#Chess på svenska

[pureanonofficial]

CHESS PÅ SVENSKA (2003)

[gay-edwardian]

it is. 1:05 here. I should not rewatch Chess på Svenska.

Right?

I should-

I should not.

.

[falseastanielsen]

the problem with me watching the genius that is Chess på Svenska at the same time as Taylor releasing the train wreck that is tortured poets department is that I’ve had this unfortunate vision stuck in my head. anyway, graphic design is my passion and yeah I am creating a Tumblr blog for the purpose of sharing this.

[alwaysbeyondhope]

…whoops.

I planned an extra long weekend in Stockholm in August just for Helen and Tommy’s concert.

Thought of the idea this morning. Spent the day working out details and booking things.

Just need to book the (cheap) hotel and check when I can switch flights (weird booking issue).

This is my first trip completely solo. I’m staying in Stockholm for the trip, not with @pocket-elf this time. (I’LL MISS YOOOUUUUUU but the birdy has to learn to flyyyyy).

It’s only 4 days, really. More like 3ish.

I’m unhinged, I know.

But the world is on fire, we’ll have a fascist as our president, everything costs more and is a shittier product, and I want to focus my life on what brings me joy instead of all that fuckery.

So Stockholm in August it is!!

[antialiasis]

Chess på svenska

Wow, this one really is entirely different from the others. This is a Swedish translation of Chess from 2002, and I mean translation very loosely: half the songs here have just been repurposed to be about something entirely different and/or take place in some entirely different context within the plot, and the lyrics may or may not have any relation whatsoever to what the original lyrics were. ("I Know Him So Well" is just literally the exact opposite of the original song, Svetlana arguing that Anatoly needs structure and rules i.e. her and Florence that he needs freedom i.e. her.)

The bit where doing it in Swedish means they have to write new lyrics does give them a lot of creative freedom to restructure the story. An English version has to try to find some configuration of the existing songs and write its way between them, or else actually get Tim Rice to write entirely new lyrics. Chess på svenska knew the language change meant it didn't technically have to do that, and just really milked that for all it was worth in figuring out an entirely new way to tell something loosely like the base story using some of the same melodies (and some new ones).

This time around, Anatoly is the main-main character (he's played by Tommy Körberg, who was Anatoly on the concept album, and I do like his performance a lot). We start with him at home, singing "The Story of Chess" to his son after an argument with Svetlana, who already thinks he's cheating on her on his chess trips. There's only one chess tournament once again, in Merano, with Freddie as the champion and Anatoly as the challenger.

I think this was the best beginning of Florence and Anatoly's relationship in any of these. She really does vent her frustrations about Freddie to him (in a completely rewritten version of "Someone Else's Story", taking place after she witnesses Freddie with other girls at a club after "1956 - Budapest Is Rising"), and he's interested in her father, and he sort of pulls her with him when Molokov is distracted so he can go apply for political asylum. All in all I quite liked much of the first act here, the way it also gave focus to Florence's trauma and the way they connected and the generally effective staging, and was prepared to speak generally positively of it by the time of the act break.

On the other hand... where Chess in Concert's first act was far too slow, this one really dragged in act two. We spend a while on the romance drama, and in act two it all gets a lot blander and lengthier.

We start Act II by doing "Argument" from the concept album but as a totally rewritten argument between Florence and Freddie, which is fine. Then we do "Pity the Child", which is one of the songs that's just legitimately a translation, although it loses the whole parallel of the repeated "Just in case they said...", boo. Then we do an argument between Anatoly and Svetlana at their hotel (Molokov had her and their son just plan abducted and taken there) after Anatoly cavorting with Florence has been publicized... and we use "Endgame" for it, and it's partly a translation, has Svetlana berating him for only caring about himself and him telling her she never understood, etc. I was like huhhh, we're pulling out the super-dramatic climax song now? Okay, I guess it gets a reprise for the climax? But okay, cool, fine.

Then Florence does "Heaven Help My Heart", which is not really a translation but still fairly generic love song. Then Svetlana sings a new song, "He Is a Man, He Is a Child", about her relationship with Anatoly. Then we do a "Merano" reprise where Florence and Anatoly go out to dance somewhere and Freddie arrives extremely drunk to warn him off her because she's a terrible woman don't you know women are the worst (can't believe every version of this musical is wildly different from the others but apparently every one of them chooses to include Freddie's misogyny verse, even the Swedish version that has to move it to an entirely different spot in the plot in an entirely different song). Then we do a long sequence with some acrobats doing cool acrobatics while Florence and Anatoly gaze in each other's eyes. Then they do "You and I", as a generic love song. At this point I looked up at my husband and went, "So like, is the chess tournament still going on at this point?" Don't get me wrong, the acrobats are great, it's very artistic, but as far as the story goes we've just ground way to a halt by this point, in my opinion, and my attention was definitely wandering.

