Joanna “JoJo” Levesque will take over the role of Lea Michele in the film Chess On Broadway.
Levesque will play with Florence Vassie from June 23 until September 13, opposite Aaron Tveit and Nicolas Christopher. This marks Levesque’s return to Broadway after starring in Moulin Rouge as Satine for several months in 2023 and again in 2024.
Levesque rose to fame with the singles “Leave (Get Out)” and “Too Little Too Late” and became the youngest solo artist to top the Billboard Mainstream Top 40. She won a 2020 Grammy Award for “Say So” with PJ Morton and has sold more than 8 million albums worldwide during her career. In addition to her previous Broadway performances, Levesque created the role of Tess in Working girl At the La Jolla Playhouse.
The musical sees Vassie caught between American chess prodigy Freddie Trumper, played by Tveit, who she once coached and loved, and Russian grandmaster Anatoly Sergeyevsky, played by Christopher, who begins to catch her eye. The cast also includes Hannah Cruz, Bryce Pinkham, Bradley Dean, and Sean Alan Creel.
The revival includes a new book by Danny Strong, and music and lyrics by ABBA’s Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Tim Rice (Evita), directed by Michael Mayer (Spring awakening) and choreography by Loren Lataro (waitress). Stunning design by David Rockwell (She loves me), costume design by Tom Brooker (Call me Izzy), lighting design by Kevin Adams (Hedwig and the Angry Inch), sound design by John Shivers (Strange shoes) and video design by Peter Negrini (Hell’s Kitchen).
A new batch of tickets have gone on sale for the duration of Levesque’s run at the Imperial Theatre.
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