Of Musicals And Chess

My first ever musical was Starlight Express in London all those years ago. I was thirteen, and despite it not being one of the most sophisticated art forms in the history of humanity, was mesmerized. It sparked off an obsession which continued with Les Misérables, Blood Brothers, The Phantom Of The Opera, Into The Woods and a dozen other stage shows of the 80s and early 90s.

I am pleased to say that not only did I have the original cast recordings to all these shows, I actually managed to see all of them performed with one great, and much lamented, exception: Chess.Brought to us by the guys from ABBA, who could not love the drums of One Night In Bangkok or the melodies of I Know Him So Well? I was on a conference in Stockholm in 2003 when I chanced upon a performance in the Nykvarns Folkets Park - my hopes were raised, only to be dashed when I realized it was sung in Swedish.

Anyway, this story does have a happy ending. I was watching Breakfast on BBC this morning when Josh Groban came on. I'm not sure what exactly he is promoting at the moment, but the conversation turned to his recent appearance on Any Dream Will Do with Lee Mead. He was asked, given his theatrical training, whether there was a chance that he would return to musical theatre, and his reply was that it was great to be able to dip his toes in occasionally, and that he would be giving this concert of Chess in May next year at the Royal Albert Hall.

The other rumour/highlight is that one of the female roles is to be played by none other than Idina Menzel. This is going to be a concert made in heaven!

Here are a couple of YouTube videos: one of Josh Groban performing the wonderful Anthem (I Mitt Hjärtas Land for the Swedish speaking crowd), and the second of the even more amazing and original Tommy Körberg singing the same song. I really like both, although I wish Josh would pronounce his 't's when he sings 'petty' rather than Americanize them.