Theatre News

”Chess” at Theatre Royal Drury Lane with Hadley Fraser, Samantha Barks and Frances Mayli McCann in rehearsals

| London |

28 July 2022

Hadley Fraser, Frances Mayli McCann and Samantha Barks
© Mark Senior

Rehearsal images have been released for Chess, which is set to play in concert at Theatre Royal Drury Lane.

Tim Rice, Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus’ musical follows a competitive chess rivalry against the backdrop of the Cold War. It includes numbers such as “Nobody’s Side”, “The Arbiter”, “Anthem” and “One Night in Bangkok”.

The concert is to be led by Samantha Barks (Frozen, Les Misérables) as Florence, Craige Els (Matilda the Musical, The Imitation Game) as Molokov, Hadley Fraser (2:22 A Ghost Story, City of Angels) as Anatoly, Joel Harper-Jackson as Freddie (Cock, Kinky Boots), Frances Mayli McCann (Bonnie and Clyde, Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour) as Svetlana and Ako Mitchell (Caroline Or Change, The Color Purple) as The Arbiter. Completing the ensemble is Joshua Robinson, joining Joseph Craig, Darius J James, Aoife Kenny, Jessica Lee, Nick Len, Natasha May-Thomas, Alice Readie, Stuart Rouse, Phoebe Samuel-Gray, Grant Thresh and Libby Watts.

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The creative team is led by director and choreographer Nick Winston, associate director and choreographer Alexzandra Sarmiento, musical director Freddie Tapner, lighting designer Ben Cracknell, sound designer Tom Marshall, video projection designer Duncan McLean, casting Harry Blumenau and lighting programmer Chris Winn.

Joining them are assistant director and choreographer Tara Young, production manager Pete Kramer, company stage manager Rachael Downey, deputy stage manager Bryony Relf, costume supervisor Stephen Frosdick, sound 1 by Harry Greatorex, sound 2 Olly Smith, production sound engineer Josh Richardson, chorus master Dan Turek and assistant musical director Honor Halford-MacLeod.

There are three performances on 1 and 2 August, with tickets on sale below.