Moving the Pieces

I have written before of my long love of the musical Chess -- this despite never having seen a professional production of the play in person. I discovered the multiple soundtrack albums in high school, was jealous when my high school actually did the play the year after I graduated, and most recently, enjoyed the reimagined concert version on DVD. But now I can say I've finally seen it for myself -- the Arvada Center here in the suburbs of Denver is staging it, and I went last night.

Oh, what a fun mess Chess is. The music is my favorite overall of any musical I've ever heard. But its story has never completely worked. And so Chess has become a perpetual work-in-progress for over 25 years. Even its creators basically give their blessing for any staged production of it to mix up the songs, reorder the scenes, and rearrange the dialogue in search of that elusive perfect production. I'd heard that the Arvada Center was mounting a new version of the play, and I just assumed it would be a full staging of the concert version I'd seen on DVD. But no, it turns out that the theater world is still not done tinkering with Chess.

This production does retain a lot of the elements that worked in the "Chess in Concert" version. But it also tries out some new ideas, and largely they did not fit quite right. Most awkward was the attempt to modernize the timeline -- or to at least bring it forward to after the fall of the Soviet Union (and the invention of flip cell phones). The whole American vs. Soviet nature of the chess tournament in the story really needs a 1970s or 1980s backdrop to fit, not to mention that the references to main character Florence's birth in the early or mid 1950s make no sense in any later time frame.

Different versions of the play have portrayed the wild man American chess player, Freddie, differently in the second act. Some times, he's a returning competitor going in to face his Russian adversary a second time. Other times, he's a washed up failure now watching from the outside, but trying to still manipulate the game behind the scenes with politics. This production awkwardly tried to retain both elements, having him compete while simultaneously trying to pass as a separate master manipulator.

A problem not really solved in this version more than any others is the behavior of the characters. The first act still asks the audience to believe in a love established in only two scenes, and a seven year business relationship of obvious friction somehow now busting up overnight. It asks you to imagine for yourselves how the love went sour during the undramatized year that passes during the intermission. It asks you to accept the motivations of all three main characters turning on a dime during the second act. It's a schizophrenic story, and can probably only be sold by an over-the-top acting style that probably wouldn't ultimately entertain anyway.

But oh... that music. And, in this case, the staging. The Arvada Center's production had an impressive two-story set with a spinning turntable, a raised "chess board" space, a moving balcony, and industrial-looking staircases framing it all. And the action was placed upon it in dynamic and entertaining ways.

And there were some very skilled performers in the cast. The ensemble chorus was a solid support throughout, and shined during the few numbers in which they got to take on specific roles ("Press Conference" and "Embassy Lament", in particular). Denver local Stephen Day, as Molokov, was the one performer to consistently land his jokes and elicit laughs from the audience. Lisa Karlin made a strong Florence; her vocal prowess in the songs was matched by a Herculean effort to try to build a behavior arc for her character in spite of the limited script support. And Tally Sessions was a phenomenal Anatoly; he seemed like he might be a bit shaky at first, but by halfway through Act 1 (and with his powerful "Anthem" in the Act 1 finale), he cemented himself as the best in the cast.

You're not likely to think Chess the best night you've ever spent at the theater. But if you can forgive the odd compressions and contortions in the story, it is a feast for the senses -- the visuals will impress, and the songs will move you. If you're at all familiar with the music, you'd do well to attend in the next two weeks before the show closes.