Sign in to your TheaterMania account

Ty Taylor will take on the role of Freddie in a special performance of the musical Chess, to be held on September 17 at Los Angeles' Ford Amphitheater, to benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. He replaces the previously announced Eric Kunze, who will be starring in the national tour of Whistle Down the Wind.

The benefit will also star Kevin Earley, Susan Egan, Thomas Griffith, Matthew Morrison, Cindy Robinson, and Tom Schmid. It will be produced and directed by Brian Michael Purcell, with musical direction by Dan Redfeld and choreography by A.C. Ciulla.

Chess, which has a book by Richard Nelson, music by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus, and lyrics by Tim Rice, centers on a chess championship in the 1970s between an American and a Russian, the latter of whom plans to defect. The 1988 Broadway production starred David Carroll, Philip Casnoff, Judy Kuhn, and Paul Harman.

For tickets and information, call 323-461-3673 or visit www.fordamphitheatre.org.