Additional casting has been announced for Chess the Musical in Concert, which will be presented in August at London's Theatre Royal Drury Lane. Originally scheduled for August 1, an additional concert will now be presented August 2.
Joining the previously announced Samantha Barks (Frozen, Les Misérables) as Florence and Hadley Fraser (2:22 A Ghost Story, City of Angels) as Anatoly will be Joel Harper-Jackson (Cock, Kinky Boots) as Freddie, Frances Mayli McCann (Bonnie and Clyde, Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour) as Svetlana, and Ako Mitchell (Caroline Or Change, The Colour Purple) as The Arbiter.
The ensemble will be made up of Joseph Craig, Darius J James, Aoife Kenny, Jessica Lee, Nick Len, Natasha May-Thomas, Alice Readie, Stuart Rouse, Phoebe Samuel-Gray, Grant Thresh, and Libby Watts, with more to be announced.
The artists will be accompanied by the London Musical Theatre Orchestra.
Chess will be directed and choreographed by Nick Winston with associate direction and choreography by Alexzandra Sarmiento, musical direction by Freddie Tapner, design by Ruth Sutcliffe, lighting design by Ben Cracknell, sound design by Tom Marshall, video projection design by Duncan McLean, casting by Harry Blumenau, and lighting programming by Chris Winn.
The 1984 musical features music by ABBA songwriters Andersson and Ulvaeus and lyrics by Tim Rice. The original 1986 London production ran for nearly three years in the West End. Despite a brief, two-month Broadway run in 1988, Chess has amassed a legion of fans who are drawn to its operatic rock score that features such songs as “I Know Him So Well,” “Nobody’s Side,” “Someone Else’s Story,” “Pity the Child,” and the stand-out single, “One Night in Bangkok.”
Chess the Musical in Concert is one of three concerts presented in August at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane. It precedes concert stagings of Kinky Boots the Musical in Concert August 8 and Treason the Musical in Concert August 22 and 23.
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