I think the problem is there isn't a good enough sense of actual emotional progression to all this - of course dramatic arguments can totally be gripping storytelling, but here it kind of feels like you could put these bits in any order or skip some and they'd all make the same amount of sense - it doesn't feel like anything actually changes for Florence and Anatoly because of Freddie showing up the way he does, or like Anatoly's argument with Svetlana affected his emotional state or informed how he acts in the dance scene, or anything. As a result, it feels like it's just kind of spinning its wheels here, doing scenes that are dramatic on their face but aren't actually progressing anything for the narrative.

After this the Arbiter does announce they're going to continue the chess match (what even is the Arbiter in this version, incidentally). After the rewritten "I Know Him So Well", Anatoly meets Molokov and asks when he'll get to meet his son, and Molokov tells him he's sure adopted the Western ideology of selfishness fast and you know what'll happen to your family if you stay in the West and if you know what's good for them you'll lose the next match and then rescind your defection. (Oh, and Molokov gets a song here about the wife he used to have whom he betrayed as a sacrifice for the cause.)

Then they do the match, under the "Champions" chorus, and Anatoly just... quietly loses. No "Endgame" at all other than the one during that argument near the beginning of the act! I actually managed to miss the moment he even lost and had to rewatch it to be sure exactly how it went (it's not even explicit whether he threw the match on purpose per se). It's quite an anticlimax compared to the bombastic high drama of "Endgame". I do get what they're going for with this, though, the quietness and the ominous choir reciting the champions in the background just making it all very small and sad, and we don't really need words here to know this Anatoly loves his son so much it was never a choice for him under Molokov's explicit threat - after that Molokov scene, this is the most effective this ending could be, and I think they made a good call doing it this way, given they went for that.

I like Anatoly and Florence in this version, although I feel like they get muddled and less distinct in the second act. Freddie here is the boring asshole version, never really humanized beyond the obligatory "Pity the Child", which isn't enough by itself to make Freddie feel like a compelling character. I found myself particularly disappointed in Svetlana, though, because she does get a significant amount of focus but never in a way that really makes her sympathetic or likable or interesting, as she's constantly just being pitted against Florence and Anatoly rather than truly getting developed as a person with her own independent existence and feelings that aren't about grr Anatoly and grr Florence. One of the things I liked about "I Know Him So Well" originally is that it's about Florence and Svetlana, who are theoretically romantic rivals, each being sympathetic to the other's point of view (even if they don't know it) - originally Chess doesn't pit them against one another at all, instead only having them echo and back up each other. Not so here, where Svetlana calls Florence a whore and "I Know Him So Well" is instead an argument where they're both going, "No, mine." I just enjoy that dynamic a lot less, and Svetlana just feels kind of one-dimensional.

So, all in all, I think this version had cool promise and did some cool things, Tommy Körberg was great, but it also definitely floundered in various ways particularly in the second act, in my opinion. I may write one more post of final synthesized Chess thoughts now that I've experienced all the main plot strains as far as I understand it.

[acatinafancyhat]

Watched Chess på Svenska last night since people have been recommending it! Boy it was A Lot. My family has no respect for bonkers Swedish musicals so i'm just gonna vent the thoughts i had while watching it here. Beware of spoilers (though I probably haven't even noted half of the crazy shit that happened this show is really something else).

I had only seen RAH Chess in Concert and a few snippets of other versions going into this so that was my baseline, but in hindsight these two versions aren't really comparable since they're barely trying to tell the same story...

This is a little long I apologize i had many thoughts (: Also this formatting may or may not work, I'm about to find out.

Act I

- First impression: oh wow Chess has a plot now

- So Anatoly is the protagonist? Interesting.

- I like Swedish Florence she's cute? However Swedish Freddie has been on screen for five seconds and he already Sucks

- Ok I was NOT prepared for drunk florence singing nobody's side but turns out that's exactly what this musical needed

- Oooooohhhh Florence and Anatoly running into each other in the hotel could it be?? that this version?? actually invests in their relationship????

