The Opening
While ABBA’s "Chess" is receiving its first revival on Broadway, a delightful new musical about chess has come to Off Broadway’s Players Theatre. "The Opening," billed as “The Second Most Famous Musical About Chess,” is a fun entertainment which keeps you guessing throughout about the world and denizens of chess tournaments. Inspired by a true chess scandal in 2022 in which a tournament player was wrongly accused of cheating, this musical spoof has a clever book by Brooke Di Spirito, melodic music by Mateo Chavez Lewis, and witty lyrics co-written by Di Spirito and Chavez Lewis. An expert cast directed by Nick Flatto keeps the show merrily rolling along. Who knew chess could cause such shenanigans? [more]