All the Right Moves: Danny Strong and Michael Mayer Talk Chess

For the first time in 37 years the musical Chess is returning to Broadway. The revival features a new book by Emmy winner Danny Strong, direction by Tony winner Michael Mayer and a cast led by Lea Michele, Aaron Tveit, Nicholas Christopher and Hannah Cruz. With music by ABBA’s Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus and lyrics by Tim Rice, the 2025 production brings new focus to a show long admired for its score but faulted for its story.

The original Broadway run in 1988 lasted just 85 performances. Strong saw potential in the material but wanted to rebuild it around a clearer narrative. “One of my main concepts was to infuse true life Cold War plotlines into the show so that you had the love story, the chess matches and a much richer Cold War story that’s hinted at in the lyrics but not fully realized,” he says.

That impulse started with a Spotify playlist. “I was listening to a Spotify Daily Mix,” Strong recalls. “It was all Les Miz, Jesus Christ Superstar, Hamilton, Spring Awakening and Chess, which makes it maybe the greatest playlist of all time. Every time a Chess song came on, I just got this dopamine kick. Chess is so cool. And then I started thinking, what's the deal with Chess? I know it doesn’t work, but I don’t really know why. I had this very delusional thought, which was maybe I could fix this.” Acting on instinct, he told a friend to text Mayer about his idea. By morning an email from the director read simply, “I’m in.” Mayer laughs remembering it. “That’s all it took.” He then wrote to producer Tom Hulce, saying, “Danny Strong’s going to fix Chess, I’m going to direct it, and you’re going to produce it.” Hulce’s reply: “Sounds great.”

Strong later flew to London to meet lyricist and co-creator Tim Rice, who was, in his words, “very honest about what doesn’t work with the show.” That meeting confirmed his approach to deepen the story’s political tension and emotional weight.

Mayer says this restructured version lets audiences experience the score in a new way. “Most of the audiences who know the songs have never seen them in the context of the original story let alone this new version that Danny has created,” he says. “All these songs are in the context of not only the love story that Danny has created but this epic scale presentation of it.”

Strong hopes the revival secures Chess a lasting place in musical theater. “Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita have been done for the last 45 years all over the world,” he says. “This is the next historical rock musical that Tim Rice did right after those pieces. There’s no reason in a world where this show works and fires on all cylinders, it can't be done all over the world for the next 40 years as well.”

Mayer agrees. “The way Danny has constructed it makes the songs feel completely inevitable because they come right out of the story right from the characters,” he says. “It doesn’t feel like we’ve taken something and applied a new idea to it. It feels like it’s coming from inside.”

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