Chess

[andrew]

I'm going to take this in this evening, against my better judgment, just because I've never seen Chess. Fingers crossed.

[latefortheoverture]

Well ofcourse the day I want to go TodayTix haven’t any dress circle seats....

Going to hold off and if worse comes to worse I’ve got Tuesday and wedneday next week!

[anthony40]

Ian here tonight. Very excited!

[theatremadness]

May 22, 2018 17:14:59 GMT anthony40 said:

Ian here tonight. Very excited!

McKellen? McShane? Hislop? Beale?? We need answers!!!

[danb]

Ogilvy.

[Deleted]

I think Ian Theendheneeds-Alittlebitmorethanme should be there by now...

[anthony40]

Sorry to disappoint. It was a typo. Should have read I am there tonight instead of Ian here tonight. Lol!

[Deleted]

Ah, the old classic from La Cage Aux Folles - “I Am, not Ian”

[BurlyBeaR]

Or that old Abba favourite Ian, a tiger.

[BurlyBeaR]

I never knew the walrus was called Ian...

[Deleted]

Don't forget Ian Somwonelsistori.

Svetlana mentioned him. Or wanted to be him.

(I think he could be one of the chess players they name during the roll call in Endgame...)

[galinda]

Can anyone see if chess is showing on tkts website for Saturday eve?

The website isn’t loading on my phone and it’s blocked on Work pcs!

[Rukaya]

May 24, 2018 11:56:25 GMT galinda said:

Can anyone see if chess is showing on tkts website for Saturday eve?

The website isn’t loading on my phone and it’s blocked on Work pcs!

Just checked and it isn't on there 

[showoff]

So, I went to see this last night.

I have never seen Chess and went in almost blind, I knew the songs One Night In Bangkok and of course I Know him So Well. I wasn't familiar with the book as a whole, kind of knew it was based around a chess tournament and a love triangle, but otherwise nothing.

It was a complete first for me, in that this is the first musical I've ever watched and completely hated. I can usually enjoy something and even if something isn't as good as expected, not up to the hype or just not what I would choose, there's something in it that doesn't make me hate it. But this, I absolutely hated.

I didn't understand much of it at first. I know a lot of people say it's hard going into Hamilton cold, but at least they explain everything, here I couldn't understand what was happening, but I also didn't care enough to try to figure it out! Then it gets to the chess competition, but I was just bored, the music for the song of Chess is beautiful, but I found that whole scene boring, I see what they were doing with it, but through a lot of it I could've dropped off to sleep.

Alexandra Burke is missing through the first half, so when you get to the duet I Know Him So Well, it's hard to believe she does because all we've seen is Ball with Cassidy. Tim Hower reaches new heights of screaming and then is completely off the timing for the 'rap' in ONIB. The guys on the silks were quite messy.
Are the Russian soldiers supposed to be comical?

On the whole, I just didn't care about the characters, so then that made the chess story-line completely boring. Oh, and I really didn't understand the whole In memorise of past chess players either.

Are fans of this big chess players? I just cannot see the appeal otherwise.

[alece10]

May 24, 2018 13:14:49 GMT showoff said:

So, I went to see this last night.

I have never seen Chess and went in almost blind, I knew the songs One Night In Bangkok and of course I Know him So Well. I wasn't familiar with the book as a whole, kind of knew it was based around a chess tournament and a love triangle, but otherwise nothing.

It was a complete first for me, in that this is the first musical I've ever watched and completely hated. I can usually enjoy something and even if something isn't as good as expected, not up to the hype or just not what I would choose, there's something in it that doesn't make me hate it. But this, I absolutely hated.

I didn't understand much of it at first. I know a lot of people say it's hard going into Hamilton cold, but at least they explain everything, here I couldn't understand what was happening, but I also didn't care enough to try to figure it out! Then it gets to the chess competition, but I was just bored, the music for the song of Chess is beautiful, but I found that whole scene boring, I see what they were doing with it, but through a lot of it I could've dropped off to sleep.

Alexandra Burke is missing through the first half, so when you get to the duet I Know Him So Well, it's hard to believe she does because all we've seen is Ball with Cassidy. Tim Hower reaches new heights of screaming and then is completely off the timing for the 'rap' in ONIB. The guys on the silks were quite messy.
Are the Russian soldiers supposed to be comical?

On the whole, I just didn't care about the characters, so then that made the chess story-line completely boring. Oh, and I really didn't understand the whole In memorise of past chess players either.

Are fans of this big chess players? I just cannot see the appeal otherwise.

I'm a fan of the musical and I'm not a chess player. In fact don't even know how to play the game. So the answer to your question is no.

[richey]

Well Tim Rice seems happy anyway

[Deleted]

May 24, 2018 13:14:49 GMT showoff said:

So, I went to see this last night.
...
I have never seen Chess and went in almost blind, I knew the songs One Night In Bangkok and of course Know him So Well. I wasn't familiar with the book as a whole, kind of knew it was based around a chess tournament and a love triangle, but otherwise nothing.

It was a complete first for me, in that this is the first musical I've ever watched and completely hated. I can usually enjoy something and even if something isn't as good as expected, not up to the hype or just not what I would choose, there's something in it that doesn't make me hate it. But this, I absolutely hated.

I didn't understand much of it at first. I know a lot of people say it's hard going into Hamilton cold, but at least they explain everything, here I couldn't understand what was happening, but I also didn't care enough to try to figure it out! Then it gets to the chess competition, but I was just bored, the music for the song of Chess is beautiful, but I found that whole scene boring, I see what they were doing with it, but through a lot of it I
could've dropped off to sleep.

