Тim Rice – 80: The Hero and His Many Anniversaries. Part I

In November 2024, the British songwriter, lyricist, and author, a man whose contribution to the development of world musical theatre cannot be overestimated, celebrated his 80th birthday. Enter Tim Rice!

Co-authored with Andrew Lloyd Webber, the rock operas Jesus Christ Superstar, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, musicals Evita, The Wizard of Oz, and such shows as Chess, Aida, Aladdin, The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, King David, The Road to El Dorado among many others became the gems presented at the best stages of West End, Broadway, as well as other cities of the world throughout many years.

Coincidentally, 2024 became an anniversary year not only for the creator himself but for such productions as Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, which celebrated 50 years of the full version, Evita – which premiered on Broadway 45 years ago, the musical Chess, which 40 years ago officially started with the release of a concept album of the first European Concert Tour. The list continues with the 30th anniversary of the Broadway production of Beauty and the Beast and the release of the animated musical film produced by Walt Disney The Lion King, which subsequently turned into one of the longest-running shows in the history of Broadway and West End.   The musical Aladdin is also celebrating its first big anniversary – the tenth anniversary since its Broadway premiere.

From a thorough and detailed interview with Tim Rice, which he kindly agreed to on the eve of the holidays, below, in Part I, are the fragments dedicated to the anniversaries of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Evita, and Chess.

Freeze-frame from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat the movie/ 1999/ (C)- Donny Osmond as Joseph

Lisa Monde:  Do I understand correctly that the birth year of the full version of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is considered 1974 when the first official recording was made?

Tim Rice: Yes, we [together with Andrew Lloyd Webber] would have started writing  Joseph… in late 67, I think. Andrew and I met in 1965. We spent about a year and a half not getting very far with a musical based on the life of Dr. Barnardo- The Likes of Us, which wasn’t bad… It was very old-fashioned. It wasn’t a great story, but Andrew’s music in particular was pretty good. At the time, we had an agent who was a brilliant booking agent, but he didn’t know much about theatre… I think he spotted that we were quite good. And he was sort of trying to use us to get into the theatre industry himself … Initially, he was a brilliant book publisher. He kept saying: “Oh, this show is going to be on West End and Broadway!” –  and we believed him or, you know, I did anyway. I think Andrew did as well. We made a demo album of it and that album was heard by a schoolmaster who loved it. So, while we were waiting to make it on Broadway with The Likes of Us, which of course we never did… That schoolmaster said: “Why don’t you write something for my kids?” And so, we thought: “Well, at least we’ll hear our work done live.” And that’s what we did. We decided to go for the Bible story because, well, it’s my favorite Bible story, but also there was no fee to be paid for it. There were no obvious prospects of making anything out of this show. But it could be something that other schools would take up and it could be an educational musical hit. And you know, we’d sell lots of books whenever a school did the show. We also didn’t feel that we had to obey the rules of musical theatre because we weren’t really writing a musical, we were writing something that could be sung and could tell a story. A lot of it was narration. The kids loved it! In our work we didn’t talk down to kids, I certainly didn’t – in the lyrics. I was quite happy to use a longish word or a complicated word, or a phrase that the kids might not have known because that’s how you learn.

The Biblical story of Joseph the Beautiful was destined to grow from a short school production into a full-fledged musical, which was shown on the big stages of New York and London in the late 70s and early 80s of the last century.

LM: How did a school production of Joseph manage to grow into a full-fledged rock opera?

TR: Well, the first stage version was directed by Frank Dunlop, at the Edinburgh Festival. Frank rang us up and asked if it would be okay to give a lot of the Narrator’s lines to the brothers who didn’t have that many lines. So, instead of “give us food,” the brothers said: “Dieting is for the birds” or whatever the line was. The Narrator’s part was still there, but Frank brilliantly made the eleven brothers into a very funny character- eleven in one. And that transformed the whole thing. The tunes were great, but we didn’t know what to expect overall. We just gave Frank our blessing to do the show at the end of the festival. And then suddenly it happened… Mind you, this was after Jesus Christ Superstar, because Superstar by then had been a hit. And Joseph was traveling around schools, you know, being quite popular there, but not making us any money. Frank Dunlop did a brilliant version of Joseph and that launched Joseph into the adult market … Without losing the kids’ audience, which is quite an achievement.

