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Post by Deleted on Jun 27, 2020 23:29:10 GMT
One of my favourite recordings of Chess, is the Danish Tour recording (though i only have the single disc, wish i had the 2 disc that was withdrawn!)
I really like the ending used in this production, about Florence's father, and with the 'Heaven Help My Heart' and 'Anthem' melodies used.
I saw a video of this ending in the 1986 production, but was this ending never recorded before the Danish production? The London recording uses You and I, but for me it doesnt have the same impact.
Anyone know when/why this changed?
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Post by sf on Jun 27, 2020 23:45:51 GMT
One of my favourite recordings of Chess, is the Danish Tour recording (though i only have the single disc, wish i had the 2 disc that was withdrawn!)
I really like the ending used in this production, about Florence's father, and with the 'Heaven Help My Heart' and 'Anthem' melodies used.
I saw a video of this ending in the 1986 production, but was this ending never recorded before the Danish production? The London recording uses You and I, but for me it doesnt have the same impact.
Anyone know when/why this changed?
The "London recording" is actually a concept album which was released 18 months or so before the show opened on stage. It represents work in progress, one significant character in the London production's plot (Walter, a CIA agent) doesn't appear on it at all, and the show's structure changed significantly by the time the London production went into rehearsals. Other changes? On the concept album Heaven Help My Heart and Pity The Child are both in the second half of the show. In the London production they were both in Act One. In Act Two there was a major number for Molokov and the Soviet delegation - 'The Soviet Machine' - that isn't on the concept album at all. The post-West End UK tour in 1990 put 'Someone Else's Story' from the Broadway production into the first act, and turned 'Nobody's Side' into the finale. The Swedish production ends with 'You and I', and so did the production at the Coliseum a couple of years ago. The Broadway production ended with Florence singing the same brief reprise of Anthem you heard at the end of the London production, although in nearly every other respect it used a completely different script and significantly revised the score. The recent Tokyo production ended with that reprise of Anthem, but sung by the Arbiter - presumably to give the (I assume quite well-known) Japanese actor in the role a bit more to do. It didn't work at all. There is no single definitive version of Chess. It's a show people keep going back to because the score is stunning, but as a piece of theatre it's never quite worked. The Swedish version is probably the one that comes closest to making sense; there's a DVD, and it's quite good; Tommy Korberg plays Anatoly (in Swedish, obviously), and Helen Sjoholm is a sensational Florence.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 28, 2020 0:12:41 GMT
Thank you sf. You're a star! I saw the 1990 tour, but dont really remember much of it in detail. Did Nobodys Side work as an ending? |
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Post by Phantom of London on Jun 28, 2020 0:50:45 GMT
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Post by danb on Jun 28, 2020 6:03:46 GMT
Thank you sf. You're a star! I saw the 1990 tour, but dont really remember much of it in detail. Did Nobodys Side work as an ending? It worked because Rebecca Storm sang the crap out of it and you were still impressed by the moving chess board. It made for a satisfying ending musically, but I really don’t remember the ‘story’ from that tour. |
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Post by anthony40 on Jun 28, 2020 7:47:59 GMT
I have been listening to the concept albumn on vinyl since about 1986.
When it was released on CD I bought that too.
I love ABBA and I love the songs in this musical.
Because they weren't on the original concept recording, I was trying to get hold of the two songs Someone Else's Story and The Soviet Machine. It is my understanding that both songs appeared on the Broadway cast recording.
So I turned to i-Tunes. Although I couldn't find it under the banner of Chess, I did find a live recording of Barbra Dixon singing Someone Else's Story.
