Things did not augur well for the Broadway opening of Chess in the spring of 1988. The show had been conceived by lyricist Tim Rice, and, like earlier rock operas of his such as Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita, it began life as a double concept album before being adapted to the stage. Rice had split with his composing partner, Andrew Lloyd Webber, who had gone on to further successes with much less story-centered works like Cats. On Chess, Rice combined with another team fresh from a breakup, forming a sort of songwriting ...
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Things did not augur well for the Broadway opening of Chess in the spring of 1988. The show had been conceived by lyricist Tim Rice, and, like earlier rock operas of his such as Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita, it began life as a double concept album before being adapted to the stage. Rice had split with his composing partner, Andrew Lloyd Webber, who had gone on to further successes with much less story-centered works like Cats. On Chess, Rice combined with another team fresh from a breakup, forming a sort of songwriting supergroup with Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, late of ABBA. For Chess, Rice's idea was a fictionalized version of the world chess championship at Reykjavik, Iceland, in 1972, in which bad-boy American Bobby Fischer beat Russian Boris Spassky in a tournament with Cold War implications. Rice was interested in those implications, as well as in romantic triangles -- his story had two -- and in the mass media and commercialization he had encountered in his own career. It all came together in a 1984 recording using some of the same principals from Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita that produced a Top Ten album in the U.K. with two hits, the Top 20 "One Night in Bangkok" sung by Murray Head (once Judas Iscariot in Jesus Christ Superstar) and the chart-topper "I Know Him So Well," a duet between Elaine Paige (the Evita of the London stage) and Barbara Dickson (who was on the Evita concept album). A stage production initially directed by Broadway veteran Michael Bennett, who dropped out due to illness, and then Trevor Nunn opened in London 19 months later, and became a hit featuring the singers from the album. (Thus, no original London cast album was deemed necessary.) In the U.S., the album only made the Top 50, but "One Night in Bangkok" was a Top Five hit. By 1988, Rice, Andersson, and Ulvaeus seemed like relics from the '70s to Americans who had even heard of them. (Their careers later rebounded.) Fischer was even more forgotten, and chess had retreated back to the niche sport it had been before he came along. Meanwhile, the Cold War was finally winding down, and it couldn't have seemed likely that American theatergoers, late in the Reagan era, would warm to a story in which the Soviet chess player was the hero and the American one, if not exactly a villain, certainly wasn't admirable. As if all that wasn't enough, Nunn, apparently dissatisfied with the compromises he'd been forced to make in taking over from Bennett in London, reconceived the show for Broadway and brought in a new book writer, with lots of rewriting of the music as well. The show's resulting failure may explain why RCA Victor Records, while deciding to record an original Broadway cast album, has cut it down to one disc, its 70-minute running time not representative of a show that took up three hours in the theater. Some of the music from the concept album had to go due to the rewriting -- there's no point in the opening choral number "Merano" now that setting has been eliminated, for example. On the other hand, the addition of a Hungarian back-story results in some new material ("Hungarian Folk Song," "Lullaby [Apukád Eros Kezén]"). And there's a good new ballad, "Someone Else's Story." The major songs are still here, and the major singers, Judy Kuhn, David Carroll, and Philip Casnoff, are all good. Still, this abbreviated, much-altered recording of Chess is far inferior to the concept album that preceded it four years back. ~ William Ruhlmann, Rovi
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Add this copy of Chess (1988 Original Broadway Cast) to cart. $6.59, very good condition, Sold by HPB-Diamond rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1989 by Rca Records/Sbme.
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Very good. Providing great media since 1972. All used discs are inspected and guaranteed. Cases may show some wear. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Add this copy of Chess (1988 Original Broadway Cast) to cart. $6.59, fair condition, Sold by Goodwill of Colorado rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from COLORADO SPRINGS, CO, UNITED STATES, published 1990 by RCA Victor.
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Add this copy of Chess to cart. $6.95, good condition, Sold by HPB Inc. rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1988 by RCA Victor.
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Good. Providing great vinyl and media since 1972. All used records are inspected and guaranteed. May have wear and minor issues from previous owner. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Add this copy of Chess (1988 Original Broadway Cast) to cart. $7.99, very good condition, Sold by HPB-Diamond rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1989 by Rca Records/Sbme.
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Seller's Description:
Very good. Providing great media since 1972. All used discs are inspected and guaranteed. Cases may show some wear. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Add this copy of Chess (1988 Original Broadway Cast) to cart. $7.99, very good condition, Sold by Half Price Books Inc rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1989 by Rca Records/Sbme.
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Seller's Description:
Very good. Providing great media since 1972. All used discs are inspected and guaranteed. Cases may show some wear. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
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