December 23, 2025 • 21 mins
Host Christine Nagy sits down with Tony Award nominee Bryce Pinkham, now starring as The Arbiter in the historic Broadway revival of CHESS at the Imperial Theatre. From the thrill of bringing this legendary musical back to Broadway after nearly 40 years to the challenge of reimagining a role that bridges political intrigue and romance, Bryce shares behind-the-scenes stories, insights into Danny Strong’s bold new book and Michael Mayer’s visionary direction, and what it’s like working alongside a powerhouse cast including Aaron Tveit and Lea Michele.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
iHeartRadio Broadway presents Inside Broadway, the podcast about everything theater.
It's where you hear what happens from the ticket window
to the stage door, with the stars and creative forces
that make it all come alive. Here's your host, light
FMS Christine Nagy.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Well, hey, it's Christin Nagy. Today we have a very
special guest Tony Award nominee Bryce Pinkham. So you know
him from his unforgettable performances in A Gentleman's Guide to
Love and Murder, The Heidi Chronicles, Holiday, in so many
other incredible roles, and now Bryce is starring in Chess,
the Revival at the Imperial Theater on Broadway. So it's
(00:43):
the first time we've seen Chess on Broadway in nearly
forty years. Brand new book music that we love. Bryce,
You're playing the Arbiter and we'll get into all the
details of that. Welcome so much. It's so great to
have you here at Inside Broadway.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
Thank you, Christine.
Speaker 4 (00:57):
I love being here because I know that the best
of Broadway fans listen to you, and I'm happy to
happy to be here and have a chat about Chess.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Ah. Thank you. Well. I am definitely a big fan
of yours. I saw the show. I'm gonna I know,
Entertainment Weekly said you steal the show, and that's saying
a lot in general. But with your cast, tell us
about your co stars, because they're incredible as well.
Speaker 4 (01:23):
Yeah, you know, New York City is the best place
on the planet for musical theater, as we all know,
and coming to our show, you're going to see three
of the best musical theater performers alive, Aaron to Vate,
Leah Michelle, and Nicholas Christopher. And they're singing these abba
songs nightly that each one of them stops the show
(01:44):
at a different point of the show, and they're testing
the structural foundation of the Imperial Theater night after night
because the crowds are just going nuts for them, and
you're right, they're superstars. And the fact that they're singing
these songs that audiences have been death spread to hear
live in a full production of Chess for decades now,
(02:05):
it's this thrilling moment and we're all living feels like
we're living in the middle of a musical theater history book.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
So I'm having a blast.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Yeah, I think, yes, we get really excited about the music,
and by your performances, you're incredible. So tell us about
the Arbiter. Now, in this version, your role has definitely
expanded from maybe a version that we might know from before.
This could be the first time for a lot of
people seeing this show. But it does feel to me
like you get a lot of the comic relief, which
(02:35):
we appreciate definitely.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
I think Danny Strong's goal with the Arbiter. First of all,
what is an arbiter. An arbiter is a referee for
a game of chess. So I'm actually in certain scenes
as a referee, but more importantly, I'm a narrator. I'm
a representative of the audience on stage. You know, I'm
a puppet master, I'm a hypnotist, I'm an emc.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
I do lots of things, and that's kind of how
I like it, you know.
Speaker 4 (03:04):
I think the secret that I've been keeping is that
I think he's I think he's kind of a history
teacher who found himself caught in a musical, and so
a lot of my as you put it, comic relief
is commenting on some of the parts of chess that
might seem ludicrous if you took them too seriously. And
(03:25):
I think that was the goal of Danny Strong's book,
was to set up the songs, which everyone loves, for success.
And he's also built a story that is grounded in history,
the history.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
Of the Cold War.
Speaker 4 (03:41):
So we got this love triangle between the two greatest
chess players in the world and the greatest coach in
the world, who Leah Michelle plays, you know, and they're
both in love with her. And then we've also got
spies plotting out how to keep Russia and the US
from blowing each other up, and they're using the chess
(04:01):
championship as a sort of proxy for the Cold War.
And in the middle of all that, you've got me
helping the audience follow all that so that they can
just also love the songs. You know, this show has bangers.
I've been telling people, come for the bangers, stay.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
For the new book.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
I think, Yeah, there is a moment where the dancer's
place Aaron into his pants. You know what I'm talking about.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
Yes, I do, because it gets a reaction every night.
Speaker 4 (04:29):
I actually use it as a queue to come downstairs
and go, Okay, he just got into his pants.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
I can come downstairs now.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
I love that moment. I mean, there's so many, so
many great moments in this show. Why do you think
it's really resonating with audiences today? Because this was written,
as we said, like over forty years ago.
