Chess (regional premiere) Book by RIchard Nelson Music by Benny Andersen and Björn Ulvæus Lyrics by Tim RIce Revised and directed by Tim Baker Winner, Big Easy Entertainment Award "Best University Production" CAST Vatican Lokey as Freddie Trumper Donald Loupe, Jr. as Anatoly Sergievsky Nicole Rollin Teague as Florence Tara Brewer as Svetlana Raphaelle as The Arbiter Kevin Fricke as Walter premiered at Delgado Community College

I had never seen a production of Chess (professional or otherwise) when I sat through its first act as presented at Delgado Community College recently. It was created virtually at the same time as Les Miserables by the creator of the blockbuster musical, Tim Rice, who, with Andrew Lloyd Webber had given the world Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat, Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita before the two disbanded. Now Rice was hung up on creating another musical "serious" built upon the metaphor of chess to help explain tense East-West relations of that turbulent decade but also his own personal problems at the time with the British singing sensation Elaine Paige. Tricking out a story based in part on the characters of obnoxious American Bobby Fischer and soulful Russian Boris Spaasky, he went to the song writers for the hit Swedish group ABBA, Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus, and together they came up with a concept album which was quickly recorded by a number of European singing stars (including Elaine Paige) out of which "One Night In Bangkok" and "I Know Him So Well" became international hits and soon their concept album was being turned into a London musical to be directed by Michael Bennett. 

From http://home.earthlink.net/~jsjb/tim/chess.html: ".... Bennet pulled out of the production because he was too ill to continue. Trevor Nunn was brought in to direct an already sold-out show three months before its opening. The resulting show was a hybrid, and was pronounced doomed before it even opened - especially when previews were canceled for four days because of computer malfunctions.... 

"But it did open - on 14 May 1986 - and ran for three years.... 

"The next step was to take Chess to Broadway. There was discussion about Elaine Paige coming to the US, but ultimately the Broadway cast included none of the European stars. Chess was radically revised for Broadway. Trevor Nunn brought in playwright Richard Nelson to provide a book for the show; instead of being entirely sung-through as it had been in London; for New York it would be a play with songs... 

"The show forced its way into the 1988 Tonys category by opening at the Imperial Theatre on 28 April 1988, with previews having started on the 4th. Presented by the Shubert Organization, it starred Judy Kuhn as Florence, David Carroll as Anatoly Sergievsky, Philip Casnoff as Frederick Trumper, and Marcia Mitzman as Svetlana. Originally the Broadway Chess was over three hours long. The reviews were largely unfavorable, and it closed on 25 June after only 68 performances despite audience approval and having had $4 million worth of advance bookings..." 

Even though the concept album continues to be a cult favorite, the cult's desire to see this material staged is not only thick-headed, it is ultimately self-defeating; for, to see this material up on its feet is to harbor deep resentment if not outright contempt for all responsible. Regardless of the few minutes of actual melody, there are hours of garbled, incomprehensible lyrics and more minutes of actual dialogue that does nothing to delineate character or move a hopelessly dated plot along. Who will win the Chess game becomes moot very quickly as one grows to hate the self-serving leads and their conniving seconds. 

Nevertheless, Tim Baker, Delgado Community College's Theatre Instructor, saw fit to mount a college production of this abortive theatrical endeavor and the results were, to this reviewer, disastrous. 

Since this is really a musical concert masquerading as theatre, it behooves a would-be producer to make sure that all his principals are first and foremost better than average singers who can not only render the pop songs effectively but also sing the copious and confusing recitative that pretentiously and self-consciously apes the dissonance of Kurt Weill to such little effect, but nevertheless is laced throughout the show, like molasses on pancakes, thick and viscous and, in these untrained mouths, completely incomprehensible. Unfortunately, director Baker could not acquire the voices he needed, to say nothing of the inadequate acting abilities his cast generally harbored. 

Of the two leads, the chess men, Donald Lupe, Jr. as Anatoly, the Russian bear, is the more likeable; however, Mr. Lupe is not a very good singer and was further saddled with a heavy accent with which he was consistent. Vatican Lokey, as Freddie, the American, possesses an excellent trained voice but had difficulty giving it a pop sound and was further saddled with a character that is unlikeable in the extreme. Nicole Rolin Teague's Florence and Tara A. Brewer's Svetlana were adequate without possessing the big booming belting voices needed to really put over their pop-flavored ditties. 

Music Director Karl Harrod with his three keyboards, bass guitar and percussion, could not generate a very full rock sound and had not adequately coached his young chorus, nor did the playing area afford enough room for any kind of meaningful dancing. 

Sets and lighting by Timothy Baker and Tom Dawson were also skimpy and barely adequate, including the superfluous use of a live TV camera with four monitors which periodically gave us closeups of the various actors who, with the exception of Mr. Lokey, looked like deer caught in headlights. Mr. Lokey's self-satisfied smuggery reminded one of a contemptuous George W. Bush. One left at intermission.