- Jean Jaques van Boren what a name, and he didn't even need one

- This arbiter is in a show all of his own look at the little man go he's so into it. Into what, I'm not sure.

- Wait is he flying on a wire because he's above the game is this symbolism

- Did Freddie... did he just... eat a chess piece?? I... what...??

- Aww hungover Florence is trying so hard to be dignified i'm already very up for her walking out on Freddie in this one.

- "the toads fall out of your mouth" heh idioms from other languages are the best

- Um this arbiter kinda gives me the creeps?

- Florence and Anatoly hanging out! bonding! not just running off into the sunset after being in the general vicinity of each other for 5 minutes!! (No offense to RAH Mountain Duet it's great and hating on Freddie together is a hilarious catalyst for their relationship but I'm actually getting invested here)

- Someone Else's Story is literally a different song but it works

- "husband" wait are Florence and Freddie supposed to be married in this?

- Sneaking away from Molokov ahahahaha

- oh sHIT YOU LEAVE THAT CHILD ALONE!

- And they are aware that there is no embassy in Merano yes thank you i did wonder about that like these places don't grow on trees how did they all even get there in RAH?

- Coming to the conclusion that everyone in Merano is batshit crazy

- And just realized that Walter isn't even here. Does he not exist? Has Sweden canceled the CIA?

- Swedish Mountain Duet is also a different song. Anatoly is very charming yet has lowkey Bastard vibes. Florence is clearly having a minor mental breakdown here maybe don't drag her into your midlife crisis? Oh well, at least he has some respect for her, unlike chess piece munching Freddie...

- But "She's my only friend" aw fuck now i have feelings about this asshole

- Anthem is good. Anthem is always good.

Act II

- Start of this act is already looking Intense

- Swedish Freddie is such a trainwreck my god.

- How To Lose a Girl in Ten Seconds the autobigraphy by Frederick Trumper

- "So you want to break up" FUCK the look on his face just killed me

- This Pity the Child is somehow more pathetic than other versions I have seen. And i mean that in the best way. He's hugging the pillow. Just wants mommy to love him. Fuck.

- So here's Endgame showing up early hmmm

- And here's Anatoly evolving from lowkey bastard into full on piece of shit. Has Svetlana done anything to deserve this abuse? Not to my knowledge, no.

- "You're an ass!" Sveta sweetie you are absolutely correct

- But at least he loves his kid I give him one (1) credit for that.

- I have mixed feelings about Heaven Help My Heart in RAH but it works much better here in terms of both timing and lyrics!

- Oohh new Svetlana song (heard of it but never heard it). Yes Sveta you TELL him.

- Merano reprise?

- Happy Florence!!! Happy Florence!!!! Happy Florence is adorable look at her precious smile!!!!!

- Aaaaand in comes freddie to fuck it up.

- (gets his kicks above the waistline but sure knows how to hit below the belt)

- "Take it easy, little friend" omg

- *aggressively clinging to each other while singing about how they never want to see the other person again* yep i'm dead

- This Freddie really has zero redeeming qualities AND YET

- oh random acrobatics? cool. i'm no longer surprised by anything that happens on this stage.

- Jean Jacques van Boren is back. I want to compare him to something but every time i see him my mind just goes blank in quiet horror.

- Svetlana strolling in to slay that cheating motherfucker

- Ok I support Sveta's rage always but I have to say i do not love this flipping of I Know Him So Well. I mean, what's the point? Why do they have to fight? It's not like it's Florence's fault Anatoly decided to run off (at least not in this version) since it was pretty clear from the beginning that him and Sveta weren't doing,, super great. The original song has its own issues but I stand behind the concept of Florence and Sveta bonding over their shared experiences with shitty men and especially this shitty man. Now it just makes me like both of them less. And it still doesn't pass the Bechdel test. Ugh.

- Molokov gets a Tragic Backstory because everyone needs one i guess

- It is not smart to fuck with the KGB. Anatoly appears startled by this.

- Side note this act has too little Freddie in it where's my epic rivalry where is the drama

- The way the stage is set up for the final match is pretty cool though

- This match feels a little anticlimactic but in a way that sort of works? Everyone's made their choices already? This is just the inevitable end to the tragedy and you can feel it.

- It does make the whole 'singing the names of previous champions' thing seem a little out of sync. We're past that, this obviously isn't about chess anymore.

