A preview of UCL Musical Theatre Society’s production of Chess
Credit: Ryan Lee, Kelly Yeo, Nicole Ng & Kingsley de Costa / UCL Musical Theatre Society
Pi were lucky enough to be invited to rehearsals for UCL Musical Theatre Society’s production of Chess the Musical, two weeks from opening night at the end of November. I was able to speak to producer Mariya Kachwala and musical director Megan Deniran, as well as lead cast members Ben Francis (Anatoly), Marni Granek (Freddie) and Izzy Staples (Florence) about casting decisions, the relevance of the show in 2023 and the unique challenges of doing a show in the Bloomsbury Theatre.
When I arrived, director Kingsley de Costa and the cast were partaking in a 35-question Kahoot about the show’s plot - either a display of dedication and love for the musical or a cast who needed to learn their stuff - but was nonetheless enjoyable to watch, especially knowing the show myself. Megan and Mariya remarked that casting was a very tough decision, with the show’s ‘unique mix of acting, dancing and singing, not just acting and singing’, thanks to Kingsley’s immaculate and satisfying choreography. Furthermore, with three of the lead roles being played by 1st year students - Ben, Izzy and Jake Bradbury as Molokov - future prospects for MT Society are looking bright!
There’s no denying that Chess is a little complex on the storyline front: a Cold War-era chess rivalry between a narcissistic American and a dignified Soviet, who end up fighting more over a woman than the title of world champion. Yet as a sung-through musical - with very little dialogue, à la Les Mis - its power lies in its songs. With music and lyrics by Benny and Bjorn from ABBA, the songs of Chess have endured over the years, with Anthem and One Night in Bangkok in particular enjoying chart success in the musical’s heyday. ‘The music slaps, the choreography slaps - what more could you want?’ says Mariya.
When interviewing the cast, it was clear that they cared a lot about the musical and were excited to see their hard work pay off. They gave eloquent answers to my question about the musical’s relevance to a 2023 audience: Ben said that ‘“what Chess does really well is that it doesn’t really take a side - it’s about this one person’s journey through political turmoil”, as well as noting the significance of the portrayal of the USSR delegation when compared to modern-day Russia. Izzy noted that Chess shows ‘there’s no good and evil… no one side that’s right’ - which rings as true today as it did in the 80s when the musical premiered.
As for the added pressure of a Blooms show, they didn’t seem too phased! Marni emphasised that ‘as a uni, to have a theatre like that is so cool and I feel like a lot of the cast haven’t done a Blooms, which makes it even more exciting!’ Izzy stated she ‘thought it would be a good way to develop a sense of community, meet new people and it’s been super fun’ - echoed by Ben, who said he ‘heard good things [about UCLMT] and I’m experiencing good things’.
With intricate harmonies coupled with Kingsley’s slick (yet challenging) choreography, the cast did a fantastic job at combining the two from the scenes I was privileged enough to see - and being 10 days out, it can only have gotten better! I’m so excited to see the end result in just under a week’s time.
Chess is playing from 30th November - 2nd December in the Bloomsbury Theatre.