Chess (theatre)/Trivia


 * Breakaway Pop Hit: "One Night in Bangkok" and "I Know Him So Well".
 * "One Night In Bangkok", performed by Murray Head, is (as of 2017) the last show-tune ever to chart on the Top 40 in the United States. Its then-contemporary new wave sound probably had something to do with it.
 * Cut Song: The Broadway version, which was famously being rewritten as the season went on, has these a plenty. "Let's Work Together", the Villain Song, was cut early on. But even before that, "East and West" seems to have been cut before opening night; it was only shown during previews (for the interested, it took the place of "Embassy Lament" and featured two CIA guys trying to convince Anatoly to move to New York City or LA, respectively).
 * Hey, It's That Guy!: In the latest concerts:
 * Josh Groban: recording artist (Anatoly Sergievsky, 2002 Actors' Fund and 2008 Royal Albert Hall)
 * Adam Pascal: Rent, Aida (Freddie Trumper, 2002 Actors' Fund and 2008 Royal Albert Hall)
 * Idina Menzel: Rent, Wicked, Frozen (Florence Vassey, 2008 Royal Albert Hall)
 * The Swedish production in 2002 featured Helen Sjöholm as Florence and Anders Ekborg as Freddie; they had previously played the (less dysfunctional) lead couple of Kristina and Karl-Oskar in Kristina fran Duvemala, also written by Andersson and Ulvaeus. Tommy Körberg also reprised his original role of Anatoly.
 * Hey, It's That Guy's Brother: Murray Head, brother of Anthony Stewart Head, played Freddie in the 1980s West End production, and performs "One Night in Bangkok" on the album. Anthony Stewart Head himself played Freddie in the West End near the end of its run.
 * Not coincidentally, Murray Head was also Judas on the original Concept Album for Jesus Christ Superstar.
 * Unintentional Period Piece: Reading up on Reagan-era political intrigue is helpful for modern audiences.
 * Amusingly, it had turned into this even as it was opening on Broadway. Large chunks of dialogue and lyrics were rewritten to reflect the then-new reality of Glastnost so as to keep it "contemporary"; later productions have mostly discarded these hasty revisions in favor of returning to the original Cold War setting.
 * What Could Have Been: Tim Rice, Benny Andersson, and Björn Ulvaeus originally sought out Russian music star Alla Pugacheva to sing the role of Svetlana in the original concept album, but in the case of Art Imitates Life, the Soviet authorities would have none of it, so the English singer Barbara Dickson was cast instead.