INTERVIEW: Bradley Dean is playing ‘Chess’ on Broadway
Photo: Bradley Dean portrays Molokov in Broadway’s Chess. Photo courtesy of the actor / Provided by Polk & Co. with permission.
NEW YORK — One of the hit shows of the Broadway season is the reimagined revival of the beloved musical Chess, now playing at the Imperial Theatre in Midtown Manhattan. Starring Aaron Tveit, Lea Michele and Nicholas Christopher, the show depicts the cutthroat business of competitive chess (and competitive relationships) amidst the Cold War between the United States and Soviet Union.
Celebrated actor Bradley Dean, known for A Little Night Music, Dear Evan Hansen and Company, portrays the character of Molokov in the revival.
“Chess was the first CD I ever owned,” Dean said in a recent phone interview. “I remember ‘One Night in Bangkok’ was the first song I ever heard on a CD, and I fell in love with the show. I had vocal selections that had a perfect spot on the music stand on my piano in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, and I remember singing ‘Mountain Duet’ and ‘You and I’ with my high school girlfriend. So it’s been a part of my life for almost 40 years.”
Dean became attached to this project way back in 2017. That’s when he received an email from Danny Strong, who wrote a new book for the musical.
“I was doing another project with Danny called Galileo, and he said, ‘Hey, we’re going to do a table read of Chess with a brand-new book. Do you want to come play Molokov?'” he remembers. “I said, ‘Yes,’ and in 8-9 years they came back to me every time. We did probably a dozen readings over this time. We did a run at the Kennedy Center in 2018, the Actors Fund concert in 2022, and yeah, Michael Mayer always came back to me for the role, which has sort of never really happened. They always try somebody else out, but in this case they stuck with me from the beginning. It’s a dream come true.”
Dean said that Molokov is a complex man who is never being entirely truthful with the audience. There’s a lot of information behind the scenes, and, as the actor said, “nothing is as it seems.”
“Every action that he has, he’s thinking four actions ahead, just like in a chess game,” Dean said. “It couldn’t be a more dangerous situation. He’s not only cast with training Anatoly [Christopher] to defeat the American in their chess match, but also to work with the CIA behind the scenes to employ any means necessary to psychologically destabilize his opponent. And the stakes throughout the whole show are so high that it’s quite literally life and death for Anatoly and for himself. Every move he makes is intricately intertwined with a nuclear army treaty that is currently on the table between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R., and any misstep could be the end of the world. This is what this guy does every day of his life, so he has ice water in his veins. He can never allow himself the luxury of emotion. He’s tortured. He’s torn between this great love of country and his great love of Anatoly, whom he thinks of as a son, and he navigates his way deftly through this dangerous world where nothing is as it seems and where nobody is on anybody else’s side.”
Dean added: “He’s ruthless, brilliant and plays the high-stakes drama like his life depended on it because it does.”
Many of Dean’s scenes are with Christopher, who is making a star turn in the show. His vocal power is the talk of the town, and Dean gets to witness that excellence on a nightly basis. “It’s been one of the great joys of my career to witness Nick Christopher become a star before our eyes,” said Dean, who has also appeared in Spamalot, The Last Ship and The Phantom of the Opera. “He’s like no one else, and that voice just doesn’t stop. So that’s been a thrill.”
The actor added: “Of course, getting to witness the brilliant Lea Michele and Aaron Tveit and just bask in their effortless charisma. My partner in crime, Sean [Allan] Krill, who I think is in many ways the unsung hero of Chess. He just infuses so much good humor and truth and ease of being into the show, and he’s so easy to act with. He’s so present. I discovered who Molokov was very much through him and through the audience at the Kennedy Center, and it’s such a wonderful thing to have such faith in the person who you share the stage with.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Chess, featuring Bradley Dean, continues at the Imperial Theatre on Broadway. Click here for more information and tickets.
