Chess The Musical Directed by Craig Revel Horwood Continues to Wow

February 08, 2011 (PRLEAP.COM) Entertainment News
The classic musical Chess, which opened in Milton Keynes this year on the January 25, is set to become a huge success. Directed and choreographed by the Strictly Come Dancing judge Craig Revel Horwood and with music by Abba's Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus plus lyrics by Tim Rice, it has already received rave reviews.

A reporter from The Chronicle has said, "…the ultimate staging of Chess, I could have sat there and watched it again… and again." The publication went on to add, "From the first off you know you are in for something special… if this production does not win a clutch of awards then there is something amiss in the theatrical world… it has it all."

Chess is the most ambitious work of Craig Revel Horwood to date, which is a tall order since he is already well known on the star radar for directing and choreographing such successful productions as Miss Saigon, Spend, Spend, Spend and Hot Mikado.

Mr Revel Horwood commented on the Chess production by saying, ""It's a real challenge, but thank God I am from a chorographical background so I am able to see all 30 people and anticipate where they are all going to move, where they are going to drop off their instruments and collect them again."

The plot of the musical is set during the Cold War. It involves two of the world's greatest chess masters who compete at the world chess championships; however their greatest battle is for the love of a woman, forming a richly complex romantic triangle.

Mr Revel Horwood went on to explain: ""What I'm doing is bringing out the love triangle story and the battles of emotion rather than the battle of the cold war… It's a show about a married man going with a woman on the wrong side – it's almost a Romeo and Juliet type story that doesn't work out in the end."

He added, "This story is… a mindgame more than anything else. So theatricalising it has been a challenge, and I've got the orchestra as chess pieces who play and react to the story that evolves within the space."

Chess also boasts one of the most explosive musical scores of all time, by the composers of Mamma Mia plus the lyricist of Evita and Jesus Christ Superstar.

Following from its debut at the Milton Keynes Theatre which ended on January 29, Chess The Musical will now also be playing consecutively in Cornwall, Birmingham, Southend, Belfast, Bristol, Woking, Torquay, Dublin, High Wycombe, Glasgow, ending in Trieste on Saturday April 17. More information on this reportedly dazzling production can be found at: www.chess-the-musical.co.uk.