REVIEW: ABBA and the Cold War: The History of Chess the Musical: Chapter 3

ABBA and the Cold War: The History of Chess the Musical

Chapter 3: The Endgame

NOTE: Our look at Chapter 2 can be found HERE.

And as the title of this last "chapter" suggests, the genesis of Chess comes to its catastrophic conclusion, its Endgame. As throughout its rocky journey, the end of it is as messy as all the rest. There was enough blame to go around - the new book writer, the set designer, an underused writing team, a critic who wouldn't let it go. But the biggest villain of all seems to be its Broadway director. It is amazing it ran as long as it did.

Link to Chapter 3 HERE.

As the previous chapter set things up, it seems director Trevor Nunn was chiefly to blame for what ended up on the Imperial stage. First, he did everything to remove the specter of Michael Bennett's work, erasing virtually all of the dancing, and with it, a great deal of the show's biggest asset, the score. Second, his virtual blackmail of the Shuberts to get his passion project, a revival The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, on Broadway proved to be a means to take Nunn from the project. Epic and ambitious, that play was an expensive 29 performance flop. Then there was the mysterious disappearance of the man. He was later found in Australia where he was staging an international Les Miserables. The bigger reason he was really there, I'll leave for you to discover, as well as why he refused to answer calls for help with his own production are ultimately what might have turned things around for Chess. Ego is a hell of a thing. 

History, it turns out, was against Chess, too. The show relied heavily on East-West tensions in general, and the Cold War, specifically. The tide was turning on that front with Gorbachev and his glasnost policy thawing things rapidly. Broadway history was deep in a mini-backlash against British mega-musicals of sorts, the opening that same season of The Phantom of the Opera notwithstanding. The leader of that movement, "The Butcher of Broadway" Frank Rich, had it out for Chess with a particularly scathing review, and later, referencing that show in other subsequent reviews.

I also had to laugh at the misguided last-ditch effort at marketing repair, with their inane "Yes, Chess!" campaign. It was, indeed, silly and nonsensical. I laughed because for years, it has been a running joke between Mike and me. Whenever there's a mention of the show, or especially when there's bad advertising we look at each other and say, "Yes! Chess!"

This section of the documentary seemed to fly by, with some juicy tidbits from behind the scenes provided by scapegoat book writer Richard Nelson and several cast members. They recalled the monolithic stage pieces manipulated by stage hands inside them, guided only by black lights and florescent floor paint, and the badge of honor each earned by getting hit by one. I was particularly charmed by their recall of racially insensitive casting that predated the Miss Saigon scandal by several years.

With the advent of the upcoming revival, it seems the story of Chess continues. It promises a refocused book, and, thankfully, a return to more of what makes it so beloved among musical theater fans - the music. Maybe the success of Mamma Mia! has empowered Benny and Bjorn to have more influence over their work, and similarly, the rise of post-Lloyd Webber Tim Rice in the intervening years will combine to bring Broadway the Chess the the Three Knights have always envisioned.

Despite a rather heavy-handed and stretched thin chess metaphor and a few more cheesy graphics, this well-intended piece wraps things up nicely, and is a valuable film for theater buffs and scholars alike. I heartily recommend giving this a watch.