Post by Cia on Sept 28, 2010 12:41:30 GMT -5
Sakk (Chess in concert)
Budapest 7&8 August 2010
Anatoly Sergievsky: Géza Egyházi
Florence Vassy: Éva Sári
Frederick Trumper: János Szemenyei / Levente Csordás
Alexander Molokov: Géza Gábor
Svetlana Sergievsky: Tímea Kecskés
The Arbiter: Ernö Zsolt Kiss
Walter de Courcy: Béla Pavletits
Leonyid Viigand: Viktor Varga
The Mayor: Dávid Sándor
Diplomats, etc.: Gábor Jenei, Zsolt Szentirmai, Ádám Pásztor, Szabolcs Hetei-Bakó, Dávid Sándor
Reporters: Darinka Nyári, Beáta Ajtai, Márta Debreczeni, Réka Kovács, Véra Fekete Kovács
Choir: Jazz And More Choir
The plot (the original London version, but it's pretty much the same as the concert).
Official videos of the Budapest production.
Homepage of the Budapest production, including a gallery.
The problem with writing this review has been that I feel I sound fake, because all I have to say is that everything was great. I just honestly can't find anything to criticize, except perhaps one dress and one actor, but that's it, everything else was almost perfect. Chess has quickly become my new musical obsession, but somehow it affects very personal sides of me and it's hard to describe it so that others would understand what is so great about the musical and especially this particular production. You just have to see it. I don't usually get this hooked to realistic musicals with no supernatural or otherwise escapistic themes, but somehow this is an exception. Besides, it has one of the most beautiful musical scores ever.
The musical blew me away, hit like a hammer and left me breathless, and I still haven't recovered enough to be able to say fully coherent things about the performances. I always though that only Michael Kunze's shows can be this heavy mentally, but I was mistaken. The music, the actors, the choir, the dancers - everything was gorgeous, detailed, well-thought, intensive. I'm definitely not the kind of person who cries in movies or in theatre, but by the end of the show I was holding back tears.
The production is a concert version, but a very dramatized one. The actors often sang to the audience, but they were definitely in character all the time they were on stage. The only things referring to the concert status were the orchestra situated on the stage, the very minimalistic sets and the relatively swiftly from song to song moving storyline. It didn't leave any holes in the plot or in the libretto, though, everything necessary was there. Compared to the 2008 concert, they had cut The Merchandisers, Hymn to Chess and the scene in which Freddie tells Anatoly about a flaw in Viigand's game before the big final match, and also some dialogue and small reprises that aren't even listed in the song list. The result worked IMO perfectly, there weren't any dead moments and the story kept going on fluently.
Kentaur's sets and costumes were very simple and stylish. Behind the orchestra stood the 90-headed choir that often half-acted or participated in one way or another, and in the middle of the stage was a big chess board, on which the action took place. Very simple colours: white, black, bright red details for the Soviets, bright blue for the Americans. In the chess match the dancers were dressed as chess pieces and danced to a chess-like choreography and I almost forgot to breathe during the scene.
Actors:
Generally everyone was absolutely great, with the exception of 2nd Freddie, Levente Csordás, who wasn't exactly bad but also not as good as the rest of the cast. He didn't have a very Freddie-ish feeling in him, and his voice could have been better. 1st Freddie, János Szemenyei, was really good, though, just the right amount annoying and arrogant and too impulsive to notice what really is going on around him.
Géza Egyházi was easily the best Anatoly I've encountered. Slightly stubborn, slightly stiff at the first look and quite desperate, but there was also the flirty and romantic side under the surface. He wasn't a big bundle of Angst, just a man whose life was in dead end. His velvety baritone sounded great in especially the Mountain Duet, the Anthem and the Finale, and I keep being hooked to his Where I Want to Be.
Molokov was incredible, one of the highlights of the performances. Géza Gábor is an opera singer, a bass, and his voice fit the songs perfectly. He has comical talent and added some subtle funny details to the character, although his Molokov definitely had to be taken seriously.