- The circular ending is neat. The Story of Chess still doesn't fit the rest of the narrative. Again, very little actual chess in this.

- At this point I don't really care about Anatoly's feelings but Florence deserves better. Normally I'd say she deserves Svetlana but this Svetlana is kind of terrible so, hm, no. She deserves to be single and recover from her breakdown in peace i honestly don't want her to see any of these people again.

Well I definitely understand why this is some people's favorite version! The story's close to solid, and even though everyone's an asshole, they all have their moments of being... if not sympathetic, then at least just pathetic (looking at you Freddie) enough that the audience can give a damn. Personally i still prefer RAH, but then I did come here by way of Rent so I'm biased.

Anyway if you haven't seen Chess på Svenska yet go watch it, you will come out of the experience a different person but you won't have wasted your time :)

[gay-edwardian]

I was going to do this with the original version but I have more feelings about På Svenska.

(Also all the versions I am familiar enough with to have an opinion on below the cut)

I can't fully explain my enmity for the 2008 concert but I don't like it. I am including the 1989 concert version alongside the concept album.

handy chart to have on hand when judging or recommending a thing

[pureanonofficial]

Are you happy with what you have managed to ruin?

CHESS PÅ SVENSKA

[commiefaggoth]

Thanks for the tag @faggottranssexual

Here are six albums I’ve had on repeat recently

1. Chess the musical

2. Various Positions - Leonard Cohen

3. Jesus Christ superstar

4. Chess på svenska

5. New Skin For the Old Ceremony - Leonard Cohen

6. British Steel - Judas Priest

Tagging: @miniwid @signeficunt @discofitta

:)

[starlene]

@teal-skull tagged me to do a thing – thank you!

When you see this, post 5 songs you actually listen to and tag 10 of your favorite followers/mutuals!

From the top of my Spotify On Repeat playlist:

Käärijä: Cha Cha Cha (I’m not a Eurovision fan, nor do I listen to Finnish music a lot, but I’m also not immune to nation-wide hype)

Oingo Boingo: Dead Man’s Party – Live (this was my jam when I was 14 years old... and apparently when I’m 30 years old, too)

Philip Quast / Les Misérables 10th Anniversary Concert: Stars (this is very, very high up on my list of all-time best renditions of musical songs)

Elisabeth Andreassen / Chess på norsk: Dommaren (this slaps)

Moulin Rouge! Original Broadway Cast: Elephant Love Medley (this also slaps)

I don’t think I’ll be doing the full ten tags... but I’ll tag my newest mutuals @thekingandthejester and @nappi (hi!!) and beloved old mutuals @ensignbeedrill, @wilwarien & @doggytail-duck!

[suppenzeit]

every day i look on encora if a finnish version of a musical is on there and every day im disappointed (its not there)

[antialiasis]

Chess - 1990 Long Beach version

Honestly I was very pleasantly surprised by this one? It's apparently a slightly modified take on the Broadway version, which I had the general impression was pretty poorly received, but whether it's Broadway or the modifications, in many ways I think this one works best of the three versions of Chess I have watched so far.

Florence is distinctly the main protagonist here; we open with a sequence with her child self and her father who's been teaching her to play chess (he's the one who sings "The Story of Chess"), and the narrative is pretty focused around her generally. Florence actually plays chess in this one! Not even just as a child, with Freddie too! She gets all the added Florence bits that were in the Sydney version but also more focus otherwise (the book here has a lot more dialogue and less singing than the previous two). The pacing is solid, they do sell the romance okay, Anatoly is sympathetically troubled as he is suffocated by political pressure (Molokov goes a lot further in this one, telling Anatoly all about how by the way Svetlana's lost her house, and so has his brother, oh and his brother's five-year-old son has had an """accident""", since he defected).

(Walter, meanwhile, is made less of a total asshole in the end here, which feels a little funny given in the first half he definitely felt like a total asshole and I feel kind of disoriented by exactly at what point he stopped being that or whether there was any kind of sensible trigger for it. I can't help but feel like this version made for American audiences wanted to make the American government the Good Guys and the Soviet government the Bad Guys, which is pretty eye-roll-worthy. Chess in Concert made them both manipulative assholes, but in distinct ways, and that feels a lot better thematically.)