Speaker 4 (04:48):
Well, when Chess was originally written, it was sort of
at the height of the Cold War, and so my
father in law, Sandy Strallin, was actually in the original
company of Chess in London, and my wife Scarlett Strallen,
remembers being brought to the theater. Some of her earliest
memories are of Chess the musical, and recently we were
(05:10):
able to bring R two, five and six to the
theater and hopefully some of their earliest memories will be
coming to see.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
Their dad in Chess.
Speaker 4 (05:19):
But the reason I bring it up is because it
was the eighties and the Cold War was real, it
was happening, and I think audiences at that time felt
that tension, and we wanted to recreate that tension but
also look back at the Cold War with a sort
of learned perspective.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
You know. That's why I bring up the kind of
history teacher of it. This is this is.
Speaker 4 (05:40):
Looking back to look forward ourselves, and I think it
resonates with people because we have modern political humor that
a lot of it comes through my character. You know,
that is satire, but part of satire is that it
stings a little bit, you know. And so I think
we the story of how politics and international politics and
(06:06):
the relationship between these two superpowers.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
You know, that's.
Speaker 4 (06:09):
Something that that is that is maybe always going to
be tense and certainly resonates. I will also say that
the style of music feels like, at least for me,
the style of musical theater that was being written in
the eighties and nineties that was, you know what I
(06:30):
fell in love with musical theater from. You know this
is these are lyrics by Tim Rice, music by the
Boys of Abba, you know, and they wrote a little
show called Mama Mea.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
Ever Heard of It? And you know Tim Rice.
Speaker 4 (06:46):
The list goes on, But some of my earliest experiences
with musical theater were from these composers. And we have
a we have a full orchestra on stage playing the music.
So it feels like people are coming back to a
love of musical theater that they maybe had as kids,
or you know, if they were fans in the eighties.
(07:08):
We have people coming saying I saw the original I've
been waiting thirty years for this. Thank you so much.
It delivered on everything I hoped it would, you know.
So it's nostalgia for some and a sort of reintroduction
to a style of musical theater for others. And yeah,
it's definitely resonating. I mean, the response on a nightly
(07:30):
basis is unlike anything I've ever been in before.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Wow. Yeah, I can imagine. So what is it like
for you at the stage door afterwards?
Speaker 3 (07:40):
Oh, it's wonderful.
Speaker 4 (07:41):
You know the best part of this job is getting
to meet the people that you've impacted shortly after you've
impacted them, you know, and you can still sort of
see the glow of wow on their face.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
And especially young fans.
Speaker 4 (07:56):
I love meeting young fans at the stage door, and
you know, you can just see the sort of dreams
of Broadway in their eyes, and and I love thinking
about who they might become.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
You know.
Speaker 4 (08:07):
Leah Michelle made her Broadway debut at the Imperial. I
won't say how many years ago because that would be untoward,
but you know, as a young person, and you know,
each time I meet a fan at the stage door,
I'm like, that could be the next Liam Michelle I'm
talking to.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
So it's really special.
Speaker 4 (08:25):
And you see families who've traveled from outside New York,
who've made you know, who've saved everything they could to
come see a Broadway show, and they've chosen ours. It's
it's a special moment to be a part of and
to get to enhance that their experience a little bit
more by giving them a few, you know, words of
(08:48):
encouragement or a little you know, insider joke from.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
That night or something. You know, we had a thing
go wrong tonight, did you see it? Did it?
Speaker 4 (08:57):
You know, it makes them feel like they got something
they can't get anywhere else.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
You know, Broadway is a place.
Speaker 4 (09:03):
That you can't you know, AI can't produce Broadway. You
can't reproduce the feeling of being in a room of
sixteen hundred people all being moved by the same story,
laughing and crying together. And I'm just gonna riff on
that because I said laughing.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
I'm surprised by how funny Chess is.
Speaker 4 (09:24):
You know, I think people think chess cold war spies,
you know, intellectual game.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
But Danny's book is really funny.
Speaker 4 (09:31):
And I remember first preview being like, oh my gosh,
this is really funny. I thought it was, but you
never know, And I think audiences are delighted and surprised
by how much they're laughing in a show that could
be so dark and dreary and sort of intellectual. It's
not that at all, you know. It's that this incredible
(09:51):
pop rock score and then laughter throughout, I mean throughout
the whole entire story, which does have these high stakes,
but at the same time time feels like it feels
like everything you want in a night of Broadway theater. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
I'm so glad you're saying that, because that's the feeling
I have had about it and definitely want to get across,
you know, to friends and family, like to check out
this show because it's touching on so many levels. I mean,
it's beautiful, it's romantic. It's like you said, it's nostalgic,
you know, it's the families are involved and yet joyful,
(10:26):
not you know, don't think of it as this heavy
laden show there is. The score is fantastic, and you
guys are just wonderful in it.
