Players’ ambitious production
10 April 2009
ABBA mania continues to dominate the Marina Theatre future line-up as the Lowestoft Players forthcoming musical Chess illustrates what happened to the talented song writing team of Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus, after the pop group Abba disbanded.
The pair teamed up with lyricist Tim Rice and together they wrote the musical Chess, which this week celebrates its 25th anniversary.
Chess first appeared as a concept album, which spurned the hit songs I Know Him So Well and One Night in Bangkok. Both went on to top the charts and gain international success.
The Players are staging the musical next month and Stephen Wilson, the shows director, said that the production is a very ambitious and demanding.
The group has assembled a 40-strong cast, headed by seven principal performers … all of them having taken leading roles in previous Players’ shows.
Florence is played by Nancy Paul, who won rave reviews for her role as the panto baddie in the recent Players production of Beauty and the Beast. Stephen Amer will be playing the role of Frederick Trumper and Neil Francis plays Anatoly, the Russian love interest. Completing the principal line-up are John Marjoram, Judi Wheaton-Mars, David Higgins and James Webber.
Source: http://www.lowestoftjournal.co.uk
They should bring chess back to Broadway.
As a former reporter on that paper I’m shocked at how standards have dropped – the use of the word ‘spurned’ instead of ‘spawned’, and the missing apostrophe in “show’s director” – we’d never have got away with that in MY day!
Thanks for re-posting anyway, Susan.