Nobody's On Nobody's Side

Bank in London town again, and this time, it is another big one; one of the biggest musicals of the 80s is having its first revival ever since its original production. Following their productions of Sweeney Todd, Sunset Boulevard and Carousel, the ENO's next production is Chess, written by ABBA's Benny and Bjorn, alongside Tim Rice.
Set during the height of the Cold War, Chess follows a match at the World Chess Championships between an American and a Soviet, and the private and political conflict surrounding it.

Originally a concept album, the original cast included Elaine Paige as Florence, and premiered in London in 1986, a similar time to when Les Mis and Phantom were arriving on the scene - though, as I said before, this is the first time it has received a full staging since then. It did receive though a concert version in 2008, starring the likes of Idina Menzel, Josh Groban, Adam Pascal and Kerry Ellis (The Importance of Being Earnest, Wonderland) - it's on YouTube, and you should definitely check it out, but as you may be realising, I have never seen it live. Until now; directed by Laurence Connor, who has directed the previous Les Mis and Phantom tours, Miss Saigon and School of Rock among others, it is playing at the Coliseum until 2nd June - so I had to get in there quick.

Over the weekend - on royal wedding day no less (was trying to listen to the service on the train to no avail!), I hopped to London and back again to catch this - no way was I going to miss Michael Ball in anything!!! I had seen him before in Mack and Mabel, but it's Michael Ball, wouldn't you jump at the chance to see him in as much as possible?! Here, he played Soviet Anatoly Sergievsky, the Russian chess player, who defects his country, leaving his wife for another woman in the process; and he was just as awesome as ever.

Speaking of his frustrated wife, Svetlana, she was played by Alexandra Burke (Sister Act), and interesting choice to say the least. People may agree or disagree about her casting; I personally thought she did a good job, and her soulful voice was a nice contrast to Cassidy Janson's Florence in I Know Him So Well - can I also mention the tension between them when the two women set eyes on each of other at the end of that song. What I did love is that her part had been expanded, as from what I knew from the concert version, she didn't have a lot to do. From having a moment before Anatoly leaves for Merano showing friction building between her and her husband, to having a new song written for her, He is a Man, He is a Child - to best of all having Someone Else's Story play immediately after the news is revealed Anatoly has fled. On a side note, I am singing Someone Else's Story in my singing lessons, so was interesting how Burke had done it.

To the other members of the cast, I really enjoyed Tim Howar as the cocky and broken American Freddie Trumper, especially his Pity The Child (a MASSIVE song), as well as Philip Browne as the KGB agent Molokov. Cedric Neal as The Arbiter deserves a mention too, even though he had next to nothing to do - even Svetlana now has more to do...
Can I also add how much Howar looked like Robert Carlyle from the back or side......

The final person to mention is the star for me, and that is Cassidy Janson (who has just completed a tour as one of The Leading Ladies) as Florence Vassy, an Anglo-Hungarian who starts out as Freddy's no.2, but ends up falling in love with Anatoly. Nobody's Side was already my favourite song from the show, and her version gave me chills - Florence is now on the list of roles I would love to play one day!

I must also mention the technology used in the show - as they often had cameras on certain actors and then beamed them onto two screens put up on either side of the set. It was a clever touch, for a show which discusses media coverage of politics at the time etc etc.

Finally, I need to give a mention to the orchestra - and yes, I said ORCHESTRA! This is the ENO here, and so the full advantage of a 60 piece orchestra is taken; you can really tell in numbers like Endgame. The only downside was the balance was a bit off sometimes, so in certain ensemble numbers, you couldn't hear what exactly the actors were singing. That is a hard task in itself, as Chess is a hard score to sing - and that is coming from my personal experience from my singing lessons......

If you think this is for you, then get in quick, as the run ends 2nd June. Chess is by no means the easiest musical to follow, but it is one strangely timely (!) ride.