Speaker 4 (10:34):
Yeah, I think it's I think it's lighter than a
lot of people maybe expect, you know, and like there
are absolute moments, moments of you know, spy drama, and
you know, you feel like you're in a you're in
a James Bahond movie for a second. But then I
come out and make a joke and and it's sort
of like we go into the love story, and that is,
(10:59):
as you say, a huge part of the evening is
watching these three main characters figure out what love means
to them and what love they never got and how
they're going to replace it or how they're gonna make
it for themselves. And you know, that's not love is
not necessarily something you think of when you hear the
word chess, but but it's definitely in there. And you know,
(11:23):
there's like there's a lot of swoon worthy moments in
our show. And I know because I spend a good
amount of time on stage, you know, kind of watching
from a privileged perch where I can see all the action,
but I can also see the audience and I see tears,
I see jaws drop, I see I see couples lean in,
(11:43):
you know, and have a little cuddle so and families,
you know, I see parents look over at their kids
who are just wowed by what they're experiencing maybe for
the first time. So I'm very lucky that I get
to I get to see it all from where I sit.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
So wonderful. And and your family, your little ones came
to see the show, and so what was their reaction
seeing their dad on stage in this epic show.
Speaker 4 (12:06):
So they haven't seen they haven't seen the performance yet,
they've come to the theater, they've seen daddy's dressing room,
they've been on the stage, and they've seen the picture
of me outside the theater in what some might call
a dance moment.
Speaker 3 (12:20):
I would never call it that, but you know.
Speaker 4 (12:23):
I've got a picture of the outside of our theater
with the sort of contortionist pose going on. And my
kids loved it and immediately ran up and tried to
imitate me, and it was a special family moment for us.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
We think that we're gonna get them.
Speaker 4 (12:40):
They're five and six, so we think we're gonna bring
them in for Act one so they can see my
main song. And who knows, maybe they'll maybe they'll stick
around throughout the entire evening. But they're they're you know,
they're a little more trained on things like blue that
have you know, thirty thirty minutes chunks.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
Right, So well, like you said, so little by little,
maybe over the course of a few shows.
Speaker 4 (13:07):
That's right, And maybe we'll run it long enough that
they can their their attention spans can expand long enough
to take in the whole show.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
Right.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
But they've got to be well, they've got to be
so proud. I know they're little, but they've got to
be so proud of their dad.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
And of course they do. They do. They like knowing,
They like knowing and telling people what I do for
a living.
Speaker 4 (13:26):
And they love like today they said, oh, Daddy's going
to be on the radio today.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
You know it's these are these are very cool things.
That's so sweet for them.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
Please say hi to them for us.
Speaker 4 (13:36):
I will hello Winnie and Wilder's daddy on the radio
on iHeartRadio Broadway.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
That is perfect. So yes, so they won a future
in radio or theater. We're here for them. Okay, Well,
thank you so much. Bryce. Your show is running through
at least may third correct, at.
Speaker 4 (13:56):
Least Yeah, I think we'll. You know, we learn in
this business not to look too far ahead. But I
think all indications are that the show's doing well. People
are loving the show and I don't think any of
us are looking to stop doing this amazing piece anytime soon.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
So glad to hear that. So Bryce Pinkham, thank you
so much. You can catch Bryce in Chess at the
Imperial Theater. Visit Chess Broadway dot com and Bryce, if
you don't mind just sticking around a few more minutes,
because we do like to go behind the scenes, kind
of pull the curtain back and let our audience know
what our syr up to you, bringing you know, Broadway
(14:35):
magic to life. So if you have a moment please for.
Speaker 3 (14:38):
Your fans, Christine, I will do it.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
Thank you well, Christine Nagy. Welcome to behind the Scenes
where we turn off the stage lights and uncover what
truly drives Broadway's most remarkable talents. And today we're joined
by the incredible Bryce Pinkham, who brings the Arbiter to
life in Chess at the Imperial Theater, and we have
(15:00):
just discussed the show with you. Bryce is absolutely wonderful,
highly recommend it. It's got to take, you know, a
little bit of a ritual or something to get into
character and get that energy up before you go on stage.
