- - Lea Michele makes a rapturous return to Broadway in 'Chess' – Review

Patrick Ryan, USA TODAYNovember 16, 2025 at 11:00 PM

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NEW YORK – As it turns out, “Chess” is still unfixable.

Ever since its London premiere in 1986, folks have tried and failed to crack this convoluted curio of a musical, which follows a Cold War-era love triangle set in the cutthroat world of competitive chess.

Even still, the songs are so damn catchy that people keep going back to the well, seeing if they can wring a coherent story from the frequently intoxicating pop score, which is cowritten by Tim Rice, Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus of ABBA fame.

A fitfully rousing new revival, which opened at the Imperial Theatre Nov. 16, attempts to palliate audiences by making “Chess” the butt of the joke, injecting meta humor about current politics and dangling plot threads into “our most entertaining Cold War musical.”

Nicholas Christopher and the cast of Broadway's "Chess."

It’s a smugly satisfied approach that would be borderline intolerable if it weren’t for the dazzling constellation of stars that is Lea Michele, Aaron Tveit and Nicholas Christopher, whose full-throated commitment to this tuneful slog may convert even the staunchest of “Chess” agnostics.

Gun to our heads, we couldn’t begin to tell you much of what “Chess” is actually about. There’s a pompous American grandmaster, Freddie Trumper (Tveit), and his brooding Russian rival, Anatoly Sergievsky (Christopher), who face off at a world chess championship. Michele, meanwhile, plays Freddie’s discerning strategist and lover, the Hungarian-born Florence Vassy, who despises the Soviets for past family horrors yet still holds a flame for Anatoly.

The show uses the game of chess as a larger metaphor for the geopolitical landscape, although even with a streamlined new book by Danny Strong (“Dopesick”), much of the CIA and KGB machinations are too insipid to drum up much intrigue. The Arbiter, too, has become a grating, “Deadpool”-style narrator preening after every groan-worthy joke about Donald Trump, RFK Jr. and Joe Biden. While songs like “The Arbiter” should soar, they’re instead served with thick slices of ham by Bryce Pinkham, who risks popping an eye socket with all his winking.

Lea Michele is back on Broadway in "Chess" after "Funny Girl," "Spring Awakening" and "Les Miserables."

As directed by Michael Mayer (“Spring Awakening”), this too often feels like a “Chess” revival that is embarrassed by its own existence. Rather than earnestly leaning into the melodrama, the show constantly undercuts its emotional moments with a punchline, which quickly becomes more exhausting than charming. Kevin Adams’ stark lighting creates some splendid pictures, although Tom Broecker’s sleek costumes and David Rockwell’s minimal sets are better suited for a concert staging than a Broadway production commanding top dollar.

But for all its shortcomings, it’s impossible not to fall under the spell of this powerhouse cast. After swooping in to save the ill-conceived 2022 revival of “Funny Girl,” Michele earned enough critical goodwill and box-office pedigree to pick any show that she wanted to do next. That she chose a property as dicey as “Chess” is admirable in itself, but it also makes complete sense, given how perfectly the score is suited to her stunning vocal abilities.

Michele is sublime as Florence: a role that allows her to be fiery and fragile, sultry and sagacious. The “Glee” star has shown commendable growth as an actress, and her marvelous voice has rarely sounded better than it does on “Someone Else’s Story” and “I Know Him So Well,” her glorious, high-camp duet with the similarly dynamic Hannah Cruz as Anatoly’s spurned wife. But it’s Michele's formidable take on “Nobody’s Side” that will give you full-body chills, further cementing her status as one of Broadway's finest leading ladies working today.

Tony Award winner Aaron Tveit ("Moulin Rouge!") stars in the new revival of "Chess."

Tveit brings delightful sleaze and sex appeal to crowd-pleaser “One Night in Bangkok,” with an ingenious piece of trouser choreography by Lorin Latarro that drew audible gasps from the audience. And although he already has multiple Broadway credits, it’s not a stretch to call this a star-making turn from Christopher, whose thunderous baritone ignites “Where I Want to Be” and “Anthem.”

Together, this bewitching trio elevates an otherwise muddled revival, which is at its best when Mayer has the good sense to just let them park and belt. "Chess" might ultimately prove to be the most fascinating gambit of the season: neither an overwhelming triumph nor a total wash.

Let's just call it a draw.

“Chess” is now playing at the Imperial Theatre (249 W. 45th Street).

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Lea Michele, Nicholas Christopher are staggering in 'Chess' – Review

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