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Chess (1988 Original Broadway Cast) | 
 enlarge | Artists: Bjorn Ulvaeus, Tim Rice
Creators: Benny Andersson, David Carroll, Judy Kuhn, Marcia Mitzman, Paul Harman
Label: RCA
Category: Music
Buy New: $54.99
New (3) Used (11) from $15.45
Avg. Customer Rating:  26 reviews
Sales Rank: 17827
Format: Cast Recording, Soundtrack
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
UPC: 078635770025
EAN: 0078635770025
ASIN: B000002WBG
Release Date: October 25, 1990
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
| • | Prologue | | • | Story of Chess | | • | Where I Want to Be | | • | How Many Women | | • | Chess Hymn | | • | Quartet (A Model of Docorum and Tranquilty) | | • | You Want to Lose Your Only Friend? | | • | Someone Else's Story | | • | On Night in Bangkok | | • | Terrace Duet | | • | Nobody's Side | | • | Anthem | | • | Hungarian Folk Song | | • | Heaven Help My Heart | | • | No Contest | | • | You and I | | • | I Know Him So Well | | • | Pity the Child | | • | Lullaby | | • | Endgame | | • | You and I (Reprise) |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
It was a success in London but a bomb in New York in 1988, but Chess's cult reputation has only grown over the years--quite a feat for a dramatic musical about love and cold war politics at a chess tournament! While Tim Rice's lyrics aren't too shabby, Chess owes it all to the team of Benny Andersson and Bjoern Ulvaeus, a.k.a. the BB in Abba. Their score has the drama that makes for good musical theater, and it doesn't shy from canny pop hooks either. "One Night in Bangkok" was a hit in Europe, while Judy Kuhn particularly shines on the poignant "Nobody's Side." Indeed, Chess is full of superb numbers that basically fall into two types: instantly memorable and growing-on-you memorable. --Elisabeth Vincentelli
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| Customer Reviews: Read 21 more reviews...
 Save your money for the double disc, concept album. August 15, 2008
First let me say I gave it 1 star because I could not give it none. It's most unfortunate that so much was lost from the original concept. The London cast recording is far more superior than this.
 Chess musical February 21, 2008
Chess is the musical Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus of ABBA wrote with Tim Rice after the disbanding of ABBA. The music is superb. The lytics are witty. Chess was a big hit in London's West End in the mid-1980s. It was a different story when the show moved to Broadway in 1988. The critics hated it. Chess closed almost as quickly as it had opened. Why? For one reason, the soundtrack was of nowhere near the quality of the London/Stockholm recording. New characters were added, and the song sequence was moved around. Furthermore, in the 1980s, America was in a patriotic mood and unwilling to accept a show which portrayed a Russian as a good guy and an American as a bad guy. Chess toured in 1990 and did well on the road. I saw it in Louisville, Kentucky.
 Truly great Broadway July 9, 2007
May 24, 1988 -- I will always remember the date I saw the original Broadway production of CHESS. I guess I'm one of the lucky few who actually saw this show at the Imperial, since it only ran for about seven weeks. I was absolutely blown away by the production and the cast.
First, Judy Kuhn is simply one of the greatest live performers I've ever seen. She is not only a stunningly strong singer, but also a fantastic actress. David Carroll and Philip Casnoff were equally is impressive on the stage. This recording captures most of that magic, missing only a few musical numbers from the show.
I know many fans of the original British production were disappointed by this production, since many of the lyrics were changed and several parts of the story were re-worked, but this version of CHESS stands well on its own as a touching and powerful musical.
I believe that CHESS fell victim to the era of the mega-musical that was happening on Broadway in 1988. THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA had just opened, LES MISERABLES was still going very strong, and one of Stephen Sondheim's best, INTO THE WOODS, was drawing the critical raves and awards. Had CHESS come along two years earlier or two years later, I feel it would have been much more a success, but it just couldn't compete with the overblown expectations of audiences in 1988.
It's disappointing that the Broadway cast album has gone out-of-print, as it is a truly great recording. If you can find a copy of it, I suggest you snap it up quickly.
As a postscript, I've always wondered why there has never been a video release of CHESS -- the evening I saw CHESS there were multiple cameras in various places around the theatre, so I know it was being filmed. I'd absolutely love to have it on DVD....
Not the whole show May 31, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I did my best not to judge this CD against the spectacular London concept album; it is what it is, a watered-down and fuzzied-up version of a devastating original idea. (I admit that when I saw a community theatre version of it I started shaking my head "No" during "I Know Him So Well" and didn't stop until the end. Weird, unnecessary and incoherent changes.)
HOWEVER, seeing the Broadway version made me want to listen to this album. I liked it well enough, though the women were in fact better than the men, as some reviewers have mentioned. What really bothered me was that not all of the songs from the show were on the album, probably to keep it to one disk. This disappointed me a lot, particularly because most of the songs left off were not on the original concept album, which is why I wanted this one in the first place. You can get a script from Samuel French and read the songs left out, but this was a major disappointment for me.
Since the show was a flop on Broadway and (I'm alternately sorry and glad to say) is pretty dated now, I don't expect a new, 2-disc album any time soon--or ever. But if there were one I'd buy it in an instant.
Love it March 5, 2007
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
This is if not my favorite musical, then my favorite modern musical. The music is breathtaking. The lyrics are mostly excellent too. In the liner notes that came with my copy, there is a note that the words to the last song had been changed due to american censorship. The show is European. It's about a chess match between a quiet, tormented Russian and a loud, obnoxious, jingoistic american. He has problems of his own. The singers are all fine.
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