Chess: In Concert

 Any Glee fans MUST see this filmed concert, especially for Idina Menzel (who, although she has obvious vocal strengths, occasionally reveals some bad habits - the danger of Broadway).
Any chess players should, just for the atmosphere (no real chess moves/strategies are more than hinted at, and the actual moves are portrayed in interpretive dance). (I know - it sounds silly, but it's really quite amazingly beautiful).

The musical speculates on a possible story around the cancelled 1979 match between Anatoly Karpov (Anatolij Sergievskij in the script, sung by the breathtaking Josh Groban) and Bobby Fischer (Freddie Trumper, sung by a brash and impressive Adam Pascal). Although most of the characters were imaginary, and any real people were heavily disguised, those two shadows fell unmistakably across the stage.

The story involves several large "what ifs." It began with: what if they had actually played? and ultimately focuses more on the politics and relationships than the actual moves and strategies on the board. This perspective reveals the real problem of the plot, which is its difficult moral ground. None of the characters shows much more morality than a simple love of the game, which leaves three inspiring voices without any speech. Several of the songs speak from sincere emotional places, but none of them speak from any sound truth. They're always shifting, and flowing from one confrontation to the next without any real anchor or place of safety. It's a scary way to write a musical, but I'm not sure I can entirely fault it for that, although the balance between chess and relationships seems precarious at best.

I whole-heartedly recommend that you see it and make your own observations. The songs are brilliant and entertaining, and the irony fully abundant.