World chess masters in stalemate over love

A new production of the West End and Broadway musical Chess makes a move to the Theatre Royal Nottingham from Monday, November 22, to Saturday, November 27, as part of a major UK tour.

Strictly Come Dancing’s Craig Revel Horwood directs a company of actors and musicians in this new staging of the classic musical.

Written by Tim Rice and ABBA’s Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, Chess has one of the greatest musical theatre scores of all time.

The songs include One Night In Bangkok, Pity The Child, Anthem, You And I and I Know Him So Well which became a number one hit for Elaine Paige and Barbara Dickson.

Two of the world’s greatest chess masters battle it out at the world chess championships but their greatest contest is for the love of one woman.

Amid political intrigue and international conspiracies, the American and the Russian fight to win the heart of Florence Vassy in a romantic triangle that mirrors the heightened passions of the Cold War all set to music.

The cast is headed by West End stars James Fox (Fame Academy, Jesus Christ Superstar) Shona White (Wicked) Daniel Koek (West Side Story) Poppy Tierney (Mary Poppins, Aspects of Love, The Witches Of Eastwick) James Graeme (The Phantom of the Opera) and David Erik (Dirty Dancing, The Phantom of the Opera).

Craig Revel Horwood, who is one of the judges on BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, has previously won critical acclaim for his productions of Boublil and Schonberg’s Martin Guerre, Spend Spend Spend, Hot Mikado and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard which transferred to the West End.

His regular collaborator, musical supervisor and orchestrator Sarah Travis won the Tony Award for her work on the Broadway revival of Sweeney Todd.