Freddie, again, gets no redemption arc and no "Talking Chess"... but he does feel coherent in his pathetic, toxic, pitiable sort of way, in a way I didn't really feel in the Sydney version. In this one, Anatoly is actually the reigning champion and Freddie is the challenger (like in the Sydney version, it's just one championship match and it's Anatoly and Freddie all the way through); Freddie feels kind of generally portrayed as just not actually that great of a chess player, and has an insecurity streak a mile wide, angry about losing or being challenged. After Florence leaves him for Anatoly he's just made of raging impotent jealousy for the entire rest of the play; "One Night in Bangkok" is a montage of him boozing and womanizing instead of showing up to his matches for a while after she quits. "Pity the Child" is him in his hotel room and ends with him curling up wrapping himself up in his blanket, which feels pretty appropriate in its childlikeness.

During the final match (which Anatoly is late for, like in the Sydney version, but this time it's because he's desperately distracted by the whole we're-physically-threatening-your-five-year-old-nephew thing, and Florence actually encourages him to show up), Freddie is a nervous wreck and can't concentrate - only for Anatoly to throw the match and let him win anyway, for the sake of Florence and her father (yes, originally the whole point was his refusal to throw the match and then in this version he just casually does the exact opposite of what the original ending was about; welcome to Chess, apparently). Freddie obliviously assumes Anatoly just made a mistake and accepts victory, never to learn that he should've lost this one. All in all Freddie is a reasonably well-portrayed character here, I think - a character who is a terrible, pathetic, petulant bundle of issues who learns nothing, and I don't enjoy him the way I enjoy Chess in Concert Freddie, but he makes sense and you can feel a little sorry for him.

At the very end here, Florence actually reunites with her father, thanks to Anatoly's sacrifice; it's a little unclear exactly how, since Walter tells her Anatoly thought he was being exchanged for her father when really it was for an agent and they weren't able to find her father, but then I think(?) Anatoly's friends have just managed to hunt him down anyway? I gather in the original Broadway version, Molokov brought in an actor to pretend to be her father and it ended with Walter telling her actually sorry that wasn't your father, your real father's probably dead, goodbye. Which is profoundly twisted. Weirdly I don't entirely hate that, in that "politics screws everyone over terribly" is a theme here and boy, that sure is some politics screwing everyone over in the most enraging possible way. On the other hand, the ending here where Florence does get screwed out of her relationship with Anatoly but also does reunite with her father is nice and cathartic without entirely killing the overall vibe.

There were some slightly awkward bits with song placements and such. I particularly noticed how "Nobody's Side", which is placed after "Florence Quits" here, just doesn't make as much sense - her feelings about Freddie during "Nobody's Side" are obviously supposed to be way more ambivalent than she naturally ought to be right now after he's just gone full woman-hating dick on her and also nearly hit her. You see your present partner in the imperfect tense, now? You don't see how you can last? Did you not just already full-on walk out on him, Florence?! "I Know Him So Well" also just hits weirdly when Florence has known him for the space of exactly one (1) chess tournament, instead of for an entire year (I felt the same with the Sydney version). I was also actually expecting "Someone Else's Story" to come a bit later than it did - I'd been thinking that the line in it about "I could be in someone else's story / In someone else's life / And he could be in mine" was a major giveaway that it was originally written for Florence who actually has a specific him that she'd be thinking of there, but at least here, it happens before she gets to properly know Anatoly, which surprised me. (But then again "Nobody's Side", which is usually placed there, also has a line suggesting Florence is already thinking of Anatoly in a romantic context for some reason - at least that's how I read "The one I should not think of keeps rolling through my mind". It doesn't make any sense to me that Florence has anything resembling romantic feelings for Anatoly before the mountain/terrace duet. I'm just confused by this generally.)

Also, it bugged me that when Anatoly was obviously being threatened and coerced into returning to Russia, Florence seemed to immediately take it like he just wanted to go back? What are you talking about, Florence, why are you not listening to him or showing the slightest sympathy about this.

Overall, this version definitely feels a lot more... black and white than London/Chess in Concert (ha ha, chess, black and white). One of the things I enjoyed about Chess in Concert was it being pretty gray about things. Freddie is terrible but also increasingly unhappy about being manipulated until he decides to help Anatoly; Anatoly is sympathetically suffocated by politics but also spends the climax fiercely arguing with Florence and Svetlana on why he's not going to lose the match for their sake; Walter and Molokov are slimy and manipulative but all in a relatively benign sort of way. This one has much harder, clearer lines. Anatoly is a good guy: he's sympathetic, his marriage to Svetlana hadn't been much for many years and she's accepting of the affair, during the final match he makes a noble self-sacrifice for Florence's sake because obviously she's more important than a chess match and his freedom. Freddie is a bad guy: he's terrible and pathetic and abusive and while he has his Freudian excuse he has no redeeming qualities. Walter is a good guy, somehow, in the end: he tells Florence everything, and that they did all they could to get her father. Molokov is a bad guy: he threatens innocents and all his friendly remarks about his wife are lies because he's never even been married. It's not really bad, exactly, but it does make it a bit less nuanced, just not quite as interesting.