LM: When it comes to the Biblical subjects and musicals in general, apart from your two musicals, especially Jesus Christ Superstar, which was a huge success, we also had Godspell by Stephen Schwartz, The Ten Commandments that came from France, we had Jesus of Nazareth, a French musical, there was an Italian musical Mary of Nazareth, that appeared… They were not as popular, and some of these shows just stayed within their countries and were never translated. However, what do you think in general about the biblical subjects and the usage of those stories in musical theatre? Do you think that is something that might develop in the future, for educational purposes?

TR: Well, no more than it has already. I mean, the Bible stories have been used as educational tools for about 2000 years. The gospels were written purely as a sort of Christian propaganda, really, and written quite a long time after the events. They’re wonderful stories in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. And they’re open to so many interpretations as well. Joseph is about family problems. It’s about envy, jealousy, love, and power. And it has a happy ending. There are so many stories in the Bible like that. I think Joseph’s probably the best one. But I’ve done a show with Alan Menken – King David, which is also a great story. It didn’t quite work when we staged it in New York. I think it was largely due to it being a bit too long and over-orchestrated. But I think there are some lovely songs in King David.

If the rock opera Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, which initially was not designed for the big stage and appeared shortly after the stunning success of Webber and Rice’s rock hit – Jesus Christ Superstar (which premiered on Broadway in 1971), then the musical Evita, born from the creative union, has had a happy stage fate.

2024 marks Evita’s 45th anniversary on Broadway. It’s almost unbelievable: the heroine has lived only 33 years and for 46 years (since the West End premiere) the musical about María Eva Duarte de Perón, the wife of the 39th president of Argentina, Juan Perón, has been playing.

Musical Evita / (L)-Joss Ackland as Juan Perón, (R)- Elaine Paige as Evita/ Photo Credit by Zoe Dominic

  The very first meeting with Eva Perón for Tim Rice was an ordinary postage stamp, which he collected as a child: “I collected stamps and one of the countries that made an impression upon me was Argentina. There were lots of pictures on the stamps, or the same picture in most cases, of Eva Perón.  “And who is Eva Perón? Is this the Queen of Argentina?” I wondered. Later I learned that she was dead – she died when I was only eight… So that was rather sad. And then, 20 years later, I heard the program about Eva Perón. And I thought: “Oh, Eva Perón… yes, my stamp collection!” I did more research. Nobody knew anything about her in the UK. And, gradually, it dawned on me that it was a good idea to write a show about her. It all came from knowing a little bit about her when I was eight or nine,-” this is how the author of the book and lyrics of Evita – Tim Rice, spoke about the background of the project.

LМ:  I’ve read that you and Andrew Lloyd Webber have a different take on Eva Perón’s character: that you praised her, and that Andrew wasn’t that much of a fan… Is that true? And if so, who is Eva Perón to you?

TR: Well, I think that’s an oversimplification. Eva was no saint, but there were plenty of infinitely worse people around. And there are some things to be said in her defense. A lot of people worshiped her. The people that surrounded her from Perón’s team were probably pretty murky at times, but I thought she was a very interesting dynamic character. She was a woman of extremes. I think she would have loved the show because her life was so much like showbiz. She turned it into show business. And, of course, she used to be an actress herself.

LM: But in your opinion, she is a positive character?

ТR: You could easily make a list of reasons why she was not perfect. But that’s probably true of most people.  Andrew was slightly nervous about the whole project, which strangely, I think, inspired him really – he wanted to try and portray her fairly, but not necessarily, in a saccharine way…  The score is beautiful. So, it’s a simplification to say that I was her fan, and he wasn’t. No, we were both down the middle. You know, she was an interesting character. And of course, a lot of people over the years have said, that this musical is disgraceful because it glorifies Eva. Some critics said that Evita glorifies and glamorizes Eva Perón. Well, the whole point of Eva Perón was that she was glamorous. You take away the glamor, there’s no story left. She just becomes another rather dodgy politician. So, we certainly didn’t glamorize her. We pointed that out. But a lot of people who are great fans of Eva’s say: “Oh, you know, you were a bit unkind to say this or the other about her…” So, we’ve equally had both kinds of feedback. So, I reckon we got it right.

LM: Yes, it’s very interesting because so many people have different opinions about Eva. I’ve seen a couple of movies based on Eva’s life, including some that were made by Argentinian directors. And in some cases, she was portrayed almost like a devil.   I’ve had an interesting conversation with a choreographer who worked on the production of Evita in 2019 at the New York City Center. She comes from Argentina, and she was called to work on the production because she was a pro in Argentinian Tango, since that’s something that the producers wanted to implement in the short run of the production. Valeria Solomonoff was one of the co-choreographers. It was very interesting to hear her take on Eva. In many ways she considered Eva to be a saint, Valeria respects Eva tremendously for everything that she has done for the people of Argentina. Now, the title of the “spiritual leader” was something that followed Eva throughout her life and it came from the poor people that were supporting her. What do you think was the secret of Eva’s charm?