Éva Sári (Florence) has a strong and beautiful voice, and you'd never guess she's originally a TV moderator or something. Often it would mean that she's a little celebrity with mediocre talent, but it's apparently also possible to be both famous and really really good at what you're doing. I think Tímea Kecskés as Svetlana perhaps acted a tiny bit better, but I had nothing to complain with Éva, either.
Then the singing and dancing ensemble. Especially the male singers kept catching my attention with their detailed acting, and I loved their Embassy Lament. The British choreographer said in an interview that she's like to take all the dancers with her to England, and I understand her, especially the Soviet Machine and the chess matches were stunning.
This was the premiere and there were only two performances, so of course most actors still need some more time and experience to get really into their roles, but I'd say it was better in that sense than your average premiere.
Details:
I liked the changes they had made to Walter de Courcy's character. It wasn't explicitly told that he was a CIA agent, though in the end it was quite clear, and he wasn't shown as the bad guy (or as the good guy, for that matter). He wasn't your stereotypical agent like Molokov and there wasn't anything evil in him, he simply played his role in the big international game, used everyone equally, no matter if they were on his or on the other side, and secretly laughed at especially the easily fooled and used Freddie. I got the feeling that it was he who in the end wasn't on nobody's side but his own. Then again, so were most other characters in the end.
Related to this, the most important change was that (for the first time ever?) it wasn't indicated that Florence's father really hadn't been found and everyone had just lied to Florence. Walter said something like "Now your father will be free" and, after Florence's reaction, smiling friendly, "Life being just a game isn't true", after which Florence sang the reprise of Anthem. It wasn't explicit, but it left me with a clearly positive feeling about the whole matter. At least more positive than the "Haha, we have fooled you" in the other versions I've seen.
I totally cracked up when I noticed that the Sergievsky children in the "family video" that Walter and Freddie show to Anatoly during the interview were actually Kentaur's daughters, aged 2 and 5. A real family business, this one.
The next performances are on 30&31 October in Magyar Színház. I can only recommend.
Budapest 7&8 August 2010
Anatoly Sergievsky: Géza Egyházi
Florence Vassy: Éva Sári
Frederick Trumper: János Szemenyei / Levente Csordás
Alexander Molokov: Géza Gábor
Svetlana Sergievsky: Tímea Kecskés
The Arbiter: Ernö Zsolt Kiss
Walter de Courcy: Béla Pavletits
Leonyid Viigand: Viktor Varga
The Mayor: Dávid Sándor
Diplomats, etc.: Gábor Jenei, Zsolt Szentirmai, Ádám Pásztor, Szabolcs Hetei-Bakó, Dávid Sándor
Reporters: Darinka Nyári, Beáta Ajtai, Márta Debreczeni, Réka Kovács, Véra Fekete Kovács
Choir: Jazz And More Choir
The plot (the original London version, but it's pretty much the same as the concert).
Official videos of the Budapest production.
Homepage of the Budapest production, including a gallery.
The problem with writing this review has been that I feel I sound fake, because all I have to say is that everything was great. I just honestly can't find anything to criticize, except perhaps one dress and one actor, but that's it, everything else was almost perfect. Chess has quickly become my new musical obsession, but somehow it affects very personal sides of me and it's hard to describe it so that others would understand what is so great about the musical and especially this particular production. You just have to see it. I don't usually get this hooked to realistic musicals with no supernatural or otherwise escapistic themes, but somehow this is an exception. Besides, it has one of the most beautiful musical scores ever.
The musical blew me away, hit like a hammer and left me breathless, and I still haven't recovered enough to be able to say fully coherent things about the performances. I always though that only Michael Kunze's shows can be this heavy mentally, but I was mistaken. The music, the actors, the choir, the dancers - everything was gorgeous, detailed, well-thought, intensive. I'm definitely not the kind of person who cries in movies or in theatre, but by the end of the show I was holding back tears.
