After selling out its previously announced performance in just 7 days, the hotly anticipated Chess the Musical in Concert will add an additional date to its chequerboard, on Tuesday 2 August, alongside the announcement of the further casting of Joel Harper-Jackson as Freddie (Cock, Kinky Boots), Frances Mayli McCann (Bonnie and Clyde, Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour) as Svetlana and Ako Mitchell (Caroline Or Change, The Colour Purple) as The Arbiter.
Chess, with music by ABBA legends Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, and lyrics by the incomparable Sir Tim Rice, returns to the West End for the first time since 2018, as part of three star-led musical concerts. They will be accompanied by the London Musical Theatre Orchestra and will be presented at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane this August.
Previously announced casting included Samantha Barks (Frozen, Les Misérables) as Florence and Hadley Fraser (2:22 A Ghost Story, City of Angels) as Anatoly.
The ensemble will be made up of Joseph Craig, Darius J James, Aoife Kenny, Jessica Lee, Nick Len, Natasha May-Thomas, Alice Readie, Stuart Rouse, Phoebe Samuel-Gray, Grant Thresh and Libby Watts, with more to be announced.
Chess’s creative team are as follows — Director and Choreographer: Nick Winston, Associate Director and Choreographer: Alexzandra Sarmiento, Musical Director: Freddie Tapner, Designer: Ruth Sutcliffe, Lighting Designer: Ben Cracknell, Sound Designer: Tom Marshall, Video Projection Designer: Duncan McLean, Casting: Harry Blumenau and Lighting Programmer: Chris Winn.
Chess the Musical in Concert is part of three concerts presented in August at Theatre Royal Drury Lane. It precedes concert stagings of Kinky Boots the Musical in Concert on 8 August and Treason the Musical in Concert on 22 and 23 August.
