Cold war machinations in densely-packed show

Otago Daily Times

16-05-2025

Musical Theatre Dunedin presents Chess the Musical
Mosgiel Coronation Hall
Thursday, May 15
Review by BRENDA HARWOOD
A large and committed cast put their all into a spirited and entertaining performance of Chess the Musical during last night's opening of the show at a packed Mosgiel Coronation Hall.
Directed by Greg MacLeod and led by a strong lead trio of Anna Langford, Max Beal, and Ben Thomas, the production is filled with top notch singing, high-energy chorus numbers, dance and an interesting look at the history of chess.
The production team, comprising MacLeod (who also oversees set and costume design), musical director Bridget Telfer-Milne, choreographer Olivia Larkins, and production manager Heidi Hayward, have achieved great things with the show.
Created in the 1980s by Tim Rice and the genuis songwriters behind ABBA, Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus, Chess the Musical is a densely-packed and complicated story about the machinations of the shadowy secret forces of the United States and Russia in the midst of the Cold War, as their two chess masters battle for supremacy.
The love triangle between American grand master Frederick Trumper (Ben Thomas), his second and lover Florence Vassy (Anna Langford) and Russian grand master Anatoly Sergievsky (Max Beal) is at the heart of the action — both on and off the chess board.
All three are in very fine voice throughout the show, with Beal and Langford's duet of love song You and I and Thomas' leadership of the ensemble in hit song One Night in Bangkok among the highlights. They also work hard alongside fellow principal cast members and the ensemble to tell the story mostly in song — as Chess the Musical has only a small amount of spoken dialogue.
Providing sterling support are fellow principals Jack Archibald as manipulative Soviet spymaster Alexander Molokov, Alex Gourdie as his American counterpart Walter de Courcey, Joshua Larkins as The Arbiter, and Sophie Whibley as Sergievsky's abandoned wife Svetlana.
Archibald clearly has a ball as the bad guy, and his performance of The Soviet Machine with his ''cronies'' is great fun, while Larkins sings and dances well with the chorus in multiple numbers, and Gourdie makes the most of his solo moments.
Whibley's beautiful voice is in evidence during her limited stage time, and she shines alongside Langford in the superb duet I Know Him So Well.
The 22-strong chorus and dance ensemble are kept very busy throughout the performance of Chess the Musical, tackling multiple quick changes, and dancing their way through a lot of dense, complex stage business, all while singing strongly. Tackling roles ranging from a pack of pursuing journalists to Russian spies, chess babes to 1980s nightclub dancers, the cast are adaptable, energetic, and obviously enthusiastic.
Providing sterling musical support for the action from the orchestra pit, the 13-member combined band and orchestra, conducted by Telfer-Milne, was excellent throughout. Occasionally, the balance between band and lead singers could have been a little better to allow more of the important lyrics to be understood.
Costumes designed by MacLeod and Hayward, and created by a large wardrobe team, were wide-ranging in style and did a nice job of evoking the differing scenarios being represented.
Designed by MacLeod, the set combined useful large pieces with simple, easily movable pieces that enabled scene changes to be made quickly, while leaving plenty of room for the large cast to move about, and adaptable lighting design by Daniel Cairns added greatly to the atmosphere of the show. The use of two large, mobile screens, to project everything from chess pieces to outdoor scenes and the faces of grandmasters through the years, was an inspired touch.
Epic show . . . Leading cast members in Musical Theatre Dunedin's production of Chess the Musical, perform some of musical theatre's best-loved songs in the show. IMAGE: SUPPLIED
All in all, Musical Theatre Dunedin's production of Chess the Musical is a complex, high-energy, and entertaining look back at the Cold War and the heyday of international chess. Bravo!