Chess

I saw the new production of Chess on December 3, 2025, and overall I liked it quite a bit. I have always had a complicated relationship with this show. I admire the score more than I love the piece as a whole, and it's long been a favorite of mine, so I went in curious about how the revised book would land. For me, the updates mostly worked. The story felt clearer, more focused, and less weighed down by its own mythology.

The cast did a lot of the heavy lifting, and they were up to the task. Lea Michele was very strong. She brought control, intensity, and emotional clarity to the role, and vocally she delivered exactly what you expect from her. Aaron Tveit was phenomenal. His performance had power, nuance, and an ease that made the role feel fully inhabited. He anchored the show in a way that made the emotional stakes land more cleanly than I have seen in other versions.

Nicholas Christopher rounded out the central trio well. He brought weight and seriousness to his role without tipping into caricature, which is not always easy in this material. The relationships between the three principals felt defined and intentional, and that helped the story move forward rather than stall in abstraction.

The biggest surprise for me was the addition of the Arbiter. Bryce Pinkham was fantastic in the role. The character adds much needed lightness and a bit of meta commentary that invites the audience into the story instead of keeping them at arm’s length. Pinkham’s performance was sharp, funny, and oddly grounding. He may have been my favorite part of the night, which is not something I expected going in.

Where the production lost me a bit was in the staging. I am usually open to minimalist approaches, but here it often felt undercooked rather than intentional. The chess tournament sequences in particular were a letdown. Having performers stand at separate microphones and announce moves felt static and dramatically thin. I wanted to see chess being played, or at least something more visually expressive than verbal shorthand.

Even with those frustrations, I walked out glad I saw it. The revised book helped, the cast was excellent, and the score still hits when it hits. This version of Chess is not perfect, but it felt closer to the show I want it to be. For a piece that has always struggled to balance intellect, emotion, and spectacle, this production made real progress, even if it still has a few moves left to figure out.