Alexandra Burke is missing through the first half, so when you get to the duet I Know Him So Well, it's hard to believe she does because all we've seen is Ball with Cassidy. Tim Hower reaches new heights of screaming and then is completely off the timing for the 'rap' in ONIB. The guys on the silks were quite messy.
Are the Russian soldiers supposed to be comical?

On the whole, I just didn't care about the characters, so then that made the chess story-line completely boring. Oh, and I really didn't understand the whole In memorise of past chess players either.

Are fans of this big chess players? I just cannot see the appeal otherwise.

Well I definitely think it helps as I wouldn’t have loved it nearly as much if I hadn’t been a big chess player. Here’s Annas and I playing in our back garden when we were boys:



We’ve both continued our love of big chess in our adulthood. Here we are hosting a game last month on our front drive:

[BurlyBeaR]

May 24, 2018 15:21:12 GMT richey said:

Well Tim Rice seems happy anyway

These will be the reviewers who were giving the dreadful Titanic five stars no doubt 🙄.

I wish I could get down to see it again. I thought it was brilliant. 

[Deleted]

Oooh that's a big piece @caiaphas!

[theatreian]

I am finally getting to see Chess on Tuesday and am looking forward to it.

[Someone in a tree]

May 25, 2018 6:31:04 GMT BurlyBeaR said:

May 24, 2018 15:21:12 GMT richey said:

Well Tim Rice seems happy anyway

These will be the reviewers who were giving the dreadful Titanic five stars no doubt 🙄.

I wish I could get down to see it again. I thought it was brilliant. 

I agree with all the negative reviews. Shame I really wanted to love this production

[Deleted]

May 25, 2018 7:11:38 GMT @ryan said:

Oooh that's a big piece @caiaphas !

Actually I'm inside the piece- it's the only way we can move them...

Annas is on the left. That's Derek our neighbour in the middle; he was the Arbiter for that particular tournament.

(We're known locally as 'The Size Queens'.)

[showoff]

May 24, 2018 18:01:50 GMT @caiaphas said:

May 24, 2018 13:14:49 GMT showoff said:

So, I went to see this last night.
...
I have never seen Chess and went in almost blind, I knew the songs One Night In Bangkok and of course Know him So Well. I wasn't familiar with the book as a whole, kind of knew it was based around a chess tournament and a love triangle, but otherwise nothing.

It was a complete first for me, in that this is the first musical I've ever watched and completely hated. I can usually enjoy something and even if something isn't as good as expected, not up to the hype or just not what I would choose, there's something in it that doesn't make me hate it. But this, I absolutely hated.

I didn't understand much of it at first. I know a lot of people say it's hard going into Hamilton cold, but at least they explain everything, here I couldn't understand what was happening, but I also didn't care enough to try to figure it out! Then it gets to the chess competition, but I was just bored, the music for the song of Chess is beautiful, but I found that whole scene boring, I see what they were doing with it, but through a lot of it I
could've dropped off to sleep.

Alexandra Burke is missing through the first half, so when you get to the duet I Know Him So Well, it's hard to believe she does because all we've seen is Ball with Cassidy. Tim Hower reaches new heights of screaming and then is completely off the timing for the 'rap' in ONIB. The guys on the silks were quite messy.
Are the Russian soldiers supposed to be comical?

On the whole, I just didn't care about the characters, so then that made the chess story-line completely boring. Oh, and I really didn't understand the whole In memorise of past chess players either.

Are fans of this big chess players? I just cannot see the appeal otherwise.

Well I definitely think it helps as I wouldn’t have loved it nearly as much if I hadn’t been a big chess player. Here’s Annas and I playing in our back garden when we were boys:



We’ve both continued our love of big chess in our adulthood. Here we are hosting a game last month on our front drive:

Oh wow, that's amazing! Thanks for sharing your love for the game.

I suspect it helps to have a love for chess, as I said a lot of it either went over my head or I found it boring/irrelevant such as the roll call and the scenes of them playing. I just wasn't engaged at all. If you know and follow the game it would really mean something to see the past grand-masters names, but I hadn't heard of any of them except Bobby Fischer.  

[viserys]

It shouldn't matter if you are interested in a game or not. I can't make head or tail of cricket (shoot me, I'm a foreigner) and I could also anticipate the outcome of the game, but I still enjoyed the Indian movie Lagaan, that was ALL about a cricket match and I've also been able to enjoy Hollywood movies to do with baseball (which a poor American friend once tried and failed to explain to me while we attended a MLB game live).

[showoff]

May 25, 2018 7:45:29 GMT Someone in a tree said:

May 25, 2018 6:31:04 GMT BurlyBeaR said:

These will be the reviewers who were giving the dreadful Titanic five stars no doubt 🙄.

I wish I could get down to see it again. I thought it was brilliant. 

I agree with all the negative reviews. Shame I really wanted to love this production

I agree with them too. I held off reading any reviews until I had seen it, so yesterday afternoon I had a look. Their issues with it are exactly the same as mine, from not knowing where in the world they were supposed to be in some numbers (Italy I believe, but it didn't look like it and I couldn't understand what they were saying). The lack of clarity in the story, the shouting, Alexandra not even given a narrative and the first half being so slow. 

Reading them yesterday just highlighted exactly what I had big issues with and why I just didn't like it at all.