#HIII i'm back from florence baby

[narklos]

The guilt of what you did will kill you quicker than the Combine ever will.

[magstorrn]

HOW WAS THE CHESS? 👀

hiii maya!! thank you for asking, it was so good <3 i know i've already been insufferable in the cherver about this but here's a few extra thoughts i had regarding each song

act 1

overture: baby florence walks onto the stage toward the chessboard and starts playing, then her father appears, she runs to him and he picks her up and spins her around. they walk hand in hand toward the chessboard and start playing together. eventually some soldiers appear, seem to threaten them, and walk offstage

prologue/story of chess: baby florence disappears and then it's the arbiter playing on the chessboard against gregory while the ensemble dances around them

merano: absolutely insane and very acrobatic choreo!! the ensemble are waving lots of tiny flags. molokov and anatoly walk in first, then walter, walter and molokov exchange a slip of paper, finally freddie and florence enter as the lighting changes (goes bright red and sparkly). freddie is signing people's arms and chests

commie newspapers/press conference: freddie and florence are almost uncomfortably touchy with each other, freddie punches a guy

anatoly and molokov/where i want to be: anatoly and molokov keep getting in each other's faces. anatoly actually does end 'back where he started' as he starts at the chessboard, gets up and moves around, and finally ends back in the chair staring at the board

diplomats: during breaks in the music the delegates from the different sides actually start physically fighting with each other

the arbiter: the arbiter starts singing off stage and they film her from the front as she moves from backstage, passing molokov as she goes. her 'assistants' are wearing black and white outfits with these sort of capes/trains?

hymn to chess: it's hymn to chess. the arbiter is standing at the apex of this huge wooden structure they made for the show. there's also a bit here where the arbiter takes objections from the different sides (florence about the size of the soviet delegation, molokov about the chairs, and walter asks about merchandising)

merchandisers: members of the ensemble are wearing tshirts with chess pieces on them and actually moving around the audience, handing out programmes to people who want them. a few of them are carrying giant teddy bears on their shoulders, which are also wearing chess shirts

opening/chess game #1: i'm with freddie, anatoly is annoying as hell. he actually does play with his flag, then starts walking around while he waits for freddie to make his move - freddie does, looks around confused, then anatoly comes back, eventually they both are standing and moving around. the game ends when freddie just storms off, shoving past anatoly

the arbiter (reprise): yeah

quartet: the stage is lit up underneath in 64 squares and the arbiter is in the middle, and when florence and molokov come too close she forces them to step back. molokov, florence and anatoly are in different corners of the board, and gradually change places. they kept the fruit line!!

florence and molokov: actually probably my favourite bit in the whole show? part of the set design is these massive rectangular structures that move on wheels and are lit up around the edges, and have doors in the centre. the stagehands were moving these around as molokov and florence walked around to symbolise them going in and out of rooms and corridors, and at one point these were placed close together, and they did sound effects for the pushing of a lift button and the 'ding' as the lift opened and closed. florence and molokov were in the 'lift' during the 'fellow eastern europeans' bit, and florence actually smacked the side of the wall and the lighting went red as if the lift had 'stopped'. it was actually unbelievable

budapest is rising/nobody's side: another banger! after freddie sings '1956, budapest is rising, 1956, budapest is fighting' (i think??) the whole stage was emptied except for florence and was flooded with dry ice, the lighting changed, and it was baby florence in the middle (with her older self looking on) as refugees bustled around her to the sound of gunfire. soldiers appeared, florence was protected by her father in front of her, then she screamed 'papa!' and he disappeared. eventually florence was led away by the hand by a woman. then the song resumed, led into nobody's side, and she KILLED IT. the way her voice went up in the middle of the song reminded me a lot of the way yulia iva sang it in moscow

der kleine franz: it's der kleine franz!! holy shit!! no dialogue but a few barmaids/waiters singing drunkenly on a table

mountain duet: lots of people moving around in the background, i tried to watch closely and i saw that eventually freddie came quietly onto the stage and was sitting at one of the small tables, in time for him to sing his bit at the end. as a whole the lyrics were much the same as the concept album.

