does it all add up to? In my view, nothing very much.
The first shortcoming that struck me was the lacklustre story. For a musical to succeed it's essential that it have a strong, sustaining, central idea. From accounts I've heard of the original London version it's clear that Sharman has transformed a rambling and tangled plot into something that is theatrically intelligible. But the Sydney Chess is still not within cooee of a genuinely moving piece of popular drama.
Then there's the score, by the ABBA duo, Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson. In dramatic terms, the score goes nowhere. True, there are a couple of numbers which pack something of a wallop, but there's no momentum from the energy they generate. For the most part, it's the lightest of light music, more at home on the radio than on the stage.
Chess will provide a pleasant evening's entertainment for a lot of people, I'm sure. But "rock 'n' roll Strindberg"? Come off it, Jim.
Ian Rogers:
THE original version of Chess centred on two world chess championship protagonists caught on opposite sides of the cold war, competing against each other both over the chessboard and for the same woman.
Jealousy and rivalry between Trumper and Sergievsky eventually become mutual respect through admiration for each other’s chessboard ability and Sergievsky must eventually reconcile his love for chess and personal ambitions in that arena with his complicated personal and political problems.
Sharman's production of Chess is set in a cynical post-cold war era - supposedly the present - and has placed the chess match in the background. What is left is mostly a series of beautifully performed songs, held together by a very loose plot.
In the Australian Chess a chess match remains the backdrop for events but the players, and therefore the audience, no longer care about chess - as shown by the cursory play. (Some of the second night audience burst into laughter when the players started removing three pieces at each move during a supposedly deadly serious World Championship game.)
The performers showed no feeling for the concentration, tension and emotion involved in playing a high level game of chess. Therefore the climax of the show - the moment when Sergievsky must choose between Florence and the world title - seems to the audience to be no dilemma at all, since Sergievsky's actions have made his priorities clear.
A good technical adviser would have helped in other instances as well. Perhaps not even John Wood knows the meaning of the Elo statistical rating system about which he sings. (An Australian audience would comprehend world ranking far better.)
However, in at least one major respect Sherman's Chess has improved on the London production. As played by Elaine Paige in London, Florence, the main character, came across as a victim of the two obsessive chessplayers. Jodie Gillies' Florence, although still manipulated by others, has a mind of her own and shows great resilience in the face of misfortune. Add this to a superb voice and powerful stage presence and, in my opinion, Gillies has surpassed Paige in producing the definitive interpretation of Florence.
The thawing of the cold war provides the opportunity for some witty lines but further undermines the raison d'etre for Chess. Although the Championship contenders are simply enemies in the AustralianChess, the reason for the two delegations placing such importance on the match is baffling.
All the above should not detract from the fact that Sharman's Chess provides a most enjoyable night out. Forget the inconsistencies in the plot and concentrate on the witty lyrics, the fine music, the imaginative sets and the inspired performances. The Australian Chess may purport to be the thinking person's musical but it does not need such pretensions - it is simply an entertaining musical.
Variety Debbie Kruger 14.02.90
Revamped Chess boffo in Sydney
Nearly four years after it opened in London, the Tim Rice, Benny Andersson, Bjorn Ulvaeus musical "Chess" had its Australian premier Feb. 3 at Sydney's refurbished Theater Royal, opening with an advance of $A2.5-million.
The Aussie production coincides with the mounting of a U.S. touring production, but lyricist Tim Rice, currently in Sydney, says the productions are vastly different. Aussie version has been reworked extensively by Rice and director Jim Sharman, who have abandoned the alterations made for the disastrous Broadway production and returned to the 1984 recorded version.
Story's time span has been condensed and the locale changed to just a few days during one world chess championship in Bangkok. The $A3-million Australian version has had a troubled evolution, with the rights tossed around until Adelaide producer Kevin Earle secured the right to stage "Chess" Down Under. His original plan, to open the show in Melbourne in August 1989, was abandoned when he could not raise the capital. At that point the Theater Royal's director Frederick Gibson, looking for a splashy show to open the theater after its planned $A4.5-million refurbishment, came up with financing arrangements, and the production was put together for Sydney.
Earle died suddenly last November, and associate producer Ruth Yeatman took on a bigger role in the management. Creatively the show did not suffer, and the result is world-class. But unlike recent reproductions such as "Cats," "Les Miserables," "42nd Street" and "Big River," "Chess" has not been restaged by the London or American director.
All-Aussie creative team is headed by director Sharman and designer Brian Thomson, both of whom were responsible for Australian and London versions of "Jesus Christ Supetstar" and "Rocky Horror Show." Thomson, this country's busiest and arguably best theater designer, has devised for this "Chess" an awe-inspiring set that is a star in its own right.
Performances by Robbie Krupski as the Russian, Jodie Gillies as Florence Vassy and Maria Mercedes as the Russian's wife are superior. TV and straight theater actor John Wood makes an amusing musical debut as Soviet strategist Molokov.
Drawbacks are a chorus largely under-utilized by Sharman, and costumes by Tess Schofield that are unflattering and appear to restrict movement.
Sydney reviewers have lavished praise on the production values, and on Krupski particularly, while finding the "Chess" storyline short on intrigue. Despite updated references to glasnost, there have been mutterings about the relevance of such a plot and its suitability to the musical form.
Ticket sales since opening have "gone through the roof," per Yeatman, and predictions are for an engagement of one year. With Helen Montagu's "42nd Street" currently being relaunched to give it new steam, and Hayden Prods. "Anything Goes" returning for a second Sydney run, the scene is set for some interesting competition.
Publication Unknown Graham Harris
Krupski king in reworked musical
The long-heralded arrival of this musical about an international chess tournament was resoundingly acclaimed when it began an expectedly long season last Saturday.