TR:  I suppose it’s partially that she looks so beautiful. That helps. She obviously had a way with men. I can imagine she charmed men simply because she was sexy and intelligent and was a woman of the world. She was certainly anti-the-so-called-aristocrats of Buenos Aires and the upper classes. So, the fact that she was speaking on behalf of the working class in particular – I think that was enough. And she was probably sincere about that. I’m sure, she was quite happy to wear the jewels of the oligarchs and everything, but she came from a working-class family and when her father died, the more respectable new family of her father’s wouldn’t let Eva and her family attend the funeral. She had a justified chip on her shoulder. And this led her to identify genuinely with her class and she played that card very well, but that didn’t stop her from wanting to climb up “the greasy pole.”  Even in the show, we witness her brutal behavior at times. Starting as Perón’s mistress, treating the oligarchs rudely, arguing about things, encouraging Perón to get the workers on his side, all these things… And they worked, I think because she meant it. It helps in politics if you mean what you say. Not that many people do. But if you do, even if what you say is insane, if you believe it, people will follow you.

LM: Eva certainly had a very bright, yet very short life with a very tragic end to it.

During her life and after her death, Eva Perón always evoked polar emotions. Her image in literature, film, and theatre was interpreted differently.  Moreover, there is still no consensus regarding her role as a political figure in Argentina in the first half of the last century. But even then, in the eyes of many compatriots, she became the leader of the social movement for women’s rights, a leader who cared for the interests of all the disadvantaged. And now Eva Perón is the idol for millions of Argentinians, worthy of the title “Spiritual Leader of the Nation” that she received during her lifetime.

The first performer of the role of Evita in the stage version of the musical was Elaine Paige (1978, West End). On Broadway, she was succeeded by Patti LuPone (1979), who won a Tony for Best Actress in a Musical. Elena Roger played the role of Evita twice – in the London revival (2006) and on Broadway (2012). She added authenticity and patriotic sensitivity to the main character. It is impossible to disagree with her own definition of this work: “I did not play Evita but became her…-” She existed so soulfully in this role.

LM: Whose portrayal of Evita do you like the most?

TR: Well, I think Elaine Paige was the best, both vocally and acting-wise. And she was unknown at the time. Evita was her star role. And she created Evita, she was a huge contributor to Evita’s success. I mean, there’ve been lots of good Evitas, but the only other one that I really thought was up there at the top with Elaine was Elena Roger, who was from Argentina. I thought she was fantastic.

LM: When it comes to the 1996 movie, featuring Madonna as Evita, there was a new song introduced into the story – “You Must Love Me.” Why was this song added? Was it done to open up the character of Evita even more, what was the reason for it?

TR: I think if I’m honest, the reason was that we wanted to try and win an Oscar. And we could only do that with a new song. We also felt that at that stage in the piece, when it’s all getting heavy and gloomy, it’d be quite nice to give Eva a bit more of a tender moment. And we wrote this song, which almost by mistake was good. And I didn’t think we’d win the Oscar because when the film came out, I felt there was a bit of an “anti-Madonna feeling…”  The film came out at the very end of 1996 and not many people, when they came to vote for the Oscars, had actually seen it… There was also negative feedback about Madonna’s performance.  So, Madonna didn’t even get nominated. But the song did. And then when we got to the final voting stage, a lot of people had seen the film by February. And they decided it wasn’t all that bad after all. So, we were lucky, and that song is a good song. I didn’t think we’d win. There were a couple of other good songs in the nomination, a very nice one by Diane Warren, written for Celine Dion. I was slightly surprised, but we won. It was amazing.

LM: How did you feel about Madonna’s portrayal of Eva in the movie?

TR: I thought it was fine. She looked great. I was very keen for her to do it. I remember people saying: “We need an actress!” My response was: “Well, you don’t really need an actress. No, you need someone who can sell a song and sell music emotionally, and there’s no one better than Madonna.” I mean, there are lots of actresses who auditioned for the role of Evita, and I’m sure they would have been OK. But you don’t want too much acting in a story like Evita.

LM: The performance must be deep and sincere, correct?

TR: Well, Eva was a big star – Madonna is a star. And she did a great job.