But, all in all, I think by itself this version was a pretty decent musical, which successfully kept me interested and made me care about the characters while it was going on. If this had been the first one I'd watched, I'd have felt reasonably positively about it. But I still wouldn't have latched onto it the way I latched onto my favorite bits of Chess in Concert, which were pretty specific to my brain.

[pureanonofficial]

Extremely normal ways to break up!!

THE FUCKING PROBLEMSSSSSSSSSSSSS. THE WAY THEYRE HOLDING EACHOTHER WHILE SINGING SHIT LIKE I ONLY FEEL HATRED TOWARDS YOU. EXPLODING FOREVER?!?!

[alwaysbeyondhope]

I’ve got a ten minute break in a work meeting I’m in. I’m so tempted to check the mail for my Helen programs but I don’t wanna be distracted so I’m gonna wait until the meeting is done (also the end of my work day) and it’ll be a treat for me then.

That’s some powerful restraint right there

[fascinating-yarn]

So You Want To Know About Chess The Musical

So you want to know about Chess. The first piece of advice I have to give you is:

Step 0: Are you sure?

Because trust me, it's a whole lot weirder than you think, even if you know that the story is, in fact, only very little about chess (the board game). But if you are sure, because you have a friend who, like me, can't stop talking about it, then, you're ready to begin with step one.

Step 1: Listen to the concept album

Yes, there are plenty of recordings of the full show that are easily accessible on YouTube. Do not be fooled. With very minor exceptions, they will not elucidate anything at all. Trust me, even if your favorite actor is in one of them, start here. You will have time to get back to them later, trust me. It helps to read the synopsis of the album while listening; this has been kindly transcribed here by @alovebizarre.

Already hooked? Yeah, probably. Now you understand why all of us got stuck down here in our circle of complaining about this show. We, too, all thought it was going to be good based on the concept album.

Step 1.5: Watch the 1989 concert

This is mostly the songs of the concept album and retains the two male leads, but has Judy Kuhn playing Florence, the female lead. It's a strong concert and only cuts one song, and adds another ("Someone Else's Story", the show's only breakout hit not on the album). There is plot narration in Swedish, but one of the versions on YouTube has been subtitled in English

Step 2: Acquaint yourself with The Big Four

Now you know the music but the plot may still not be totally clear. The next step is to get to know the major variations. These are, generally:

The 1986 London version (and derivatives)

The 1988 Broadway version (and derivatives)

The 1990 Sydney version (there aren't really derivatives for this one but the material shows up Everywhere)

The 2002 Swedish version aka Chess på svenska (and derivatives)

Now, you can watch the original productions of all of these, but the issue is that the first two are both... not great. So here are some alternatives.

Step 2a: London Alternatives

The London version is mostly an expansion of the plot of the concept album, with changes - most of the structural changes were initiated by director Michael Bennett, who left the production before rehearsals due to his illness, while most of the more distinct changes of themes are from later director Trevor Nunn.

There are videos of the original production, but they're generally poorly filmed and suffer from major generation loss. There was no cast album, but the score has been recorded twice: in 2002 with the cast of a Danish touring production (released as "Chess: Complete Cast Album," but recalled soon after and not on streaming) and in 2008 at the Royal Albert Hall (this is on streaming as "Chess in Concert" - one of two albums of that name).

Any one will give you an idea of the script, but the original London production is generally the most musically cohesive. The Royal Albert Hall version has some minor script changes, most of which make no real difference, but makes some bizarre choices in terms of transition music and is generally a poorly produced album. The Danish album is likewise not very strong.

The Royal Albert Hall concert was professionally filmed but the audio is poorly mixed and the show's cast varies from a few great performances to some that are... not so much. It's also got a track record of making people either latch on immediately or be totally turned away from the show, so watch at your own risk. For a possibly better experience, watch the original London production.

