Lyon College Music is proud to present Chess, in concert, in Sloan Auditorium, Brown Fine Arts Building. Mark your calendars as showings will be held on February 9 through February 11, starting at 7:30 p.m., and February 12, starting at 2 p.m.

Lyon students, faculty and staff will be admitted to the show for free, while general admission tickets will be $10.

Chess showcases music by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus of the pop group ABBA, lyrics by Ulvaeus and Tim Rice, and book by Rice. 

Chess is used as a metaphor for romantic rivalries and the US-Soviet rivalry during the Cold War. The main characters form a love triangle: the ill-mannered American Grandmaster, the intense Russian champion who plans on defecting to the West, and the Hungarian-American female chess second, who arrives at the International Championships with the American but falls in love with the Russian. 

From Bangkok to Budapest, the players, lovers, politicians, and spies all struggle to get the upper-hand. Chess allegorically reflects the Cold War tensions present in the 1980's. 

The musical has been referred to as a metaphor for the whole Cold War, with the insinuation being made that the Cold War is itself a manipulative game.

The wonderful performance will be directed by Lyon College’s very own Kristian Ameigh, with the cast being filled out by the following:

Garrett Russell as Anatoly

Logan Richerson as Molokov

Valley Murrell as the Arbiter

Amanda Shelley as de Courcey

Rebecca Ward as Svetlana

Carolyn Reed as Florence

Tyler Serracino as Frederick