After the death of Evita, Isabel Martínez became the third wife of Mr. Perón, also known as Isabelita. Many noted her external resemblance to Evita, which she strived for in every possible way. Having entered politics as a colleague of her politician husband, after his death, she became the world’s first female president in 1974. Two years later, as a result of a coup d’etat, Isabelita was removed from the office and was forced to emigrate from the country.

LM: In some way, I guess there was a continuation historically, the third wife of Mr. Perón, Isabel Martínez, became the first woman president. Have you ever thought of maybe created a sequel to Evita?

TR: Yes, I have thought about it, it would have been either Evita 2 or Isabelita. It’s a different story though because Isabelita was not a great success but her relationship with Perón started when Perón was in exile. And ironically, without any discernible political background, she must have had some pretty dodgy people supporting her. She achieved what Eva never could have achieved. She was a tenth of the charisma and appeal of Eva however. So, I think there’s a good story there. And in fact, believe it or not, I was talking about this only two weeks ago because somebody in San Francisco has done that very thing. Well, it would be a prequel: Isabel had a similar sort of showbiz background as Eva, but not quite as good. I mean, Eva achieved a certain level of fame as an actress, but you know, she was pretty good at getting away with any corny film, and she was beautiful.

LM: I’ve read that Isabel even tried to do some magic or something like that to get the charisma of Evita, like call on Evita’s spirit…

TR:  I think for a long time, she actually lived with Eva, who died in Perón’s apartment in Madrid. I ought to chase it up more, but you could have a very good story where she meets Perón, moves in with him, and Eva’s still around. And the fact that Eva was barely alive at the time doesn’t matter. Because she still had the spiritual heft. That could have been a great story for a musical sequel.

In addition to the multiple performances on West End and Broadway, the original production in English was presented in Australia.  Almost immediately a Spanish version appeared, touring across Spain, Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina. Michael Kunze adapted the musical for German-speaking audiences, and it gained great popularity and has had a long stage life.  Kunze, considering Eva to be a very smart woman and a great politician, saw her image in the show as follows: “She used the influence she had for her career and it’s very well explained in the show- why she did what she did and how she developed – it’s truly a study of human nature, as she says herself in the show – “I didn’t take care of my power and I’ve wasted too much energy,” but of course, she knew how to manipulate people and she did it out of very egotistical reasons – she was not an angel who just helped people. Even though that was her image.” Michael Kunze admired the work of Tim Rice: “Tim was fantastic in putting the irony in the lyrics – there is a double meaning in most of the lyrics. I admire Tim’s work truly, still to this day.”

LM: How do you envision the future of the musical Evita?

TR: I’m sure it’s got a future, but I don’t toss and turn at night thinking what will happen next. They’ve been talking, ludicrously in my opinion, of remounting the show. It’s extraordinary because the show has been around for 30 years… I mean, there are new versions of the show happening all the time. So why not a new film? But I think I’d rather have a go at the new Jesus Christ Superstar first or a new Joseph, which I believe are both vaguely in the works. And if, you know, Lady Gaga said: “Please let me play Evita? –” I’d agree to that!

LM: That would be amazing.

Perhaps, sooner than one might expect, the spectators will see a new production of the musical Еvita or a sequel – Еvita 2. Because the memory of Eva Perón as the “spiritual leader of the nation” is alive. And the story told by Tim Rice half a century ago has not lost its relevance and is interesting to modern viewers.

For Tim Rice, working on a new musical always starts with a story he’d like to tell. It is a good plot, efficiently presented in music and lyrics, that, in Tim’s opinion are the key to the success of any musical: “The Story is the key thing. You’ve got to have a story outline. So, Eva Perón’s story and Jesus and Joseph were kind of there already. But you’ve got to choose your scenes, you’ve got to work out which characters are singing each song. Then once you and the composer have agreed on that, whichever comes next- could be the music or the lyrics. With Andrew and Alan Menken and most people, the tune would come first. But the tune was always inspired in turn by a storyline.”As one of the world’s most talented dramatists and librettists, songwriters (and pop poets), Tim Rice – is a very passionate person and a perfectionist. Thus, while working on the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar, after the premiere, he repeatedly rewrote the lyrics to the song “I Don’t Know How to Love Him” until it became just as popular as the other hit arias from the show. A true example of the deepest insight into the historical material can be seen in his work on Evita: Tim traveled to Eva’s native country to be able to breathe that air, feel “the nerve of society” and walk around the places where the leading lady of his story had been.

