Check out footage from the current Japanese staging of聽Benny Andersson and Bj枚rn Ulvaeus' musical Chess, starring Tony nominee Ramin Karimloo (Les Mis茅rables, Anastasia) and Samantha Barks (Pretty Woman, Les Mis茅rables). The production plays in Osaka through January 28 before heading to the Tokyo International Forum Hall C February 1鈥�9.
Karimloo plays Anatoly with Barks ( in Frozen in London) as Florence, Luke Walsh (Rock of Ages) as Freddie, Takanori Sato as the Arbiter, Eliana as Svetlana, and Hideya Masuhara as Molokov. The ensemble includes Megumi Iino, Hiroaki Ito, Takashi Otsuka, Kana Okamoto, Naoki Shibahara, Tatsunori Senna, Kota Someya, Tomohiko Nakai, Nanaka, Ai Ninomiya, Ami Norimatsu, Maaya Harada, Kan Muto, Daisuke Moriyama, Sayaka Watabiki, and Kiyoka Wada.
Nick Winston directs and choreographs the musical overseas. Chess tells a story of love and political intrigue, set against the background of the Cold War in the late 1970s-early 1980s, in which superpowers attempt to manipulate an international chess championship for political ends.
The 1984 musical features music by ABBA songwriters Andersson and Ulvaeus and lyrics by . The original 1986 London production ran for nearly three years in the West End. Despite a two-month Broadway run in 1988, Chess has amassed a legion of fans who are drawn to its operatic rock score that features such songs as 鈥淚 Know Him So Well,鈥� 鈥淣obody鈥檚 Side,鈥� 鈥淪omeone Else鈥檚 Story,鈥� 鈥淧ity the Child,鈥� and the stand-out single, 鈥淥ne Night in Bangkok.鈥�
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