Although I couldn't find The Soviet Machine it seems the original concert album has been remastered and for anyone interested this included a bonus track called Press Conference which follows Merano and precedes The Russian and Molokov/ Where I Want To Be
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Post by sf on Jun 28, 2020 11:16:42 GMT
Thank you sf . You're a star! I saw the 1990 tour, but dont really remember much of it in detail. Did Nobodys Side work as an ending? It worked because Rebecca Storm sang the crap out of it and you were still impressed by the moving chess board. It made for a satisfying ending musically, but I really don’t remember the ‘story’ from that tour. The plot was more or less the same as the London production except they cut 'Merano' (and the string section) and changed all the 1956/Budapest references to 1968/Prague. And that's more or less how I felt about that ending. Rebecca Storm knocked the song out of the park, but in general I prefer it placed earlier in the show. |
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Post by richey on Jun 28, 2020 11:19:43 GMT
The Soviet Machine appeared in the Albert Hall production
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Post by sf on Jun 28, 2020 11:22:17 GMT
I have been listening to the concept albumn on vinyl since about 1986. When it was released on CD I bought that too. I love ABBA and I love the songs in this musical. Because they weren't on the original concept recording, I was trying to get hold of the two songs Someone Else's Story and The Soviet Machine. It is my understanding that both songs appeared on the Broadway cast recording. So I turned to i-Tunes. Although I couldn't find it under the banner of Chess, I did find a live recording of Barbra Dixon singing Someone Else's Story. Although I couldn't find The Soviet Machine it seems the original concert album has been remastered and for anyone interested this included a bonus track called Press Conference which follows Merano and precedes The Russian and Molokov/ Where I Want To Be The Soviet Machine is not on the Broadway cast recording, and was not used in the Broadway production. It IS on the Gothenburg concert recording, which you can find on Spotify:
Press Conference was in the London production, but not on the concept album. It's included on the Danish tour and Royal Albert Hall/Idina Menzel recordings.
Ms. Mendel's performance of Florence's big belty bit near the end of it ("Smile, you got your first exclusive story...") is excruciatingly bad, although it's slightly less terrible than her assault on Nobody's Side. Try to find the Danish album first, it's a lot better.
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Post by Scswp on Jun 28, 2020 16:54:01 GMT
Rebecca Storm was, indeed, superb in the 1990 tour. She also sang ‘Someone Else’s Story’ - I think for the first time in any UK production. She sang it on TV too (I think at Pebble Mill), but unfortunately, there seems to be no clip of that anywhere.
She was a superb Florence, as I believe was Jacqui Scott a few years later. Unfortunately, the Birmingham leg of that tour was cancelled, so I never got to see her. I wonder why many legs of that tour (around 1995ish, I think?) were cancelled? Anyone have any information about that?
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Jun 28, 2020 17:48:26 GMT
The film isn’t available on any of the streaming sites it would appear, not even to purchase.
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Post by ptwest on Jun 28, 2020 19:36:29 GMT
Rebecca Storm was, indeed, superb in the 1990 tour. She also sang ‘Someone Else’s Story’ - I think for the first time in any UK production. She sang it on TV too (I think at Pebble Mill), but unfortunately, there seems to be no clip of that anywhere. She was a superb Florence, as I believe was Jacqui Scott a few years later. Unfortunately, the Birmingham leg of that tour was cancelled, so I never got to see her. I wonder why many legs of that tour (around 1995ish, I think?) were cancelled? Anyone have any information about that? My understanding of this is that it was due to poor ticket sales. I saw the 1996 tour in York and although in many ways it was a duplicate of the previous tour, it seemed badly undercooked with weaker direction. It was very well sung but severely lacking in chemistry between the leads - only Michael Winsor really shone was the arbiter which was a surprise given the general thanklessnes of the role . It was a very empty theatre too, and most of the people around me were a school group who were listening to the FA cup final on their personal radios. It seemed such a comedown from the magnificent 1990 version. |
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Post by Jon on Jun 28, 2020 20:55:38 GMT
I wonder if the way of fixing the issues of Chess is to not have Tim Rice, Benny and Bjorn fully involved in the creative process in any potential revival.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 28, 2020 22:27:46 GMT
Another part of Chess that i love, and also keeps changing, is The Deal or The Deal/No Deal.
What's the deal with that?
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Post by sf on Jun 28, 2020 23:23:39 GMT
Another part of Chess that i love, and also keeps changing, is The Deal or The Deal/No Deal. What's the deal with that?
There are really only two versions - two-and-a-half, I suppose, if you count the Australian script. There's the version on the concept album, which was used on stage in the Swedish production and in the revival at the Coliseum. Then there's the rather different version used in the 1986 London production, which uses some of that material and surrounds it with a ton of recitative. The Australian version starts with the version from the London production and shoehorns a couple more passages into it, most significantly a verse and chorus of Let's Work Together, a song from the Broadway production sung by Molokov and Walter.
Again, all that's going on with it is that the concept album was released before the show was finished, and this was one of the things that was rewritten before the London production went into rehearsals.
And then the Australian production used a different script (yes, another different script - significantly different from both the London and Broadway versions), and it was (somewhat) rewritten again.
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Post by Someone in a tree on Jun 29, 2020 8:17:39 GMT
The film isn’t available on any of the streaming sites it would appear, not even to purchase. Present for you 😇 |
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Post by Someone in a tree on Jun 29, 2020 9:52:19 GMT
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Post by anthony40 on Jun 29, 2020 10:42:21 GMT
For anyone interested I was in Stockholm and visited the ABBA Museum about two weeks before lockdown commenced.
As part of the experience you get to see what all the four members were doing before forming the band, to height of their success and their ultimate break up.
When I was visited, there was a whole part of the museum dedicated specially to two Mamma Mia! films, with costumes actually worm by ABBA, on stage and in their film clips, and used in the films.
The exhibit them goes on to what each of the four members did after ABBA.
For Benny and Bjorn it was Chess and Kristina.
So for you scan a bar code on your ticket and there is then a screen in front of you, the song Chess comes on- just music, and you get to 'conduct' a virtual orchestra, deciding at what point certain instruments should be introduced to enhance the performance.
When you get home you to go to the museum's website, enter the numbers at the bottom of the bar code to watch yourself back.
Needless to say, I wasn't very good.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 29, 2020 15:46:30 GMT
One of my favourite recordings of Chess, is the Danish Tour recording (though i only have the single disc, wish i had the 2 disc that was withdrawn!)
I really like the ending used in this production, about Florence's father, and with the 'Heaven Help My Heart' and 'Anthem' melodies used.
I saw a video of this ending in the 1986 production, but was this ending never recorded before the Danish production? The London recording uses You and I, but for me it doesnt have the same impact.
Anyone know when/why this changed?
One of my favourite musicals. I love the ending you talk about with Florence belting out Anthem. I discovered the Danish recording last and was wowed - it's basically definitive. Through all the changes over the years until the Coliseum version I think that had more or less become the definitive script. Was used (with maybe minor variations) for the Danish tour, the massively underrated Craig Revel-Horwood S&M tour and then the RAH version - in fact of the latter Tim Rice said he felt that was finally definitive. Before changing again for the ENO! In my opinion it is the best version of Chess and I think it took a downhill turn for the ENO version. Although it was nice to hear Burke do the new Svetlana song. Never quite understood why people rave about the Swedish version. The leading ladies are great but otherwise is somewhat slow with less pop/rock emphasis. For me anyway. Coupled with the language being impenetrable for me, I really couldn't get on with it. The original album is also iconic though sadly I was too young to see the Prince Edward version. First version I saw was the Rebecca Storm tour. No idea if Nobody's Side is the right song to end on but she certainly sold it and we went out on a high! |
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Post by Someone in a tree on Jun 29, 2020 17:20:08 GMT
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Post by crabtree on Jun 29, 2020 21:53:09 GMT
and when did the humansized costumes of the lovely chess pieces last make an appearance?
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Post by sf on Jun 29, 2020 22:47:42 GMT
and when did the humansized costumes of the lovely chess pieces last make an appearance?
In the Craig Revel Horwood tour, in which they looked like they'd been purchased from the S&M department at Poundland.
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Post by danb on Jun 30, 2020 5:12:33 GMT
and when did the humansized costumes of the lovely chess pieces last make an appearance?
In the Craig Revel Horwood tour, in which they looked like they'd been purchased from the S&M department at Poundland.
The whole thing looked and felt like some creepy Alpine fetishists convention. A couple of good performances but otherwise it was seriously underpowered and over perved. |
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Post by ptwest on Jun 30, 2020 7:38:18 GMT
And was to that version which I unwittingly took my very straight-laced mother in law. Thanks for that Craig!
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Post by Someone in a tree on Jun 30, 2020 8:13:46 GMT
I've seen the RAH & Swedish one on DVD and the ENO version live. I didn't like the like the latter. Wish I'd seen the actor musican tour now just for pervy curiosity.
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