A star-studded concert of the London and Broadway musical Chess was presented December 12 at the Broadhurst Theatre to benefit The Entertainment Community Fund, formerly The Actors Fund.
Directed by Tony winner Michael Mayer, the cast was led by Darren Criss (Hedwig and the Angry Inch) as Freddie Trumper, Tony winner Lena Hall (Hedwig, Little Shop of Horrors) as Florence Vassey, Ramin Karimloo (Funny Girl) as Anatoly Sergievsky, and Solea Pfeiffer (Almost Famous) as Svetlana Sergievsky. Watch highlights from the evening above.
READ: Darren Criss, Lena Hall, Ramin Karimloo, Solea Pfeiffer Rock the Broadhurst in Chess Concert
The company also featured Bradley Dean as Ivan Molokov, Tony nominee Sean Allan Krill as Walter de Courcey, and Tony nominee Bryce Pinkham as The Arbiter, along with Kate Bailey, Joe Beauregard, Neal Benari, Brendon Chan, Nkrumah Gatling, Masumi Iwai, Nina Lafarga, Ross Lekites, Austin Lesch, Alicia Lundgren, Sean MacLaughlin, Robin Masella, Kaitlin Mesh, Katerina Papacostas, Julius Rubio, Emily Stillings, Stephen Tewksbury, and Christopher Vo.
Check out photos from the evening below:
Sean Allan Krill, Solea Pfeiffer, Darren Criss, Bryce Pinkham, Lena Hall, Ramin Karimloo, and Bradley Dean in Chess
Lena Hall and Ramin Karimloo in Chess
Darren Criss in Chess
Lena Hall in Chess
Darren Criss and Lena Hall in Chess
Bryce Pinkham in Chess
Darren Criss in Chess
Sean Allan Krill and Darren Criss in Chess
Solea Pfeiffer in Chess
Solea Pfeiffer in Chess
Lena Hall and Ramin Karimloo in Chess
Cast of Chess
Bradley Dean and cast of Chess
Darren Criss and cast of Chess
Cast of Chess
Solea Pfeiffer
Bradley Dean
Darren Criss
Lena Hall, Danny Strong, Michael Mayer, Darren Criss, Bryce Pinkham, and Bradley Dean
Michael Mayer and Danny Strong
Lena Hall
Michael Mayer and Lena Hall
Bryce Pinkham
Chess—a love story set against the Cold War chess battles between the United States and Russia—features a score by ABBA’s Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus and EGOT winner Tim Rice. The benefit featured a new book by Emmy winner Danny Strong.
The evening also had movement by Lorin Latarro, lighting by Kevin Adams, sound by Steve Canyon Kennedy, scenic design by David Rockwell, costumes by Lisa Zinni, music supervision, additional arrangements, and additional orchestrations by Brian Usifer, music direction by Roberto Sinha, and arrangements and orchestrations by Anders Eljas. Casting is by Jim Carnahan and Jason Thinger, and Lisa Lacucci serves as production stage manager.
The concert was presented in association with Tom Hulce and Ira Pittelman.
Chess debuted on the London stage with a cast led by Elaine Paige, Tommy Körberg, and Murray Head, while the Broadway company featured Judy Kuhn, Philip Casnoff, and the late David Carroll. The score includes such tunes as “Nobody’s Side,” “One Night in Bangkok,” “Anthem,” “I Know Him So Well,” “Pity the Child,” and “You and I.” The original Broadway cast recording was released on RCA Victor.
In 2003 The Entertainment Community Fund (then the Actors Fund) presented a benefit concert of Chess starring Julia Murney, Adam Pascal, Norm Lewis, Josh Groban, and more.
Chess was originally produced on Broadway by The Shubert Organization, 3 Knights Ltd., and Robert Fox Ltd.
