Catching up with the writer of Chess - The Musical

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011

Hi everyone,

Here is a delightful article by Sarah Swain for Scotland's top-selling evening newspaper Evening Times.

Abba star Benny checks out Chess in Glasgow

He might already know it so well – because he wrote it – but Abba’s Benny Andersson popped in to check on his show Chess in Glasgow.
The Abba star, who also penned smash-hit musical Mamma Mia, was at the city’s King’s Theatre on Saturday to see the last night of the production directed by Strictly Come Dancing judge Craig Revel Horwood.

Benny, 64, who wrote the music with fellow Abba member Bjorn Ulvaeus while Sir Tim Rice provided the lyrics, even signed autographs for some fans who spotted him, before heading backstage to meet the cast.
The musical includes the song I Know Him So Well, which was recently a Comic Relief hit for Susan Boyle and comedian Peter Kay.
A spokesman for the King’s Theatre, said: “It must have been very exciting for those sitting beside him in the Grand Circle, and it just goes to show you never know who you might be sitting next to!”
The Swedish singer/songwriter was in Abba from 1972 until 1982. The group found fame after winning the Eurovison Song Contest in 1974 with Wateroo.

Chess, Benny and Bjorn’s first musical, opened in London’s West End in 1986 and played for three years. It is set against a backdrop of the Cold War as two great chess masters, an American and a Russian, battle it out at the world championships.

There are hundreds of videos online of Chess - The Musical staged across the world. Here is just one of those.

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