Chess at Kennedy Center [Eisenhower Theatre

This complex rock opera has been seen around the world. The pawns in this drama form a love triangle: the loutish American chess star, the earnest Russian champion, and the assistant who is torn between them. From Bangkok to Budapest, the players, lovers, politicians, and spies are manipulated to the pulse of a monumental rock score. Music by Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson; lyrics by Tim Rice.
Directed by Tony Award® winner Michael Mayer (Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Spring Awakening) with a new book by Emmy® and Golden Globe Award®–winning writer Danny Strong (Empire, The Butler, Game Change), Chess stars Raúl Esparza (Company, the Kennedy Center’s Sunday in the Park with George, Merrily We Roll Along) as American chess champion Freddie; Ramin Karimloo (Anastasia) as rival Russian chess star Anatoly Sergievsky; Tony Award® winner Ruthie Ann Miles (The King and I, Here Lies Love) as Anatoly’s wife, Svetlana; and Tony Award® winner Karen Olivo (West Side Story, In the Heights) as Florence, a remarkable Hungarian refugee who becomes the center of their emotional triangle. Joining them are Bradley Dean (Dear Evan Hansen) as Ivan Molokov, Sean Allan Krill (Honeymoon in Vegas) as Walter Anderson, and Bryce Pinkham (A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder) as the Arbiter.

Authors

• Benny Andersson
• Björn Ulvaeus
• Richard Nelson
• Tim Rice