Musical Chess, the original album cover

    The musical Chess was no exception: Tim Rice had an opportunity to invent the story for it from beginning to end, as opposed to the retelling of biblical stories in two rock operas and Mary Main’s biographical drama The Woman with the Whip about the life of Eva Perón. What initially inspired the creation of the book for Chess the Musical was a match at the World Chess Championship, where two of the strongest chess players [chess grandmasters] on the planet fought for the title of Champion – Korchnoi, who emigrated from the USSR and represented the US, and Karpov – who defended the honor of the USSR. Rice witnessed this dramatic sporting event in 1981. This was the period of the Cold War and in the musical, the complicated political atmosphere serves as the backdrop against which the lyrical lines of the plot unfurl within the “love triangle” (two players – a representative of the USA, a representative of the USSR, and Florence – the American’s secretary, who develops a rapid romance with the Russian.) One of the characters in the musical represents a collective image of multiple famous Russian chess grandmasters (Boris Spassky, Anatoly Karpov, Viktor Korchnoi), the prototype of the other character was the eccentric American chess player – Bobby Fischer. As it turns out, both leading characters are capable of base feelings and unseemly actions, although they are dictated by different circumstances. The finale makes you think about the price of victory, life, happiness, and prosperity. Makes you realize the fact that a person, no matter what country he lives in, depends on the political system and his own morality. But “everybody’s playing the game” and “…nobody’s on nobody’s side,-” the game has its own rules. And those rules are the same for the white and the black chess pieces if they are standing on a chessboard that is. Rice didn’t hide the fact that his musical was a metaphor for the Cold War between the US and the USSR, and the chessboard was an analog of global geopolitics.

Famous ABBA musicians, Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, undertook to write the music for Rice’s finished book for the musical Chess. The London Symphony Orchestra and The Ambrosian Singers were invited to record the concept album at the CTS Studios in London “to provide their orchestral and choral contributions to the album.” It was a difficult and lengthy process that culminated in the creation of a two-disc package album which was released on the 26th of October 1984. The first promotional tour started in London and visited Germany, France, Holland, and Sweden. Introducing the new project, Tim Rice says: “There’s an enormous difference between writing for theatre and writing pop albums – and both are equally difficult. But in the whole rock era since the 1950s I can’t think of any other musicians who have done both with success. The great “pop album people” couldn’t do musical theatre and I don’t think the great theatre writers like Sondheim or, indeed, Andrew [Lloyd Webber] could write an ABBA album. Benny and Björn can do it all.” The commercial success of the album (more than two million copies were sold) was of great importance for the further stage fate of the musical. The song  “One Night In Bangkok” (performed by Murray Head) became an international hit long before the song was performed during a “live” show. Two versions of the song were hits in the United States, one reaching the Top Ten. The duet “I Know Him So Well” (by Elaine Paige and Barbara Dickson) also became extremely successful not only in Europe but also in various countries around the world. Five promo videos were created to accompany the album and the singles. They were released on a compilation video called Chess Moves. The songs included: One Night In Bangkok, Nobody’s Side, The Arbiter, I Know Him So Well and  Pity The Child. Each video contained a short introduction by Tim Rice himself, explaining the context of the characters and songs.

The London production (directed by Trevor Nunn) premiered in 1986. For the Broadway premiere in 1988, significant changes and additions were made.  Thus, the narrative part of the script was expanded – the dialogues carried explanatory and clarifying functions.

A year before the release of the concept album in 1984, Tim Rice, along with Benny and Björn, visited Moscow with a desire to get acquainted with the Soviet atmosphere and evaluate the possibility of showing the future musical to audiences in the USSR. However, due to various reasons, the premiere of Chess in Moscow, where for many years the musical was banned, took place only in 2020, after the collapse of the USSR.

LM:  Chess the Musical is set during the Cold War and the story happening in front of our eyes was kind of in the background. Now, I guess this question comes from the recent events in Russia… Do you think that Chess would be relevant once again in Russia at this time?

TR: Well, it was a big hit in Russia until quite recently. When the Ukraine War broke out, we were still running. We were not even able to see it. We went over to Moscow to meet the cast, meet the director, meet everybody involved- which was great. Dmitry [Bogachev] and the gang. But that, I think, was in February 2020. And then Covid-19 struck. So, the reason we couldn’t go and see the opening night was because of Covid. And then we were thinking about when we might go over and see it once Covid was over, but then the war broke out… The show ran anyway for only about a year and a bit when the war began, and we all decided that at that point we couldn’t make any more profit from it, so we wanted to close the show. But we received a very impassioned message from Dmitry saying: “Listen, we all disapprove of this current situation and we very much want to continue.” So, we responded that it was entirely up to them whether they wanted to continue or stop the show. We decided to not take any more money from them with the royalties. And we donated our royalties to the Ukrainian cause, and so Chess ran for another year. But I’ve seen lots of YouTube videos of it, and it looked great.

