Chess in Concert
|
List Price: Our Price: $12.52 You Save: $7.46 (37%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
Movie Reviews of Chess in Concert
Movie Review: I'm a purist, and this was better than the original
Summary: 5 Stars
I love Broadway musicals. I love them in their original form. I winced when the changed the lyrics in Oklahoma and deleted songs in The King And I for the sake of movie audiences. Don't mess with the original, that's my creed.
I have to find a new creed. This concert version of Chess messed with the lyrics, added songs, moved songs and changed the plot of one of my favorite musicals of all times. And I'm thrilled. It was a masterful retelling of the original story. Almost every change, every expansion, every redirection helped the story. My one minor quibble was that they sang *Endgame* before the game was over. But that was minor. The filler, the backstory, even the moving *The Story of Chess* to the beginning of the show were all moves that were beneficial to the show.
Chess has always been a bit of a Broadway oddity, with it's unconventional plot and occasional oddly arhthmic song. It is hard to understand unless you read the synopsis carefully. It's dated too, being a product of the Cold War. But those problems were swept away by the masterful rewrites and edits. Yeah, I missed a favorite line or two, but the ones that replaced them were just as good, probably better than the originals.
And no doubt they brought the top talent to this piece. Groban and Menzel nailed every note and sang with emotion and lungpower. Adding a bit more grist for the Soviet wife and inventing the role of the Broadcaster were not just filler. They were sweetners. I knew the musical back to front, but now, I understand it better. If you are a fan of Chess or of Brodway at its best, I recommend this in my most enthusiastic terms. If you can watch it without tears, you are a better man than me.
Movie Review: A worthy Chess
Summary: 5 Stars
I have been a fan of Chess since I was lucky enough to perform in the chorus of a concert version in the 80s. It's a musical that never caught on as a stage version, but has had life in various concert versions in Europe and the U.S. I'm so glad that Tim Rice, Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus never gave up on this piece. As Tim Rice says in the intro, this time they finally got it right. The story is enhanced and tightened for post-Cold war audiences, and the traditional concert version showcases the chorus and orchestra but adds just enough staging, dance and costuming to make a compelling and moving production.
The highlight (and surprise!) of this production is Josh Groban. I've never been a fan of his classic-pop singing, but in this production, he displays a much wider range of acting and even singing ability. The score requires him to use a wide vocal and dramatic range and he makes the most of every second, especially the powerful "Anthem," which brings down the house and deserves to become a musical theater classic. Kerry Ellis is stunning in the relatively small part of Svetlana, and Adam Paschal makes one of the most difficult roles in musical theater look easy. His big number, "Pity the Child," is often called "Pity the Singer" because of its difficulty, yet he pounds it out with ease and dramatic gusto. Although others have found Idina Menzel's performance irritating at times (and I admit, her voice could cut through glass), she acts the role of Florence with complexity and has much more subtlety in her voice than many give her credit for.
Do this show a favor and spend some time with it. It has much more meat than most musical theater and will give you pleasure on every viewing.
Movie Review: Buy this DVD AND CD now!
Summary: 5 Stars
I must admit that my take on this wonderful performance seems to be a little bit different from the majority of the opinions here. I am a huge Josh Groban fan and an even bigger RENT head so this show was perfect for me. Having never seen the original and thus having noone to compare it to, I can honestly say that this performance truly lived up to its expectations.
A few things, Josh Groban has a wonderful operatic and pure voice, but for me he was the one who was miscast in this role. As we move along he seems to get more comfortable and more in tune with the cast, but overall his acting was poor in the role. Kerry Ellis was phenomenal in her role as Svetlana, as with most who have written a review, I wished that she had more screen time.Martel Pillow as the Arbiter was fantastic, although at times I wish that they had increased the volume in his mike as sometimes the orchestra seemed to be playing over him. Idina Menzel has always been a favorite of mine, her first few notes in Merano were a bit timid and pitchy for her, but from then on she soars as only she can. In my opinion she more than held up her end of the bargain and I actually thought her acting was quite good in the role. The real star of the show was Adam Pascal. From the first note as Freddy he becomes the role and is totally believable...hoenstly Ive never heard him sound better.
True fans of any of the cast should definitly buy or rent the dvd or download the songs...it is well worth it and youll find yourself playing several of the numbers over and over again
Movie Review: I wish more people could discover this music & story.
Summary: 5 Stars
My husband introduced this to me on CD many years ago. The version he had was from the 1986 production in England with the original cast (including Elaine Paige). He actually got to see it live in England. The original CD was a great way to get to know the story because some of the words get pretty complex in some of the songs. The complexity of the music is something I really love so the trouble with hearing some of the words doesn't take anything away from how great I think this is. It's well worth watching more than once to pick up all the details. This version with Josh Groban & Idina Menzel was such a joy to see & hear. Josh Groban has a beautiful strong voice and I wish he'd do more productions like this. His abilities to portray the emotion appropriate to the story was something that really made this so engaging. I loved watching his acting as much as hearing his singing. Idina Menzel is always great on stage and she was the perfect choice for the role of Florence. Adam Pascal as Freddie also did an amazing job. The entire cast gave such incredible performances. Top all that with London Philharmonic & the 100 member West End Chorus and the results are outstanding! All of the music is so memorable and interesting thanks to Tim Rice from ABBA for the story & lyrics & Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus for the music. I'm thrilled that this was redone and available on DVD!! I would love to have seen this one live.Movie Review: Chess fans Rejoice!
Summary: 5 Stars
For all of you Chess fans out there, this is what we have been waiting for. Tim Rice was right when he said they finally got it right. Musically and thematically, they took the best from both the London and Broadway versions to come up with yet another storyline to this storied musical. Spoiler alert......the Russian wins again at the end of the show. There were some other changes as well, such as Svetlana now singing "Someone Else's Story" and it works fine with the story. The casting was on the whole, superb. Maybe Josh's huge classical voice would not be my first choice as the Russian, but you will still have chills running down your spine during the last minute of "Anthem" to close out act one. The rest of the cast was uniformally excellent with special kudos to Adam as Freddie and Kerry as Svetlana. There was also a terrific huge chorus. Idina has become the female singer of choice for rock type musicals. Although I would have loved to see Judy Kuhn or Elaine Paige reprise Florence's role again, Idina does not disappoint. Considering that this was a concert version, there was quite a bit of acting going on, and some of it was quite amusing( the dancers during the arbiters song had me laughing out loud). If you are a fan of this show(which is probably a safe statement to make since you are this far into the reviews), go buy it. Just go buy it. I'd give it 6 stars if I could. Go buy it.....Right now.