(480) 483-1664 info@desertstages.org
Mar. 4 – 20, 2022
Opening:  Friday, March 4  7:30pm
NO Saturday matinee
Saturday, March 5  7:30pm
Sunday, March 6, 2:00pm
 
Friday, March 11, 7:30pm
NO Saturday matinee
Saturday, March 12, 7:30pm
Sunday, March 13, 2:00pm
 
Friday, March 18, 7:30pm
Saturday, March 19, 2pm
Saturday, March 19, 7:30pm
Sunday, March 20, 2:00pm


Appropriate for ages 13+

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Scottsdale Desert Stages Theatre
Mainstage Production of

CHESS THE MUSICAL

Book by Richard Nelson

Lyrics by Tim Rice

Music by Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson

CHESS is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals. www.concordtheatricals.com

Directed by Chris R. Chávez
Music Direction by Ken Goodenberger
Choreography by Ruby Wagner

 

 

In this musical, written as a metaphor for the Cold War and written by the men of the super-group ABBA, the ancient game of chess also becomes a metaphor for romantic rivalries, competitive gamesmanship, super-power politics, and international intrigue. The pawns in this drama form a love triangle: the loutish American chess star, the earnest Russian champion, and a Hungarian American female assistant who arrives at the international chess match in Bangkok with the American, but falls for the Russian. From Bangkok to Budapest the players, lovers, politicians and spies manipulate and are manipulated to the pulse of a monumental rock score.
The story involves a politically driven, Cold War-era chess tournament between two men—an American grandmaster and a Soviet grandmaster—and their fight over a woman who manages one and falls in love with the other. Although the protagonists were not intended to represent any real individuals, the character of the American grandmaster (named Freddie Trumper in the stage version) was loosely based on Bobby Fischer, while elements of the story may have been inspired by the chess careers of Russian grandmasters Viktor Korchnoi and Anatoly Karpov.

Cast:

RoleActor
Florence
Alice Johnson
FreddieZac Bushman
AnatolyNick Hambruch
SvetlanaChristina Clodt
ArbiterJeremy Yampolsky
MolokovJosh Hengst
WalterCasey Karapetian
GregorHenry Male
NikolaiRudy Bogojevich
Young FlorenceAva Seidensticker, Charlotte Mikalsky
Ensemble

Falin Ossipinsky
Jessyca Jacobs
Joe Jacobs
Bailey Gorman
Raymere Carter
Kirsten Orrahood
Courtney Jacobs
Savoy Antoinette
Maria Bain
Kennedy Czyz
Alexandra Palmatier
Matt Snell
Tyler Snell
Salem Stolworthy