Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus (ABBA) teamed up with lyricist Tim Rice (Evita, Lion King) to produce a concept album in 1984. Chess was an allegory for the Cold War tensions between Russia and the US in 1980s and along with two hit singles: I know him so well and One night in Bangkok, the album was an international success.Two years later, Chess premiered on London’s West End with an expanded story and casting Elaine Paige, Tommy Korberg and Murray Head from the album in the title roles. After winning many awards including best musical, Chess ran for three years and closed in April 1989.
Exactly 29 years later (to the month) Chess is back on the London stage, this time at the English National Opera’s Coliseum for just five weeks.
We attended the first live performance. Opening nights are usually riddled with unexpected problems, but nothing could have prepared us the audience or indeed the cast and crew for what was to happen.
The stage is incredible. The orchestra pit has been removed and the stage extended in fragmentations of chess boards which continue onto the walls as giant screens. Right in the centre about three meters higher than the stage is the orchestra, on show for all to see. The screens show video, images and live footage from the actors on stage – unfortunately there is a slight delay between live and video meaning the singing doesn’t sync with the actor’s lips, which can become frustrating.
The main cast are made up of six characters played by Michael Ball, Phillip Browne, Alexandra Burke, Tim Hawar, Cassidy Janson and Cedric Neal. After them is an extremely large ensemble of twenty people. This meant that there were a lot of voices singing in the chorus scenes and (especially in Act 1) they weren’t all in time, meaning it was near impossible to hear what they were singing. The main cast were not immune to this either with occasional clashing vocals, missed cues and a few stumbled over dialogue. As someone who knows the music and the storyline, this wasn’t a huge problem for me, but my partner who knew very little about the show, struggled to understand what was happening. Again, this was opening night and everyone was bound to be nervous performing in front of a live audience for the first time. The stand outs of the show were Michael Ball and Alexandra Burke who (to my knowledge) got everything right.
The interval came and Ken and I chatted about the show, with me explaining that first nights are synonymous with problems and most could be forgiven. Thirty minutes later and we were still waiting for the lights to go down. I commented that this was the longest interval I’d ever experienced when all of a sudden, a man walked out on to the stage and began speaking to the audience. It was the director Laurence Connor. He addressed the crowd, thanked us for coming and informed us that things usually go wrong on opening night. He also explained that they had only been in tech for the past seven days… at this point I was expecting him to say that something had gone wrong with the staging and the rest of the show had to be cancelled; instead he dropped a bigger bombshell. Lead actor Tim Howar’s wife had just gone into labour and he’d had to rush to the hospital meaning that his understudy was to take his place in Act 2. Cellen Chug Jones was an ensemble member and had never even rehearsed the role of Freddie Trumper, yet it was either him or no one.
I know they say anything can happen in live theatre – and as true as this is, what happened last night is unheard of. The lead actor leaving the show during the interval on opening night is not a common occurrence. I have seen hundreds of productions, have starred in hundreds more and even written and directed my own musical and THIS NEVER HAPPENS! So of course Cellen had never rehearsed this, no one expected this to happen. Can you imagine the commotion back stage? No wonder the interval lasted as long as it did. Props to the director for actually coming on to the stage and informing the audience to what was happening, but the biggest applause has to be award to Cellen who goes from ensemble to literally opening Act 2.
The music begins and a beautifully choreographed dance and circus act takes place symbolising we are now in Asia. Cellen steps out as a TV presenter and begins the song One Night in Bangkok. He knows every word but it’s obvious he’s unsure of the staging. There are at least 20 people on stage with him and everyone of them helped guide him to his next spot without losing a beat or messing up their own choreography. Through his smile, you could see he was nervous, but like a true pro, he ploughed on to rapturous applause at the end of the song. Act 2 was remarkably better than Act 1 with the chorus being in time and no one missing their marks. I wondered if this shake up had eased everyone’s nerves to be more mindful of Cellen. Alexandra and Cassidy were flawless with their rendition of I know him so well bringing goose bumps to both Ken and I.By the end of the show, everyone was on their feet, giving the whole cast a well-deserved standing ovation, but the biggest applause and cheers were reserved for Cellen, and rightly so. There are not many people who could take over such a huge role with no prep time and no rehearsal.
Tim Howar made it to the hospital in time and his wife gave birth to their son Hamish Rex. Cellen posted a picture of him standing with Tim Rice to his twitter page with the tag line “still in shock.”
It was indeed a night for firsts.
Terry Geo