Step 2b: Broadway Alternatives

The original Broadway production still has a bit of a bad reputation in the fandom, but people have generally warmed up to it. The new book, by American playwright Richard Nelson, is generally strong (if a bit overlong) until about halfway through Act Two --- at which point it suddenly isn't anymore. The original production itself doesn't help, and though there are some good moments, it was not very well directed and some of Nelson's best scenes suffer.

Firstly, you should listen to the Broadway cast album. The cast is the best part of the show and does some incredible things. The new music isn't quite as good as the original material, but is still strong and worth knowing.

In terms of the actual book, your best chance at a good experience experience is probably the 1990 Long Beach production directed by David H. Bell and starring Jodi Benson, which has a watchable video online. There are some script changes, which serve to adjust the script to be less cynical, more palatable, and better paced. After this, do go back and watch the original cast, as it generally has a stronger overall cast and some scenes are genuinely great with them.

Step 2c: Sydney and Svenska

The Sydney production closed early due to the economic recession in Australia, and the script has never been revived, but parts of it appear all over the place, especially in the London derivatives of the early 1990s. It takes bits of the plots of both London and Broadway, and becomes its own thing. It is worth knowing, and there is a mostly bearable bootleg on YouTube.

If Sydney is its own thing for being a combination of London and Broadway, Svenska is its own thing because it resembles neither. The plot is streamlined to the essentials and takes place over a much shorter period of time, plus it has two new songs. There is a proshot that has been uploaded to YouTube with subtitles, and a very good cast album. There have been some productions since based on the script, but the original is still going to be your best starting point.

Step 3: Into The Abyss

There are so many other productions and they're all a little different from each other. Most are based on London or Broadway, but some are an odd combination resulting from people who wanted to produce the London version in the US being forced to retrofit the Broadway version (unavailable for US licensing until 2008). A non-exhaustive list is:

1992 Off-Broadway: Preserved only in an incomplete, poor-quality audio bootleg, plus a slightly more complete script from a lost recording, this script is Tim Rice's first (but not last) attempt at making something definitive post-Broadway. It is one of the most bizarre scripts out there and should really be experienced late to be fully appreciated.

1990 US Tour: An early attempt to jump off the Broadway script into something new, this production stars 42.9% of the original Broadway cast of Falsettos and has some wild stuff. Don't watch till you know Broadway, since it has been known to sour people's opinions on the show.

2003 Actors' Fund Benefit Concert: This one-night only concert is preserved on a leaked (but poor quality) archival video and a higher quality rehearsal performance. The script is an attempted hybrid of the London and Broadway scripts, but leans mostly on the London script with a few Broadway changes that serve really only to stay within the legal requirements of production still in place at the time (and doubly important due to Nelson's personal support of the concert).

2018 Kennedy Center Concert Series/2022 Entertainment Workers' Fund Benefit Concert: This script was eyeing Broadway for about five years but is no longer in the works as the rights were pulled. With a new book by Danny Strong, based on the London plot but with the details changed significantly, this production takes a more overtly political spin on the show and grounds it in actual political events. Start with the 2018 version, as it's generally agreed to be better than the later concert version.

2018 London Revival: To call this production a revival is generous, being staged by the English National Opera for a limited run and generally not being considered very important. It became well known mostly for being associated with the Kennedy Center production and the general knowledge that Rice was looking to bring the show back to Broadway. Despite that, this script is entirely unrelated to the Kennedy Center version and is mostly an onstage expansion of the concept album with the show being influenced heavily by Benny and Bjorn.

With all of these I have but one piece of final advice and that is:

Step 4: Be wary of The Discourse

This is not meant to scare you away from the fandom at all. I promise we're all very friendly and most of the discussions are quite civil. But every fan has very strong opinions about this show. I have tried to present this post as neutrally as possible but my bias has absolutely creeped in and you've already been influenced by my opinions on it. Some productions (notably the Kennedy Center script) are very divisive and I encourage you to consume them yourself and forming your own opinions.

And that is how to get into Chess. If you want to. It may not be the wisest decision, but hey, we all made the same mistake.

[gay-edwardian]

I think that there should be a version of Chess the Musical where Anatoly is a woman. No other changes to the character or plot. Anatoly is married to a woman and runs off with another woman but, crucially, is still homophobic to Freddie.

Anyway this woman version of Anatoly should be played by Helen Sjöholm (who is now about the same age as Tommy Körberg was when he starred in Chess på Svenska).

My evidence for this proposal goes as follows: