Chess in Belmont

Belmont High School
performing arts company
presents
CHESS The Musical
music by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus of ABBA
lyrics by Tim Rice based on an idea by Tim Rice
Director ~ Liz Smith
Choreographers ~ Liz Smith, Leigh Lucey and John Duffy
Vocal Director ~ Jonathan Eldridge
Orchestra Director ~ Bridgid Bibbens

March 1, 2, 3, 2007 at 7:30 pm
and a matinee Sat. March 3 at 2:30 pm (with alternate cast)
BHS Auditorium

This Rock Musical premiered in London in May 1986 and made its Broadway debut in 1988. It's a tale of forbidden love, Cold War Intrigue and betrayal...

The game of Chess is used as a metaphor for romantic rivalries and the US-Soviet rivalry. The main characters form a love triangle: Freddie Trumper, the ill-mannered American challenger, Anatoly Sergievsky, the intense but charming Russian Champion who plans to defect to the West, and Florence Vassy, the Hungarian-born American Chess Second who must choose between love and patriotism. And the KGB and CIA are watching every move...

From Bangkok to Budapest, the players, lovers, politicians and spies all struggle to get the upper hand. The songs, "One Night in Bangkok" and "I Know him so Well" went on to become international hits. During three different scenes in the musical, the stage becomes a giant chess board, and members of the company become human chess pieces, moving through Four chess games created by International Chess Master Joe Fang (Belmont alumnus Class of 1977).

Tickets $12 general admission | $8 for students and seniors
Tickets available through Tickets Hotline (617-993-5844)
e-mail (ticketshotline@belmont.k12.ma.us) or at
Champions Sporting Goods in Belmont Center
& Ooh La La Fudge 381 Trapelo Road

For more details, please visit the website: www.belmonttheatre.org

More Chess Theatre

If they can make a musical out of "Legally Blond", then why not Paul Morphy - The Play?

It's quickly clear area playwright Noah Sheola has great respect, and a fondness for his subject. When he's done with you, you'll feel the same. Morphy, an American, was a chess prodigy in the mid 1800s. He is considered one of the greatest players of all time, the first ever American to be given this distinction.

It's a tragic story of a man who most likely found his talent trivial, perhaps simply unchallenging.... His portrayal of the man is subtle yet deeply moving.

"Morphy," is an incredibly clean premiering script, needing little more than a touch of the pen for refinement. Its dialogue is clear, at times approaches poetic -- without the side of syrup. There's also a lot of humor, both sweet and broad, giving balance to the angst, insecurity, and sadness.

Great Masterpieces of Chess Theatre

The Smithton Middle School in Columbia, Missouri is putting on an updated version of a Shakespeare classic. Romeo and Juliet at Verona High ... "replaces the 16th century leading man with a modern-day football player and the starry-eyed Juliet with a chess club president."

Read "Chess, football twist a tragedy" from the Columbia Daily Tribune.