Can you tell us if there's any pre show ritual
or something that you do.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
Yeah, every show's a little different, and it's sort of
a ritual that I discover during previews. You know, I
try to try and find what.
Speaker 4 (15:25):
Do I need to get out there and do this
particular performance. You know, sometimes it's a lot of warming up,
you know, gents guide, I knew I was going to
be out there for an hour before I got a break,
and so I really needed to get my blood moving
and kind of make sure I was loose. That is
also true for the arbiter. I'm out there for the
first twenty minutes without a break. But the energy that
(15:47):
I try to bring to the beginning of our show
is really playful, and really, you know, my.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
Responsibility is talking to the audience.
Speaker 4 (15:56):
So one of the things I've discovered that I do
in my pre show ritual is I go around, you know,
before the overture starts. The entire cast is you know,
backstage getting ready. I just go around and I start
banter with people. I start, you know, I'll say something
funny that occurred to me that day. I'll try just
try and get a back and forth going. So really,
(16:18):
what I'm doing as my ritual is I'm trying to
make my castmates laugh. And you know the success rate
on that is they can tell you, But but I
do try and you know, get out of my own
head by focusing on an audience member or pretend audience
member in front of me and just trying to just
(16:38):
trying to get a get a connection going with them.
So I guess you could call it impromptu stand up
that I'm doing backstage.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
And I'm also you know.
Speaker 4 (16:49):
I'm stretching my body making sure it's ready to go, hydrating,
doing all my vocal warm ups. But I think the
one that's unique to this show is I'm doing a
lot of talking backstage, even during the overture. One night,
I think the stage mayor is like, can you keep
it down during the overture like the overture has started?
Speaker 2 (17:08):
How is that for you? By the way, because you
are talking to the audience. Do you like that? You
know it's a little different for a theater performer.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
I love it.
Speaker 4 (17:17):
I love it because there's no more thrilling and terrifying
connection than an actual connection with a live audience. And
you know, it means that the response can be different,
and that's really like it is a high wire act
in some ways and in others, like I feel comfortable,
(17:39):
you know, I love giving the Broadway Care speech during
Broadway Care season, and a lot of my performance reminds
me of just talking to the audience, you know, and
helping them understand the issues of the night, which in
our case are the you know, narrative strains of.
Speaker 3 (17:59):
Chess, the musical, the Cold War musical as I call it.
Speaker 4 (18:04):
And I think, you know, a lot of the things
that happen in the first five minutes are me sort
of setting the table for the cast of superstars to.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
Come out and you know, eat and leave no crimes.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
You do a great job. So what's something about being
a theater performer that you think people might not realize?
Speaker 4 (18:25):
I think, you know, I'm always comparing I grew up
playing sports, and I am always comparing Broadway performers to athletes,
because I really think especially members of our company, such
as are Swings, they have to know ten different tracks
at you know, at any given moment, they could be
(18:47):
asked to step into the show with.
Speaker 3 (18:52):
You know, almost no notice and go and do the show.
Speaker 4 (18:55):
I mean that is like if if if Broadway is
the Olympics, they the decathletes, you know, they can do
ten different things. And so I think being a Broadway performer,
as much as it is about being an artist, it's
also about being an athlete, taking care of your body,
showing up every day whether you want to or not.
(19:16):
You know, I think about the Yankees, you know, showing
up having to play baseball, and all the people that
show up to see them, and you know, pile their
savings so that they can buy that Yankee ticket.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
They want to see Aaron Judge hit a home run.
Speaker 4 (19:32):
And maybe Aaron Judge doesn't feel like home runs that day,
Well guess what, It's his job and and it gets
paid a lot of money to do it. So, you know,
I think a Broadway performer is in a similar light.
You know, there are some days where, quite frankly, we're
not you know, it's not our it's not our day,
(19:52):
and our job is to show up and do it
and to deliver for those fans who are there to
see it for the first time.
Speaker 3 (19:59):
And that take a certain mindset, a certain discipline. And
one thing I want.
Speaker 4 (20:05):
To say about our show in particular is our three
leads Lia Michelle, Aaron Debate and Nicholas Christopher. They are
vocal athletes who have crafted a very impressive vocal performance
that crucially can.
Speaker 3 (20:21):
Be replicated night after night.
Speaker 4 (20:23):
And that is like, that's like having a good swing
at the plate, you know, like you can't just hit
the ball over the fence once, like you got to
hit it over the fence every night, and so you
have to craft it in a way that you can
do that sustainably, And that to me is like peak.
Peak Broadway performer is the one who can not only
(20:48):
do it as if it was a one night concert,
but can do it sustainably over months and months and months.
