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Derekmckean

chess discrepancies

Hi. My name is Derek, and I like the musical Chess, and the tv show Malcolm In The Middle. I know--strange combination.

I have noticed some discrepancies in the Broadway chess lineup. The song "Freddie Goes Metal," was it ever taken out during its Broadway run? The reason why i say this is because I have a non-proffesional recording of the full show and that song wasn't included! Believe me--it was broadway becuase it had Judy Kuhn. Great singer. Maybe it was an off-broadway with Kuhn? I doubt it. She only did the OB run. Maybe the song was added later? I also noticed a vey condensed sound of The Deal was there. I said sound, not song. The song was titled "A Whole New Boardgame." Maybe this was the replacement?

I saw a local prod. in San Jose in the early 90's. Great set...even with MTV/Wet Seal stylish Tv arrangement...to show some of Freddie's songs....I could remember the line "you better come here to play chess!" That line wasn't on the OB run...maybe it was. I never saw the OBC. Also the songs besides Freddie Goes Metal I don't recognize from the local one I saw was a song called "winning," and "Freddie's Entrance." Could the version i saw come from the original off-broadway? Also, in the local one I saw, I was fortunate to see Ann Crumb play Florence. If you don't know her, check the OLC of Aspects of Love.
Cadriel

Re: chess discrepancies

Derekmckean wrote:
I have noticed some discrepancies in the Broadway chess lineup. The song "Freddie Goes Metal," was it ever taken out during its Broadway run? The reason why i say this is because I have a non-proffesional recording of the full show and that song wasn't included! Believe me--it was broadway becuase it had Judy Kuhn. Great singer. Maybe it was an off-broadway with Kuhn? I doubt it. She only did the OB run. Maybe the song was added later? I also noticed a vey condensed sound of The Deal was there. I said sound, not song. The song was titled "A Whole New Boardgame." Maybe this was the replacement?

"Freddie Goes Metal" is a one minute long version of "The Deal" sung entirely by Freddie in Act II, following the scene in Svetlana's hotel room in Budapest. The last line is "I tell you people, it's become a whole new boardgame." It was never cut from the Broadway production; it's in the Lincoln Center video and the production script, which reflects the final version of the Broadway show.

Quote:
I saw a local prod. in San Jose in the early 90's. Great set...even with MTV/Wet Seal stylish Tv arrangement...to show some of Freddie's songs....I could remember the line "you better come here to play chess!" That line wasn't on the OB run...maybe it was. I never saw the OBC. Also the songs besides Freddie Goes Metal I don't recognize from the local one I saw was a song called "winning," and "Freddie's Entrance." Could the version i saw come from the original off-broadway? Also, in the local one I saw, I was fortunate to see Ann Crumb play Florence. If you don't know her, check the OLC of Aspects of Love.

"Freddie's Entrance" is probably better titled "What a Scene," it's used as an independent song in the Broadway and US Tour versions. "Winning" is the title in the score for "No Contest." It's hard to find specifics about the production you saw; Ann Crumb was in the OBC, so googling her name with Chess doesn't turn anything up.

The line "You'd better come here to play chess" is not from Off-Broadway, which was a very different rewrite made by Tim Rice in 1992 and not used anywhere at all afterward. The version that you saw sounds very much like the US Tour that starred Carolee Carmello as Florence, John Herrera as Anatoly, and Stephen Bogardus as Freddie. It's set entirely in Bangkok, with "One Night in Bangkok" at the top of the second act, and cuts out a lot of the sung material from the show. It cuts out "US vs. USSR" and "Merchandisers" entirely, although it does have "The Arbiter's Song" and a couple of weird, out of place reprises of "Where I Want to Be" and "The Story of Chess" in Act II. It ended on "Someone Else's Story." Florence's father was not even part of the plot. I've never heard of Ann Crumb being in a US tour production, but that's the only time I've heard the line you mention.