The production is a concert version, but a very dramatized one. The actors often sang to the audience, but they were definitely in character all the time they were on stage. The only things referring to the concert status were the orchestra situated on the stage, the very minimalistic sets and the relatively swiftly from song to song moving storyline. It didn't leave any holes in the plot or in the libretto, though, everything necessary was there. Compared to the 2008 concert, they had cut The Merchandisers, Hymn to Chess and the scene in which Freddie tells Anatoly about a flaw in Viigand's game before the big final match, and also some dialogue and small reprises that aren't even listed in the song list. The result worked IMO perfectly, there weren't any dead moments and the story kept going on fluently.
Kentaur's sets and costumes were very simple and stylish. Behind the orchestra stood the 90-headed choir that often half-acted or participated in one way or another, and in the middle of the stage was a big chess board, on which the action took place. Very simple colours: white, black, bright red details for the Soviets, bright blue for the Americans. In the chess match the dancers were dressed as chess pieces and danced to a chess-like choreography and I almost forgot to breathe during the scene.
Actors:
Generally everyone was absolutely great, with the exception of 2nd Freddie, Levente Csordás, who wasn't exactly bad but also not as good as the rest of the cast. He didn't have a very Freddie-ish feeling in him, and his voice could have been better. 1st Freddie, János Szemenyei, was really good, though, just the right amount annoying and arrogant and too impulsive to notice what really is going on around him.
Géza Egyházi was easily the best Anatoly I've encountered. Slightly stubborn, slightly stiff at the first look and quite desperate, but there was also the flirty and romantic side under the surface. He wasn't a big bundle of Angst, just a man whose life was in dead end. His velvety baritone sounded great in especially the Mountain Duet, the Anthem and the Finale, and I keep being hooked to his Where I Want to Be.
Molokov was incredible, one of the highlights of the performances. Géza Gábor is an opera singer, a bass, and his voice fit the songs perfectly. He has comical talent and added some subtle funny details to the character, although his Molokov definitely had to be taken seriously.
Éva Sári (Florence) has a strong and beautiful voice, and you'd never guess she's originally a TV moderator or something. Often it would mean that she's a little celebrity with mediocre talent, but it's apparently also possible to be both famous and really really good at what you're doing. I think Tímea Kecskés as Svetlana perhaps acted a tiny bit better, but I had nothing to complain with Éva, either.
Then the singing and dancing ensemble. Especially the male singers kept catching my attention with their detailed acting, and I loved their Embassy Lament. The British choreographer said in an interview that she's like to take all the dancers with her to England, and I understand her, especially the Soviet Machine and the chess matches were stunning.
This was the premiere and there were only two performances, so of course most actors still need some more time and experience to get really into their roles, but I'd say it was better in that sense than your average premiere.
Details:
I liked the changes they had made to Walter de Courcy's character. It wasn't explicitly told that he was a CIA agent, though in the end it was quite clear, and he wasn't shown as the bad guy (or as the good guy, for that matter). He wasn't your stereotypical agent like Molokov and there wasn't anything evil in him, he simply played his role in the big international game, used everyone equally, no matter if they were on his or on the other side, and secretly laughed at especially the easily fooled and used Freddie. I got the feeling that it was he who in the end wasn't on nobody's side but his own. Then again, so were most other characters in the end.
Related to this, the most important change was that (for the first time ever?) it wasn't indicated that Florence's father really hadn't been found and everyone had just lied to Florence. Walter said something like "Now your father will be free" and, after Florence's reaction, smiling friendly, "Life being just a game isn't true", after which Florence sang the reprise of Anthem. It wasn't explicit, but it left me with a clearly positive feeling about the whole matter. At least more positive than the "Haha, we have fooled you" in the other versions I've seen.
I totally cracked up when I noticed that the Sergievsky children in the "family video" that Walter and Freddie show to Anatoly during the interview were actually Kentaur's daughters, aged 2 and 5. A real family business, this one.
The next performances are on 30&31 October in Magyar Színház. I can only recommend.