And if you know some of the music that you
know these three have to sing. Aaron Devate sings Pity
the Child like the same way every night, and every
night he stops the show and every night people lose
their minds. Like that is so impressive to me, it's
(21:09):
like being an athlete.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
All of you are so so wonderful in this show.
Can't recommend it enough. Bryce Pinkham, thank you so much.
Thanks for taking us behind the scenes on Inside Broadway.
You can catch Bryce in Chess now playing at the
Imperial Theater. For tickets, visit Chess Broadway dot com and
thank you for tuning in. Be sure to subscribe to
the Inside Broadway podcast so you never miss an episode.
(21:31):
Follow iHeartRadio Broadway across social platforms. Check out the iHeartRadio
Broadway channel to stream Broadway hits free on the iHeartRadio app,
and add it to your presets to keep the magic
of Broadway with you wherever you go. Until next time, Bryce,
thank you once again. I'm Christine Nagi. This is Inside Broadway.
iHeartRadio Broadway presents Inside Broadway, the podcast about everything theater.
It's where you hear what happens from the ticket window
to the stage door, with the stars and creative forces
that make it all come alive. Here's your host, light
FMS Christine Nagy.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Well, hey, it's Christin Nagy. Today we have a very
special guest Tony Award nominee Bryce Pinkham. So you know
him from his unforgettable performances in A Gentleman's Guide to
Love and Murder, The Heidi Chronicles, Holiday, in so many
other incredible roles, and now Bryce is starring in Chess,
the Revival at the Imperial Theater on Broadway. So it's
(00:43):
the first time we've seen Chess on Broadway in nearly
forty years. Brand new book music that we love. Bryce,
You're playing the Arbiter and we'll get into all the
details of that. Welcome so much. It's so great to
have you here at Inside Broadway.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
Thank you, Christine.
Speaker 4 (00:57):
I love being here because I know that the best
of Broadway fans listen to you, and I'm happy to
happy to be here and have a chat about Chess.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Ah. Thank you. Well. I am definitely a big fan
of yours. I saw the show. I'm gonna I know,
Entertainment Weekly said you steal the show, and that's saying
a lot in general. But with your cast, tell us
about your co stars, because they're incredible as well.
Speaker 4 (01:23):
Yeah, you know, New York City is the best place
on the planet for musical theater, as we all know,
and coming to our show, you're going to see three
of the best musical theater performers alive, Aaron to Vate,
Leah Michelle, and Nicholas Christopher. And they're singing these abba
songs nightly that each one of them stops the show
(01:44):
at a different point of the show, and they're testing
the structural foundation of the Imperial Theater night after night
because the crowds are just going nuts for them, and
you're right, they're superstars. And the fact that they're singing
these songs that audiences have been death spread to hear
live in a full production of Chess for decades now,
(02:05):
it's this thrilling moment and we're all living feels like
we're living in the middle of a musical theater history book.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
So I'm having a blast.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Yeah, I think, yes, we get really excited about the music,
and by your performances, you're incredible. So tell us about
the Arbiter. Now, in this version, your role has definitely
expanded from maybe a version that we might know from before.
This could be the first time for a lot of
people seeing this show. But it does feel to me
like you get a lot of the comic relief, which
(02:35):
we appreciate definitely.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
I think Danny Strong's goal with the Arbiter. First of all,
what is an arbiter. An arbiter is a referee for
a game of chess. So I'm actually in certain scenes
as a referee, but more importantly, I'm a narrator. I'm
a representative of the audience on stage. You know, I'm
a puppet master, I'm a hypnotist, I'm an emc.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
I do lots of things, and that's kind of how
I like it, you know.
Speaker 4 (03:04):
I think the secret that I've been keeping is that
I think he's I think he's kind of a history
teacher who found himself caught in a musical, and so
a lot of my as you put it, comic relief
is commenting on some of the parts of chess that
might seem ludicrous if you took them too seriously. And
(03:25):
I think that was the goal of Danny Strong's book,
was to set up the songs, which everyone loves, for success.
And he's also built a story that is grounded in history,
the history.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
Of the Cold War.
Speaker 4 (03:41):
So we got this love triangle between the two greatest
chess players in the world and the greatest coach in
the world, who Leah Michelle plays, you know, and they're
both in love with her. And then we've also got
spies plotting out how to keep Russia and the US
from blowing each other up, and they're using the chess
(04:01):
championship as a sort of proxy for the Cold War.
And in the middle of all that, you've got me
helping the audience follow all that so that they can
just also love the songs. You know, this show has bangers.
