Chess, the Broadway musical revival, will close June 21, three months earlier than expected and the final performance of star Lea Michele.
The show, which also stars Aaron Tveit and Nicholas Christopher, had been expected to sell tickets through at least September 13 with singer-songwriter Joanna “JoJo” Levesque having been announced as a replacement for Michele. Levesque had been scheduled to begin performances June 23.
Producers have not disclosed a capitalization figure for the production, but they will not recoup the investment.
The early closing was announced tonight by producers Tom Hulce, Robert Ahrens and The Shubert Organization, who said in a joint statement, “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.
“The opportunity to witness Aaron Tveit, Lea Michele, and Nicholas Christopher perform this legendary score by Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, and Tim Rice alongside a company filled with some of Broadway’s most remarkable talent is something that will stay will audiences long after they depart the Imperial Theatre,” the statement continues. “Bringing Chess back to Broadway for the first time in nearly 40 years has been an enormous privilege, and we are extremely proud of everything this production accomplished during its historic Broadway run.”
Tveit and Christopher play rival Cold War chess grandmasters – one American, one Soviet – who fight for world supremacy as well as the affections of the woman (Michele) who manages the American player.
Chess‘ box office has been declining fairly steadily since its peak last fall, when the production reported a weekly gross of $2,066,742 for the week ending November 30, 2025. Recent weekly grosses have been around half that much, with the most precipitous tumble happening when Michele was on vacation the first week of April: Box office for that week plunged to $585,803, with only 66% of seats at the Imperial occupied.
The production also failed to overly impress Tony Award nominators, with Michele and Tveit shut out completely, and the production itself failing to score a Best Revival/Musical nomination. Chess‘ five Tony nominations were for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical (Christopher), Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical (Bryce Pinkham), Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical (Hannah Cruz), Best Orchestrations (Brian Usifer) and Best Lighting Design of a Musical (Kevin Adams).
The Broadway cast also includes Bradley Dean and Sean Allan Krill and an ensemble of Kyla Bartholomeusz, Daniel Beeman, Shavey Brown, Emma Degerstedt, Adam Halpin, Aliah James, Sydney Jones, David Paul Kidder, Sarah Michele Lindsey, Sean MacLaughlin, Robin Masella, Sarah Meahl, Michael Milkanin, Ramone Nelson, Fredric Rodriguez Odgaard, Michael Olaribigbe, Katerina Papacostas, Aleksandr Ivan Pevec, Samantha Pollino, Adam Roberts, Regine Sophia and Katie Webber.
The revival features a new book by Danny Strong (replacing the 1988 original by Tim Rice), with music and lyrics by ABBA’s Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus and Rice, based on an idea by Rice. The new production was directed by Michael Mayer and choreographed by Lorin Latarro with original orchestrations by Anders Eljas, orchestrations by Anders Eljas and Brian Usifer and music supervision by Brian Usifer.
Ghostlight Records recently released the Chess 2025 Broadway Cast Recording, available in digital and streaming formats and, later this year, on CD and vinyl.
Chess is produced on Broadway by Tom Hulce, Robert Ahrens and The Shubert Organization along with Creative Partners Productions. The lengthy roster of co-producers includes Mary Maggio, Nederlander Presentations Inc., Stephen & Nancy Gabriel, Carl Moellenberg, Danny Strong, Benny Andersson, Tim Rice, Björn Ulvaeus, Ludvig Andersson, Robert Fox, Lea Michele, Scott Abrams, 2 On The Aisle, The Broadway Investor’s Club, Ruth Hendel, John Gore Organization, Michael Mayer & Stark Sands, Judith Ann Abrams & Peter May, James Bolosh & Hillary Wyatt, Ira Pittelman, Kate Cannova, Jamie DeRoy, Chema’s Checkmates, Bradford & Melissa Coolidge, Jonathan Farkas, Jeffrey Finn, Willette & Manny Klausner, Kors Le Pere Theatricals, Lang Entertainment Group, Maestro Invest, Stephanie P. McClelland, No Guarantees Productions, Ostar Adam Riemer, Vivek J. Tiwary, Tom Tuft, Lee / Schild, Bijoux / Glass, Byrnes Lamon, Davault Braun, Dickinson / Federman, Kolson / Prisand, Mo Maxi, Nabatoff / Kamler, Trichter / Fink, Burkhardt Stern, and O’Connor / YSSM.
Chess is presented by arrangement with Three Knights, the Shubert Organization and Robert Fox Ltd.
