The work of Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson will be showcased on this week’s Dress Circle (12/16 7:00 p.m.) as we look at their musical written with lyricist Tim Rice that mixes personal relationships and political intrigue played against the background of the international chess tournament. “Chess” began as a concept album in 1984 and made it to the London stage two years later where it stayed until 1989. It crossed the Atlantic to Broadway in 1987 but had a much shorter stay of only 68 performances.
We’ll be sampling performances from the concept and Broadway casts as well as the 2008 UK concert version with performances by Elaine Paige, Judy Kuhn, Barbara Dickson, Marti Pellow, Tommy Korberg, Adam Pascal, and many more.