I've been telling people, come for the bangers, stay.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
For the new book.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
I think, Yeah, there is a moment where the dancer's
place Aaron into his pants. You know what I'm talking about.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
Yes, I do, because it gets a reaction every night.
Speaker 4 (04:29):
I actually use it as a queue to come downstairs
and go, Okay, he just got into his pants.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
I can come downstairs now.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
I love that moment. I mean, there's so many, so
many great moments in this show. Why do you think
it's really resonating with audiences today? Because this was written,
as we said, like over forty years ago.
Speaker 4 (04:48):
Well, when Chess was originally written, it was sort of
at the height of the Cold War, and so my
father in law, Sandy Strallin, was actually in the original
company of Chess in London, and my wife Scarlett Strallen,
remembers being brought to the theater. Some of her earliest
memories are of Chess the musical, and recently we were
(05:10):
able to bring R two, five and six to the
theater and hopefully some of their earliest memories will be
coming to see.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
Their dad in Chess.
Speaker 4 (05:19):
But the reason I bring it up is because it
was the eighties and the Cold War was real, it
was happening, and I think audiences at that time felt
that tension, and we wanted to recreate that tension but
also look back at the Cold War with a sort
of learned perspective.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
You know. That's why I bring up the kind of
history teacher of it. This is this is.
Speaker 4 (05:40):
Looking back to look forward ourselves, and I think it
resonates with people because we have modern political humor that
a lot of it comes through my character. You know,
that is satire, but part of satire is that it
stings a little bit, you know. And so I think
we the story of how politics and international politics and
(06:06):
the relationship between these two superpowers.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
You know, that's.
Speaker 4 (06:09):
Something that that is that is maybe always going to
be tense and certainly resonates. I will also say that
the style of music feels like, at least for me,
the style of musical theater that was being written in
the eighties and nineties that was, you know what I
(06:30):
fell in love with musical theater from. You know this
is these are lyrics by Tim Rice, music by the
Boys of Abba, you know, and they wrote a little
show called Mama Mea.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
Ever Heard of It? And you know Tim Rice.
Speaker 4 (06:46):
The list goes on, But some of my earliest experiences
with musical theater were from these composers. And we have
a we have a full orchestra on stage playing the music.
So it feels like people are coming back to a
love of musical theater that they maybe had as kids,
or you know, if they were fans in the eighties.
(07:08):
We have people coming saying I saw the original I've
been waiting thirty years for this. Thank you so much.
It delivered on everything I hoped it would, you know.
So it's nostalgia for some and a sort of reintroduction
to a style of musical theater for others. And yeah,
it's definitely resonating. I mean, the response on a nightly
(07:30):
basis is unlike anything I've ever been in before.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Wow. Yeah, I can imagine. So what is it like
for you at the stage door afterwards?
Speaker 3 (07:40):
Oh, it's wonderful.
Speaker 4 (07:41):
You know the best part of this job is getting
to meet the people that you've impacted shortly after you've
impacted them, you know, and you can still sort of
see the glow of wow on their face.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
And especially young fans.
Speaker 4 (07:56):
I love meeting young fans at the stage door, and
you know, you can just see the sort of dreams
of Broadway in their eyes, and and I love thinking
about who they might become.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
You know.
Speaker 4 (08:07):
Leah Michelle made her Broadway debut at the Imperial. I
won't say how many years ago because that would be untoward,
but you know, as a young person, and you know,
each time I meet a fan at the stage door,
I'm like, that could be the next Liam Michelle I'm
talking to.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
So it's really special.
Speaker 4 (08:25):
And you see families who've traveled from outside New York,
who've made you know, who've saved everything they could to
come see a Broadway show, and they've chosen ours. It's
it's a special moment to be a part of and
to get to enhance that their experience a little bit
more by giving them a few, you know, words of
(08:48):
encouragement or a little you know, insider joke from.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
That night or something. You know, we had a thing
go wrong tonight, did you see it? Did it?
Speaker 4 (08:57):
You know, it makes them feel like they got something
they can't get anywhere else.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
You know, Broadway is a place.
Speaker 4 (09:03):
That you can't you know, AI can't produce Broadway. You
can't reproduce the feeling of being in a room of
sixteen hundred people all being moved by the same story,
laughing and crying together. And I'm just gonna riff on
that because I said laughing.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
I'm surprised by how funny Chess is.
Speaker 4 (09:24):
You know, I think people think chess cold war spies,
you know, intellectual game.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
But Danny's book is really funny.
