As a friend of mine said, Chess is a very cerbrial show. The leads were really good, especially the young woman playing Florence and the young man playing the Russian chess player. The young man had to sing two very difficult songs, and knocked them both out of the park. It was great to see one of our Aussie sailors on stage again, as well as a couple of other people I know. (The only two things I didn't care for was the set moving after every scene and the orchestra was too loud to catch everything.)
I've known most of the music for a while, but had never scene the stage production. Am glad I did. It was much better than the concert version they showed on TV recently!
Article on Jacksonville.com (Photos are from this link as well.)
Jacksonville University brings student production of 'Chess' to Florida Theatre
Posted: April 7, 2010 - 12:06am
By Charlie Patton
Four years ago, a group of eager freshmen arrived at Jacksonville University ready to begin a new program at the school, pursuing bachelor of fine arts degrees in musical theater.
Another newcomer that fall was Rob Tudor, hired as JU's director of Music Theater and Opera and chair of the Division of Music, which he calls his dream job.
Four years later, Tudor and his seniors are preparing to present an ambitious production of "Chess," a rock musical about a romantic triangle during a Russian-American showdown for the world chess championship (think the Golden Age of Bobby Fischer), with the Cold War as the background.
Like most JU productions, "Chess" will be presented at Swisher Theatre, a 400-seat facility on the Arlington campus.
But first they are taking "Chess" to the 2,000-seat Florida Theatre this weekend for three performances. Doing the show downtown gives JU a chance to showcase its growing musical theater program, said Bill Hill, JU dean of Fine Arts. "This was the time to do it," Tudor said. "It's a chance to present a show to the city and say, 'This is what we do.' " Doing "Chess" at the Florida Theatre also provides some real world experience for performers who hope to soon be working professionally and won't always have the comfort of performing in theaters with which they are familiar.
"We need to get used to not being used to the stage," said Lukas Cyr, a 22-year-old senior from Crystal River who plays Molokov, the coach for the Russian player.
Cyr, who has signed a contract to work next with the Peach State Summer Theatre in Valdosta, Ga., said he came to the JU program because he wanted to be "a name, not a number."
Nina Waters, a 21-year-old senior from Gainesville, called the chance to perform at the Florida Theatre "exciting and scary at the same time. I've never performed for that many people at one time."
Like Cyr, she picked JU because she felt she wouldn't get lost in the crowd at the small, private university.
"JU was where I felt like I was wanted," she said. "The one-on-one attention has really helped me out."
She'll be one of two actresses taking turns playing Florence, who works for the American player but falls in love with the Russian.
Waters has already negotiated her first professional contract and will soon head for Columbus, Ohio, to join the Contemporary American Theater Company.
Vincent Teschel, a 23-year-old senior from Pensacola who plays Walter, the American manager, says the chance to perform in a 2,000-seat theater will be "a cherished moment." Next he heads to Montana to play Will Rogers in "The Will Rogers Follies."
Preparing his students to land professional jobs is a major emphasis of the program, Tudor said.
Musical training is the highest priority.
"If you don't want to study music, this isn't the place for you," he said. But musical theater majors are also expected to study acting and dancing.
"We want them to be highly marketable," he said. "Chess" will be a chance for the 45 members of his cast to showcase all three aspects of performance, he said.
The show, with lyrics by Tim Rice ("Evita," "The Lion King") and music by Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson of ABBA, originated as a concept album in 1984. The song "One Night in Bangkok," sung on the album by Murray Head, became an international hit, while "I Know Him So Well" had a long run on the charts in England. A stage version opened in London in 1986, and there was a revised, shortened version that opened on Broadway in 1988. The Broadway show got mixed reviews and closed in a few weeks. But the show has remained popular among fans of musical theater and has been frequently done, including an acclaimed concert performance done at the Royal Albert Hall in 2008.
JU's "Chess" is the Broadway version, somewhat edited and with a few elements borrowed from a version done in Sydney, Australia, in 1991, Tudor said.
"It's so much fun," Waters said. "It's way different from any other show I've been in, a pop-rock '80s-style show."
Tudor said what he hopes audiences see on the stage during "Chess" is "very-focused, highly trained acting," "some real belting" and "really cool dance numbers" and a "story and pace that is relentless."
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