Now as per your question about relevance. It’s neither here nor there. It’s always relevant. It’s just a show about human nature. That’s why Shakespeare still works today. It’s about human characteristics. And Chess… I’m not saying Chess is up there with Shakespeare, but it’s the way the characters react to the situation and the fact that their love lives, their personal lives, and their ambitions are often thwarted by events that are out of their control. And human nature is in the way they treat each other, the way they react. That’s what Chess is attempting to be about. And that’s not affected really by anything else. So, yes, I’m sure people will say:  “We better not do Chess now because of what’s going on…” But it’s got nothing to do with that, really. That being said, when it was written, it was already a show about “looking back,” it was set in the past.

Musical Chess/ (L)-Alex Lewis, (C)- Brittanie Shipway, (R)-Mark Furze/ Photo Credit by Jeff Busby

LM:  What kind of reaction did you receive from the Russian audiences?

TR: Well, I heard it was going very well. And when we went to the launch, which we did go to just before Covid, we met the cast, and they sang half a dozen or more of the songs to us and they sounded beautiful. The audience, quite a big audience, went bananas. And it’s a great score. I mean, forget the words… because I didn’t understand the words, they were in Russian. I knew what the songs were about, obviously. But the melodies… God, they’re brilliant! I didn’t write them. It’s been a great privilege working with Benny and Björn. Just listen to the Anthem! It’s brilliant.

LM: Absolutely.

TR: Anthem is relevant today. It should be, I should have called it International Anthem.

LM: Almost half a century has passed since the time you spoke about in Chess. The geopolitical situation in the world has changed, but people, by and large, have not. Is the musical relevant today from that point of view?

TR: It works much better now, I think, as a period piece. And if there is a message, it’s how politics will always try to muscle in on anything successful. Which is what happened with the Fischer-Spassky chess tournament. I’m not that interested in chess as a game. But the idea of Bobby Fischer… I mean, it’s a wonderful story because Bobby Fischer was a truly nasty guy, and he was our guy. And the Russian was great, Spassky. So not only did we have East vs West, we had a nice guy vs a nasty guy, but the West guy was the nasty guy. That’s wonderful. You couldn’t make it up.

LM: Now, talking about the Russian production- obviously, the translation was made, but were there any adjustments made for the Russian audiences so that they could understand certain things better?

TR: I don’t know. I imagine that was the case. I mean, we had quite a few meetings with the director [Evgeniy Pisarev], and it seemed to me there’ve been so many versions of Сhess, that it’s been mucked around too much… I think the story as per the original album is simplest. But Russian production wanted it to be more enthusiastic. To be honest, I didn’t think the musical was necessarily going to be a hit, but it became a big hit.

LM: Russian audiences loved the musical; it featured strong performers, high-quality original arrangements and orchestrations, and the best vocalists who had experience working in other West End/ Broadway licensed productions. In total, there were almost 600 performances, is that right?

TR: Yеs. After London, it was the second longest-running version. And it’s played in lots and lots of places, but the fatal thing is people always think they can improve it. If you make the mistake of altering the show once, then everybody decides that they can alter it again and again, make it better.

LM: In 2003, a film adaptation of Chess by the Swedish director Lars Rudolfsson was released. Would you ever like to make a movie out of Сhess? Do you think there should be a movie?

TR: I’d love to. They made a really good movie. I think it’s a better movie… The trouble is you don’t want too much politics in it. I’m a bit worried about versions, you know when you start throwing in lines like “the Russians have launched 83 missiles, etc…” Once you get into all that, you lose what the show is really about. It’s about people. It’s about people and how they’re affected. There was one version we had in Washington. It was lovely, but, you know, there was an awful lot of Reagan and Gorbachev added to it, both of them were probably on the right side. But it seemed like a different show, that’s not what Chess was initially about.

Over the forty years of the stage life of the musical Chess, there have been several revivals – on the West End and Broadway, national tours in the UK and the US, international productions, various concert versions, and their audio recordings. There is no doubt that audiences from different countries will repeatedly witness both new productions of this musical and its film adaptations. Because the era of confrontation in politics, sports, and culture, has not passed, and therefore, the interest in the story created and told by Sir Tim Rice will live on.