chess game #2: freddie and anatoly are walking around the table again - eventually anatoly puts down a piece and wins, and freddie sits down in his chair with this massive huff and a sort of whiny outcry of anger lol. and hit his knees with his hands i think

florence quits/a taste of pity: this freddie put a real emphasis on the word 'woman' which was good to see as the horrible nature of that is often overlooked in productions. i do wish though that they'd sung the latter part of the song together - instead florence had the whole first verse to herself ie. 'who'd ever guess it/such a squalid little ending/watching you descending/just as far as you can go/i'm learning things i didn't want to know'. freddie also said the parasite line pretty viciously which was chef's kiss. and sang a taste of pity with a lot of restraint and feeling

defection: freddie's resignation is announced, molokov is very pleased, walter helps anatoly using his cia connections, the usual

embassy lament: this was sublime, the way they timed the music to actions like handing around pieces of paper, tapping their pens, and they each had a little desk that they were pushing around.

heaven help my heart: this was staged very simply, i can't remember heaps about it

anatoly and the press/anthem: walter lets the press in ofc, anatoly is completely trapped by the crowd until he pushes out with the 'i dont leave anything' line, and yeah i definitely think he sang this even more strongly the second time around, it was stunning - his voice was so rich and so consistent??

act 2

one night in bangkok: freddie being very touchy with the ensemble - reminded me of kennedy centre kinda? except with less bisexuality, though i did notice freddie was being touched by a man at one stage and seemed kinda startled by it. at the end the ensemble lifted him up above their heads like he was crowd surfing

one more opponent/you and i: florence and anatoly partially undressed and making out on a bed lmao while svetlana is in a different hotel room on the other side of the stage. there's a great moment where florence says 'surely you knew?' while anatoly is in the other room, and as he says 'i did not' he pops his head out of the doorway while shirtless. i thought this would just be a one off gag but then he kept his shirt off

the soviet machine: single angelic note viigand!! at the start molokov pours two shots of vodka, goes over to viigand, then stands next to him, drains both of them himself, then claps his hands, viigand doesn't react, he says 'fantastic'. the soviet delegation + molokov dance together in a circle at one point. lots of very athletic dancing

the interview: just freddie being a dickhead. at the end though when walter shakes his hand he doesn't seem all that thrilled about it. the video that svetlana is on is actually live and she starts singing while the camera is on her

someone else's story: svetlana was a little out of sync with the orchestra the second time around but still performed the song beautifully

the deal: svetlana is really physical with anatoly during the second part and he actually seems a little afraid of her? she grabs him the collar, shoes him a bit, gets all up in his face, just really angry in general. basically this was just RAH but freddie did seem very genuine when he was telling florence he didn't think anatoly would throw the match for her. i just wish they didn't keep cutting off parts of the deal :/ freddie never gets his full part when he's talking to anatoly (they cut him off after 'prove your love is as pure as snow in moscow', and all anatoly said was 'who put you up to this? there's no deal' iirc which sucksss i want the whole 'refugee, total SHIT' part!! is this too much to ask!! we didn't get 'are you sick, are you mad' either :'(

pity the child: the song started with all of the other main characters standing in the shadows around freddie and continued that way for a while. they also had doors quite literally closing on him which was cool

i know him so well: rly good, their voices sounded lovely together

talking chess: very RAH again. i think freddie did finger guns at anatoly at the end after saying 'don't let mediocrity win'

endgame: this was sooo good. they had the names and photos of past champions showing up during the first part which really helped me because i can never discern names. the song started off with viigand and anatoly sitting down playing each other, then anatoly stood up, started moving around, things changed to a sort of 'dream state' where anatoly was again crowded in on all sides by everybody, and you even had molokov and walter brushing past him while he looked at them for help. florence and svetlana had their verses and were actually playing against anatoly, and together stopped him putting down a piece at one point. this anatoly genuinely seemed pretty distraught but badly wanted to win

you and i: they were actually holding each other during this part and singing into each other's faces, it was intense. svetlana came in at various points, kissed anatoly on the cheek, and eventually he went away with her and left florence crying into her hands. there was a staircase at the back right of the stage which i think was meant to be a plane? so you saw the soviet delegates and later molokov go up there and later svetlana and anatoly

walter and florence/anthem reprise: OOF THE REPRISE... this was the final performance of his show and it was clear florence put a lot of effort into this final song and it showed!