Chess will close earlier than expected, with a final Broadway performance on June 21.
The musical revival, starring Lea Michele, Aaron Tveit and Nicholas Christopher, ends its run after about seven months on Broadway. Michele previously announced she would be leaving the show June 21, but the musical had put tickets on sale through mid-September and announced Joanna “JoJo” Levesque as her replacement.
Since the announcement, Chess has been nominated for five Tony Awards, including nods for Christopher and featured actors Bryce Pinkham and Hannah Cruz, with winners to be announced June 6. But the musical missed out on a best revival of a musical nomination and a nomination for Michele, who has appeared to be a draw for ticketbuyers thus far.
And the musical’s grosses have been on a downward trajectory since its November opening, when it received mixed reviews. The production hit its highest gross of $2 million Thanksgiving week, but in recent weeks has been bringing in under $900,000 with capacity around 70 percent.
The show began previews at Broadway’s Imperial Theatre on Oct. 15, 2025, before opening Nov. 16. Danny Strong revised the book to the musical, which originally ran on Broadway in 1988, with a score by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus of ABBA.
Originally written by Tim Rice, the musical centers on two chess grandmasters, American prodigy Freddie Trumper (Tveit) and Russian grandmaster Anatoly Sergievsky (Christopher), who face off in tournaments amid Cold War tensions. Florence Vassy (Michele) is torn between the two as the coach and companion to Trumper and a possible love interest to Sergievsky. Michael Mayer directs the production, with choreography by Lorin Latarro.
“We are immensely proud of the extraordinary work this cast and creative team have done in reimagining Chess for a new generation of theatergoers while honoring the passionate fans who have championed this musical for nearly four decades. To see longtime fans and first-time audiences alike embrace this production so wholeheartedly has been incredibly rewarding for everyone involved and a powerful reminder of why Chess has endured for so many years,” said producers Tom Hulce, Robert Ahrens and the Shubert Organization.
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