Emmy-Winning Writer Rewrites Troubled Musical

When Danny Strong described adapting the musical Chess as “the weirdest thing I’ve ever done,” he wasn’t just reflecting on a creative challenge—he was tapping into a broader cultural moment where ambitious revivals of flawed but beloved shows are finding new life. That sentiment landed differently in Chicago this spring, where the Goodman Theatre’s ongoing exploration of 1980s rock musicals has quietly positioned the city as a testing ground for reimagining theater’s most troubled gems. For a metropolis with deep roots in both blues innovation and architectural reinvention, the idea of taking something structurally unsound—like Chess‘s notoriously convoluted plot—and making it resonate feels less like an oddity and more like a familiar civic exercise.

The original Chess, with music by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus of ABBA and lyrics by Tim Rice, premiered in London in 1986 before a troubled Broadway run in 1988. Its Cold War chess-match metaphor, while clever, buckled under shifting geopolitics and a book that struggled to marry spectacle with coherence. Decades later, Strong’s new book—developed through workshops at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta and informed by his Tony-winning perform on Grey Gardens and the Empire series—attempts to anchor the musical’s emotional core in personal betrayal rather than ideological conflict. This shift mirrors a broader trend in theatrical revival: prioritizing psychological intimacy over political allegory, a move particularly resonant in cities like Chicago where storefront theaters have long excelled at mining human drama from minimalist staging.

What makes this relevant locally isn’t just the artistic debate—it’s the economic ripple effect. Chicago’s theater sector, contributing over $600 million annually to the local economy according to the League of Chicago Theatres, has seen a 22% increase in attendance for revived musicals since 2022, per data from the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. Venues like the Drury Lane Theatre in Oak Brook and Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire have bet big on nostalgic titles with reworked books, recognizing that audiences crave familiarity but reject stagnation. Strong’s approach—retaining the soaring anthems (“One Night in Bangkok,” “I Know Him So Well”) while retooling the narrative scaffolding—speaks directly to this demand for evolution without erasure.

This isn’t merely about nostalgia, though. Second-order effects are emerging in Chicago’s creative workforce. The push for revised scripts has increased demand for dramaturgs and adaptation specialists, roles once confined to academic circles now actively recruited by production houses like Lookingglass Theatre Company, and Steppenwolf. Meanwhile, music directors report spending more time on vocal arrangement nuance to compensate for weakened plot points—a skill honed in the city’s robust jazz and gospel traditions, where improvisation within structure is second nature. Even scenic designers are adapting, creating modular sets that can visually represent both a Budapest chess tournament and a Bangkok nightclub without literal translation, relying instead on lighting and projection—a technique pioneered in Chicago’s storefront scenes during the 2010s.

Given my background in analyzing how national cultural trends manifest in urban ecosystems, if this shift toward thoughtful revival impacts you in Chicago, here are the three types of local professionals you need to know about:

• Theater Adaptation Consultants: Look for individuals with verified experience in musical restructuring—not just general playwriting. Prioritize those who have worked with rights holders (like Really Useful Group, which licenses Chess) and understand the delicate balance between honoring original scores and fixing book issues. Check if they’ve contributed to workshops at reputable development labs such as the O’Neill Theatre Center or Northwestern University’s American Music Theatre Project.
• Cultural Dramaturgs Specializing in Geopolitical Theater: Since shows like Chess rely heavily on historical context, seek professionals who can bridge past and present. Ideal candidates will have academic or institutional ties to places like the University of Chicago’s Center for East European and Russian/Eurasian Studies or the Newberry Library’s modern European collections, enabling them to advise on how Cold War metaphors translate—or don’t—to audiences today.
• Experiential Set and Projection Designers: For revivals leaning into atmosphere over literal storytelling, find designers fluent in immersive tech. Review portfolios for work with Chicago’s renowned projection houses like The Ruffians or collaborations with institutions such as the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, where boundary-pushing visual narratives are routine. They should demonstrate ability to create symbolic environments (e.g., using light and texture to suggest ideological tension) without relying on clichéd literal sets.

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