Chess - one of my all-time favourite musicals is returning to the Princess of Wales Theatre for a fairly short run.Chess is set in the height of U.S./Soviet tensions during the Cold War. A hotshot American chess master, plays the Soviet world-champion in two tournaments. I suspect the inspiration comes from the 1972 "Match of the Century" between grandmasters Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky. There's political intrigue that plays out like a chess match, and the champions vie for the attention of The American's Hungarian assistant - though for very different reasons.
It's a British cast, all of whom are quite accomplished, and none of whom I think I've seen before. The show ran to rave reviews in the U.K., and Toronto is one of the first stops on the tour. From what I've heard, the director has done an amazing job of staging what can be a very difficult show to direct, and the effects are supposed to be swell as well. Good thing the cast is strong, because the score in this one is nothing short of spectacular. It demands at least three powerful voices to play The American, The Russian, and Florence. Tim Rice had a big hand in the writing, and it even resulted in a pop hit - One Night in Bangkok. Rest assured that's as cheesy as it gets. Songs like Anthem, Pity the Child, and I Know Him So Well are downright moving. If you don't like this one, you should probably just give up on musical theatre in general... and maybe seek counseling for being dead inside. Just sayin'...
Tickets run from $35-130 depending on the day, time, and where you park your butt.
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