- Wayne
Salome

Judy Kuhn also played florence in a concert version with Murray Head and Tommy Koberg I have the video of tthe show which was boradcast in europe. perhaps you have a bootleg of the concert?
Derekmckean

Re: chess discrepancies

Cadriel wrote:
Derekmckean wrote:
I have noticed some discrepancies in the Broadway chess lineup. The song "Freddie Goes Metal," was it ever taken out during its Broadway run? The reason why i say this is because I have a non-proffesional recording of the full show and that song wasn't included! Believe me--it was broadway becuase it had Judy Kuhn. Great singer. Maybe it was an off-broadway with Kuhn? I doubt it. She only did the OB run. Maybe the song was added later? I also noticed a vey condensed sound of The Deal was there. I said sound, not song. The song was titled "A Whole New Boardgame." Maybe this was the replacement?

"Freddie Goes Metal" is a one minute long version of "The Deal" sung entirely by Freddie in Act II, following the scene in Svetlana's hotel room in Budapest. The last line is "I tell you people, it's become a whole new boardgame." It was never cut from the Broadway production; it's in the Lincoln Center video and the production script, which reflects the final version of the Broadway show.

Quote:
I saw a local prod. in San Jose in the early 90's. Great set...even with MTV/Wet Seal stylish Tv arrangement...to show some of Freddie's songs....I could remember the line "you better come here to play chess!" That line wasn't on the OB run...maybe it was. I never saw the OBC. Also the songs besides Freddie Goes Metal I don't recognize from the local one I saw was a song called "winning," and "Freddie's Entrance." Could the version i saw come from the original off-broadway? Also, in the local one I saw, I was fortunate to see Ann Crumb play Florence. If you don't know her, check the OLC of Aspects of Love.

"Freddie's Entrance" is probably better titled "What a Scene," it's used as an independent song in the Broadway and US Tour versions. "Winning" is the title in the score for "No Contest." It's hard to find specifics about the production you saw; Ann Crumb was in the OBC, so googling her name with Chess doesn't turn anything up.

The line "You'd better come here to play chess" is not from Off-Broadway, which was a very different rewrite made by Tim Rice in 1992 and not used anywhere at all afterward. The version that you saw sounds very much like the US Tour that starred Carolee Carmello as Florence, John Herrera as Anatoly, and Stephen Bogardus as Freddie. It's set entirely in Bangkok, with "One Night in Bangkok" at the top of the second act, and cuts out a lot of the sung material from the show. It cuts out "US vs. USSR" and "Merchandisers" entirely, although it does have "The Arbiter's Song" and a couple of weird, out of place reprises of "Where I Want to Be" and "The Story of Chess" in Act II. It ended on "Someone Else's Story." Florence's father was not even part of the plot. I've never heard of Ann Crumb being in a US tour production, but that's the only time I've heard the line you mention.

- Wayne




You probabbly haven't heard of the production I saw. It was a reigonal theater called the San Jose Civic light opera. Most people were unknowns except Ann Crumb. The book probabbly was a hybrid. Ironically, it had "winning" AND "No Contest". It also had "Freddie Goes Metal" and "let's work together." Again, the production I saw probabbly was a hybrid similar to OB with some of the new book.It ended like a great classic with Endgame, You and I. I'm not sure if it had a finale...The US tour ended strangely wih Some else's Story." The prod. I saw ended with the classic Broadway. Unlike the Broadway, I didn't recall all the F words in the the one I saw--I know Feddie was big with F words in the broadway one, esp. just before No Contest. And Yes, How Many Woman was in the lineup at this one i saw, just like broadway, unlike the US tour



And San Jose CLO was a good reigonal theater. It did have M. Yeston's Phantom. I saw Yeston's version before it had a World Premiere recording. Why do I say this? Well, sort of to proove Chess at the SJCLO had Ann Crumb, and it's a possible a big name can pop up.. And yeah, it was in the early 90's when I saw it.

Chess, from what i have heard has 5+ books. I downloaded the 90's US Tour, OLC...and i skimmed the austailian book. So for all we know, there could be 10 books. Personally, the olc should have been the final, but of course throw in No Contest, and yeah, I sort of do like the sript for the underground parking garage sequence--it rules. Spies. lol. Yeah! leave the parking garage in ESP. if they were to make a movie. And i would leave press conference, 75% unsung like broadway, if it was a movie.


hey, let's start a new topic "if Chess was a Major Motion Picture" by a studio. cool. new topic time!
Jim Colyer

Chess has always been difficult to stage.

http://jimcolyer.com/papers/entry?id=30
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