Theater News

Is a Revival of Chess Coming to Broadway?

Tim Rice says “a team is in place” on a recent podcast.

Ramin Karimloo starred as Anatoly Sergievsky in Chess at the Kennedy Center.
Ramin Karimloo starred as Anatoly Sergievsky in Chess at the Kennedy Center.
(© Teresa Wood)

ABBA superfans take note: Lyricist Tim Rice has taken to his podcast to announce that a Broadway revival of Chess, his 1986 musical written with composers Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, is imminent. "We plan to come back to Broadway," said the Tony-winning lyricist, hedging, "one day fairly soon. A team is in place."

About world championship chess set against the backdrop of the Cold War, Chess features music by Andersson and Ulvaeus, the songwriters behind the international pop sensation, ABBA.
The show has played to enthusiastic audiences around the world, including at Washington D.C.'s Kennedy Center in 2018.

You can hear Rice talk about the show, and hear a performance of "One Night in Bangkok" (in Russian!) below: