Broadway's Chess Ends Early as Lea Michele Exits

Chess, the Broadway revival of Benny Andersson/Björn Ulvaeus/Tim Rice’s musical, will close June 21—three months ahead of schedule—following Lea Michele’s departure, with JoJo Levesque slated to replace her starting June 23. While producers hail the production’s reimagined take and a new book by Danny Strong, the show will not recoup its investment amid declining box office and modest Tony momentum (Michele and Tveit were shut out of nominations). The revival stars Aaron Tveit and Nicholas Christopher, under Michael Mayer’s direction with Lorin Latarro’s choreography, and has released a Ghostlight Records cast recording, but the end comes sooner than expected.