Chess has a strange history. It was a smash hit in London where it played for two years, crossed the Atlantic and was a resounding flop in New York. For the Australian production it has been substantially recscripted and a large slice of running time eliminated. Its running time in the Sydney production was, in the belief of this reviewer, one of its few faults - 15 minutes less would have been a more satisfactory formula.
However, this is a minor criticism of a mammoth show. The multi-million dollar set, emulating the lobby of an international hotel in Bangkok with its two on-stage see-through elevators, was exciting. Likewise, the disappearing central stage area producing a range of scenes varying from a Buddhist temple to a bedroom. Add to this the garish glitz of Bangkok and the tension of a month-long international chess tournament interspersed with a love affair and you have the basic concept of Chess.
Its music long preceded it and everyone is familiar with "One Night in Bangkok" which echoes through the production. But there are lots of other numbers, particularly "You and I", which created further enjoyment.
To present this extravaganza, director Jim Sharman has assembled a particularly strong cast. Top honours went to Robbie Krupski who lent just the right amount of drama to the role of the Russian champion Sergieysky. He sang and acted with conviction - but cleverly created an emotional wedge in his Russian iciness when he fell in love with the American second.
As Trumper the American champion. David McLeod was suitably brash, although not quite as believable as his counterpart. Florence, the American second (who falls in love with the Soviet champion) Jodie Gillies was first class. The supporting cast met the quality of these performances with apparent ease.
Mr Sharman's complex production flowed without a hitch. It was in fact a pleasure to hear perfect amplification without distortion - a seldom experienced phenomenon. Apart from its length the only other slightly cacophonous note was the lack of balance in the pit. The orchestra seldom producing the spectrum of sound which its authors obviously intended.
Hearty congratulations to all concerned with Chess - Brian Thomson (Set), Tess Schofield (Costumes), Nigel Levings (Lighting), Adrian Rutter (Sound) and Chrissie Koltai (Choreography).
This is a chess match you will not forget.
Publication Unknown Jeremy Eccles
Chess pleases, but…
Jeremy Eccles has a few doubts after witnessing the opening of Chess in Sydney
CHESS Mark III opened in Sydney at the weekend with all the pizzazz and glitz that Sydney loves. On stage the band played loudly but the cast's microphones were even louder, the staging was as slick and stylish as hair gel, at least two of the cast were quite excellent and the chorus and dance work was outstanding. And while the score may not have been "the finest rock score ever produced for the theatre" (as Time magazine hailed it) it was constantly pleasing to the mind's ear.
Alas, there's still something wrong with the book. Lyricist Tim Rice was first turned on by Chess during the Fisher/Spassky duel of 1972. Man against man, ideology against ideology. to which he's added mate against mate.
By 1984, Rice had involved the male part of Abba to write the music, and the late Michael Bennett to stage his show in London with more technology than ideology or love. It ran for three years but was acknowledged as imperfect by both Rice and director Trevor Nunn - who was given a free hand to improve Chess for New York. Unfortunately, Cold War politics were added just as Mr Gorbachev warmed things up, and Americans froze the show out in three weeks.
Hence Mark III - now in the hands of Aussie Jim Sharman who, as a lad, had given a show called Jesus Christ Superstar the shape it needed for London. Between Sharman and Rice there's been an intelligent paring back to essentials that reflects a world of glasnost (though some recent events in Eastern Europe have overtaken them) and concentrates on the motive of personal responsibility as it affects the Russian and American players, the Russian's wife and the American's Czech-born lover and "second".
Unfortunately - and I feel almost guilty about complaining - this raises such expectations of psychological satisfaction that events like the instantaneous passion of Russian for American second, and the Russian's overnight defection are aggravatingly inexplicable.
Maybe this is compounded by orchestration that goes wildly over the top of Tim Rice's intelligent words, and by a Jodie Gillies one-track performance as what should have been the most interesting woman in any musical. But Robbie Krupski is just so good as the disturbed Russian, Maria Mercedes so interesting as his rejected wife, and John Wood so relievingly humorous as the Russian "fixer" that I wished they were aboard a more perfect vehicle.
As the chorus transforms magically from tricky tourists exploiting and being exploited, to stunningly anonymous hotel staff, and the words of songs such as Quartet and You and I played melodiously and fascinatingly with ideas. I couldn't help wondering why the story didn't take me just as cleanly through to its conclusion.
Daily Mirror Frank Gauntlett
Checkered look at Chess
DOES it sound a bit facetious to say Chess is a rather checkered experience? It's not meant to be so but after Saturday's lavish opening of this $3 million-plus extravaganza at Sydney's Theatre Royal, it would be inappropriate to issue black or white bouquets or brickbats.
What this tale of romantic and political intrigue at an international chess tournament boils down to is a spectacular production of a curiously illbalanced and aimless show. On the plus side we have a magnificent soaring set from Brian Thomson and Nigel Levings' effective lighting.
With director Jim Sharman they create a visual effect that is unfailingly interesting. But the lyrics of Tim Rice and the music of Abba tunesmiths Benny Andersson and Bjom Ulvaeus are only sporadically engaging.
Robbie Krupski's superb voice as Russian chess champ Sergievsky disappointed by its material. And Jodie Gillies' strong voice emerges from a thin veneer of character that cannot hope to enmesh us in her emotional problems with Sergievsky and his American counterpart Trumper (David McLeod).Similarly, Laurence Clifford, John Wood and Maria Mercedes as Sergievsky's wife are excellent but restricted.
Chess may be a winner at the box office but it is a work which, striving for substance with its Chess metaphor, gets partly lost along the way.