I didn’t know what to expect. I had seen the house down the street several times before I ever realized it was a theater. And I had never heard of Chess. It was clear upon walking inside the structure, however, that it would be unique, if nothing else. With a little porch out front bordered by a handful of trees and shrubs, the boxy, two-story building looks as unassuming as every other house on Ewing Boulevard, but is, in fact, much more special. Down a narrow hallway, through a hanging curtain, lies one of Murfreesboro’s unsung treasures: The Little Theatre.
Touting over 50 years of continuous community theater, MLT is a non-profit organization kept afloat by donations, ticket sales, memberships and the tireless dedication of its volunteers. The theater itself is in an open room that has the feel of an unfinished basement: cool and dark and open wide, with little chairs resting on wide steps across one side of the room so that the set sprawls out before you. A man in a little box sits off and up to the right, controlling the lights, while the orchestra—a team of limited number—sits just before him. The acoustics are good and the room, though small, feels cozy rather than cramped.
I recently had the opportunity to visit MLT to see the last showing of Chess. I had no idea what it was about, although I could surmise. (The game of chess?) The poster featured people with white and black face paint (mimes?), and told me it was a musical. (Would the mimes sing? Seemed unlikely.) Ushered in by Elton John’s “Candle in the Wind,” I took my seat, expectant and politely confused. I didn’t know Chess was written by two former members of ABBA and Tim Rice. I didn’t know it began as a concept album in 1984 or premiered in London in 1986, where it played for three years. I didn’t know the U.S. Broadway version premiered in 1988 and only played for two months. I only vaguely knew that Chess was about, well, chess. Maybe.
Set within the context of Cold-War era political tension, the musical is about two chess grand-masters: petulant American Freddie Trumper and stoic Soviet Anatoly Sergievsky, as they duke it out at the world chess championship in Merano, Italy. Opening with a little number about the history of the game and setting the stage is the Arbiter, who reminded me somewhat of Pat Benatar for reasons I can’t fully articulate.
So, I thought, this is definitely about the strategy board game, and yes, at one point the two competitors do actually play. As it turns out, however, they’re competing for something else. And what else but for a woman: Hungarian-born Florence Vassy. While that particular element is a trope we’ve all seen before, the musical itself is actually a little avant-garde with a decidedly dramatic, often cheeky, burlesque-carnival quality that the cast pulls off well.
I don’t want to focus too much on Chess, however, since its run has ended. What I want to portray is the immense charm of the theater itself and the heart and talent of its players. They perform the uncut versions of their productions, and with a robust and diverse upcoming season (including Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol in December, And Then There Were None in January, Much Ado About Nothing in May, and Avenue Q in July), there’s something for everyone to enjoy, beginning with The Nerd, premiering July 11.
For tickets and reservations to Murfreesboro Little Theater, visit mltarts.com.