Speaker 4 (09:31):
And I remember first preview being like, oh my gosh,
this is really funny. I thought it was, but you
never know, And I think audiences are delighted and surprised
by how much they're laughing in a show that could
be so dark and dreary and sort of intellectual. It's
not that at all, you know. It's that this incredible
(09:51):
pop rock score and then laughter throughout, I mean throughout
the whole entire story, which does have these high stakes,
but at the same time time feels like it feels
like everything you want in a night of Broadway theater. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
I'm so glad you're saying that, because that's the feeling
I have had about it and definitely want to get across,
you know, to friends and family, like to check out
this show because it's touching on so many levels. I mean,
it's beautiful, it's romantic. It's like you said, it's nostalgic,
you know, it's the families are involved and yet joyful,
(10:26):
not you know, don't think of it as this heavy
laden show there is. The score is fantastic, and you
guys are just wonderful in it.
Speaker 4 (10:34):
Yeah, I think it's I think it's lighter than a
lot of people maybe expect, you know, and like there
are absolute moments, moments of you know, spy drama, and
you know, you feel like you're in a you're in
a James Bahond movie for a second. But then I
come out and make a joke and and it's sort
of like we go into the love story, and that is,
(10:59):
as you say, a huge part of the evening is
watching these three main characters figure out what love means
to them and what love they never got and how
they're going to replace it or how they're gonna make
it for themselves. And you know, that's not love is
not necessarily something you think of when you hear the
word chess, but but it's definitely in there. And you know,
(11:23):
there's like there's a lot of swoon worthy moments in
our show. And I know because I spend a good
amount of time on stage, you know, kind of watching
from a privileged perch where I can see all the action,
but I can also see the audience and I see tears,
I see jaws drop, I see I see couples lean in,
(11:43):
you know, and have a little cuddle so and families,
you know, I see parents look over at their kids
who are just wowed by what they're experiencing maybe for
the first time. So I'm very lucky that I get
to I get to see it all from where I sit.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
So wonderful. And and your family, your little ones came
to see the show, and so what was their reaction
seeing their dad on stage in this epic show.
Speaker 4 (12:06):
So they haven't seen they haven't seen the performance yet,
they've come to the theater, they've seen daddy's dressing room,
they've been on the stage, and they've seen the picture
of me outside the theater in what some might call
a dance moment.
Speaker 3 (12:20):
I would never call it that, but you know.
Speaker 4 (12:23):
I've got a picture of the outside of our theater
with the sort of contortionist pose going on. And my
kids loved it and immediately ran up and tried to
imitate me, and it was a special family moment for us.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
We think that we're gonna get them.
Speaker 4 (12:40):
They're five and six, so we think we're gonna bring
them in for Act one so they can see my
main song. And who knows, maybe they'll maybe they'll stick
around throughout the entire evening. But they're they're you know,
they're a little more trained on things like blue that
have you know, thirty thirty minutes chunks.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
Right, So well, like you said, so little by little,
maybe over the course of a few shows.
Speaker 4 (13:07):
That's right, And maybe we'll run it long enough that
they can their their attention spans can expand long enough
to take in the whole show.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
Right.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
But they've got to be well, they've got to be
so proud. I know they're little, but they've got to
be so proud of their dad.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
And of course they do. They do. They like knowing,
They like knowing and telling people what I do for
a living.
Speaker 4 (13:26):
And they love like today they said, oh, Daddy's going
to be on the radio today.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
You know it's these are these are very cool things.
That's so sweet for them.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
Please say hi to them for us.
Speaker 4 (13:36):
I will hello Winnie and Wilder's daddy on the radio
on iHeartRadio Broadway.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
That is perfect. So yes, so they won a future
in radio or theater. We're here for them. Okay, Well,
thank you so much. Bryce. Your show is running through
at least may third correct, at.
Speaker 4 (13:56):
Least Yeah, I think we'll. You know, we learn in
this business not to look too far ahead. But I
think all indications are that the show's doing well. People
are loving the show and I don't think any of
us are looking to stop doing this amazing piece anytime soon.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
So glad to hear that. So Bryce Pinkham, thank you
so much. You can catch Bryce in Chess at the
Imperial Theater. Visit Chess Broadway dot com and Bryce, if
you don't mind just sticking around a few more minutes,
because we do like to go behind the scenes, kind
of pull the curtain back and let our audience know
what our syr up to you, bringing you know, Broadway
(14:35):
magic to life. So if you have a moment please for.
