Chess Returns to the West End!

[iMartynn]

A new production of Chess, directed by Wicked and Betty Blue Eyes' own Christopher Howell is set to open at the Union Theatre next year.

Opening night is set for Valentine's Day 2013, with tickets going on sale this Monday coming.

Follow @ChessReturns on twitter for updates regarding the production.

[bob8rich]

Actually, it's not a West End production - the Union Theatre is a Fringe venue. But this will be a fantastic production - I've seen amazing things at the Union during the last few years. And Florence will be played by the awesome Sarah Galbraith - whose crdits include Ariel in the US tour of the Little Mermaid, Christine in The Phantom Of The Opera in Las Vegas and (most recently) Rita in Steel Pier at the Union. I saw Steel Pier and both Sarah and the entire production were simply superb. I also had the privilege of seeing and hearing Sarah perform at the Giggin4Good concert at the Actors' Church in October. She will be a brilliant Florence.

[Whileshesleeps]

Really looking forward to this production. Sounds like a really young cast. It will be fascinating how such an epic score normally cast with 36+ plus enormous orchestra will be scaled down. I've always thought the whole piece should be more intimate and focus on the principal characters. Hope they do something bold and daring.

[Whileshesleeps]

Tickets only gone on sale this morning. Within an hour two performances are sold out and rest only have an average of 30 seats left. Looks like this is going to be a sell out before rehearsals even begin.

[CATSNYrevival]

^I'm fairly certain The Little Mermaid musical never toured the US. If Sarah Galbraith played Ariel it wasn't in a US tour.

[EricMontreal22]

It didn't :P (though a tour is still promised, I believe)

[bob8rich]

Sorry - typo: Sarah played Ariel in a tour of The Little Mermaid in Japan! (She is also btw one of a handful of performers who have performed in all 3 US productions of Phantom - Broadway, US tour and Las Vegas).

[Whileshesleeps]

11 performances sold out - 7 more in single figures - looks like they'll have sold half the seats in the first 10 days on sale.

[DeNada]

Wow, they've sold out half the seats in the Union for the run. Capacity of the Union - about 40 people per night...

Forgive the heavy sarcasm, although hearing the glorious cheese of that score reduced down to a keyboard and a couple of strings or whatever the orchestration will be for this doesn't excite me that much. I just don't think it's that impressive when you're selling out a tiny room like that - it's like getting excited about selling out the Landor.

Plus, everyone knows the book for Chess just doesn't really work. Scaling the show down to an intimate level which the book can't support seems pretty dangerous to me.

But hey, it's Chess, one of the most popular musicals in the country. I'm sure it'll please many people. And it can't be as disappointing as the Albert Hall concert was...

[MusicalBoy]

^ It's how quickly they're selling though, by all accounts it is impressive, even for such a small venue.

[bob8rich]

Yeah - I went to book tonight for February and ALL Saturdays were already sold out plus most Sundays - so I had to book for a mid-week show.

But the main thing is I got a ticket - would be heartbroken to miss this. Such an amazing cast lined up - including Nadim Naaman (Margueritte), Natasha Barnes (Spring Awakening, Lend Me A Tenor, Stand Tall) & Craig Rhys Barlow (Ragtime, Tommy, Children Of Eden). I Know Him So well - sung by Sarah Galbraith & Tasha Barnes - is going to be mindblowing!

[9Mirrors]

Nice to see 16 performances sold out and another 6 virtually.
Interesting that the Molokov part is taken by a woman. I've heard of the Arbiter being played by a woman before but not this character. I'll be interested how many musicians are planned for this show as the score is such an epic on in places.

[Whileshesleeps]

Only 2 shows left and 10 seats between them available.

[Owen22]

Are they using the horrible London script (West End, Idina Menzel concert, bad instruments-in-hand tour) or the better (but not perfect) US version with the Richard Nelson book?

[Whileshesleeps]

I believe it's the score/script from the UK tour from a couple of years ago (but not an actor/musician version).
The show has now sold out for its' entire run.

[Phantom of London]

I got my ticket and it is very very rare I book early for anything, but glad I have now, is this likely to extend now?

I think the USA version (which has dialogue) isn't licensed to be done in the UK, likewise the UK version which was done at the Royal Albert Hall recently cannot be performed in the USA, if true, preposterous I know!

[bob8rich]

The following announcement was just tweeted by the Chess production's official twitter account:

"Hey everybody - there are still tickets available for most performances but they are obtainable by calling The Union on 02072619876"