Benny: “Chess — it is such a boring subject! But that’s what turned Bjorn and I onto it. We thought, ‘That must be impossible to write a musical about, let’s do that.”
Benny added: “There’ll be 120 people on stage, a 47-piece orch-estra, 50 choir, the principals. I’m very proud of what we did. The corpse is still moving! It’s still being performed. It is because it is a very powerful score.”
Sir Tim said: “It’s basically an operatic concert.”
I know it so well... ABBA's musical Chess back in West End
Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus team up with Sir Tim Rice for the show about the most “boring” subject in the world
Evening Standard Arts In Association With
I know it so well... ABBA's musical Chess back in West End
ALISTAIR FOSTER
Wednesday 22 November 2017 11:36
Knowing me knowing you: Benny Andersson and Sir Tim Rice Alex Lentati
Benny Andersson has revealed he and ABBA bandmate Björn Ulvaeus picked chess as the subject of their first ever musical because it was the most “boring” subject they could think of.
Chess, their first project after ABBA split in 1982, returns to the West End in April for the first time since its initial run here closed in 1989.
The show, with lyrics by Sir Tim Rice, is set against the background of the Cold War as superpowers try to manipulate a chess championship. It features songs I Know Him So Well and One Night In Bangkok. Andersson, 70, said: “Chess — it is such a boring subject! But that’s what turned Bjorn and I onto it. We thought, ‘That must be impossible to write a musical about, let’s do that.”
Originally a concept album, it opened in the West End in 1986 starring Elaine Paige. The new show will be at The Coliseum, with cast to be announced.
https://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/arts/i-know-it-so-well-abbas-musical-chess-back-in-west-end-a3698296.html
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