Speaker 3 (14:38):
Your fans, Christine, I will do it.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
Thank you well, Christine Nagy. Welcome to behind the Scenes
where we turn off the stage lights and uncover what
truly drives Broadway's most remarkable talents. And today we're joined
by the incredible Bryce Pinkham, who brings the Arbiter to
life in Chess at the Imperial Theater, and we have
(15:00):
just discussed the show with you. Bryce is absolutely wonderful,
highly recommend it. It's got to take, you know, a
little bit of a ritual or something to get into
character and get that energy up before you go on stage.
Can you tell us if there's any pre show ritual
or something that you do.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
Yeah, every show's a little different, and it's sort of
a ritual that I discover during previews. You know, I
try to try and find what.
Speaker 4 (15:25):
Do I need to get out there and do this
particular performance. You know, sometimes it's a lot of warming up,
you know, gents guide, I knew I was going to
be out there for an hour before I got a break,
and so I really needed to get my blood moving
and kind of make sure I was loose. That is
also true for the arbiter. I'm out there for the
first twenty minutes without a break. But the energy that
(15:47):
I try to bring to the beginning of our show
is really playful, and really, you know, my.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
Responsibility is talking to the audience.
Speaker 4 (15:56):
So one of the things I've discovered that I do
in my pre show ritual is I go around, you know,
before the overture starts. The entire cast is you know,
backstage getting ready. I just go around and I start
banter with people. I start, you know, I'll say something
funny that occurred to me that day. I'll try just
try and get a back and forth going. So really,
(16:18):
what I'm doing as my ritual is I'm trying to
make my castmates laugh. And you know the success rate
on that is they can tell you, But but I
do try and you know, get out of my own
head by focusing on an audience member or pretend audience
member in front of me and just trying to just
(16:38):
trying to get a get a connection going with them.
So I guess you could call it impromptu stand up
that I'm doing backstage.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
And I'm also you know.
Speaker 4 (16:49):
I'm stretching my body making sure it's ready to go, hydrating,
doing all my vocal warm ups. But I think the
one that's unique to this show is I'm doing a
lot of talking backstage, even during the overture. One night,
I think the stage mayor is like, can you keep
it down during the overture like the overture has started?
Speaker 2 (17:08):
How is that for you? By the way, because you
are talking to the audience. Do you like that? You
know it's a little different for a theater performer.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
I love it.
Speaker 4 (17:17):
I love it because there's no more thrilling and terrifying
connection than an actual connection with a live audience. And
you know, it means that the response can be different,
and that's really like it is a high wire act
in some ways and in others, like I feel comfortable,
(17:39):
you know, I love giving the Broadway Care speech during
Broadway Care season, and a lot of my performance reminds
me of just talking to the audience, you know, and
helping them understand the issues of the night, which in
our case are the you know, narrative strains of.
Speaker 3 (17:59):
Chess, the musical, the Cold War musical as I call it.
Speaker 4 (18:04):
And I think, you know, a lot of the things
that happen in the first five minutes are me sort
of setting the table for the cast of superstars to.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
Come out and you know, eat and leave no crimes.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
You do a great job. So what's something about being
a theater performer that you think people might not realize?
Speaker 4 (18:25):
I think, you know, I'm always comparing I grew up
playing sports, and I am always comparing Broadway performers to athletes,
because I really think especially members of our company, such
as are Swings, they have to know ten different tracks
at you know, at any given moment, they could be
(18:47):
asked to step into the show with.
Speaker 3 (18:52):
You know, almost no notice and go and do the show.
Speaker 4 (18:55):
I mean that is like if if if Broadway is
the Olympics, they the decathletes, you know, they can do
ten different things. And so I think being a Broadway performer,
as much as it is about being an artist, it's
also about being an athlete, taking care of your body,
showing up every day whether you want to or not.
(19:16):
You know, I think about the Yankees, you know, showing
up having to play baseball, and all the people that
show up to see them, and you know, pile their
savings so that they can buy that Yankee ticket.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
They want to see Aaron Judge hit a home run.
Speaker 4 (19:32):
And maybe Aaron Judge doesn't feel like home runs that day,
Well guess what, It's his job and and it gets
paid a lot of money to do it. So, you know,
I think a Broadway performer is in a similar light.
You know, there are some days where, quite frankly, we're
not you know, it's not our it's not our day,
(19:52):
and our job is to show up and do it
and to deliver for those fans who are there to
see it for the first time.
Speaker 3 (19:59):
And that take a certain mindset, a certain discipline. And
one thing I want.
Speaker 4 (20:05):
To say about our show in particular is our three
leads Lia Michelle, Aaron Debate and Nicholas Christopher. They are
vocal athletes who have crafted a very impressive vocal performance
that crucially can.
Speaker 3 (20:21):
Be replicated night after night.
Speaker 4 (20:23):
And that is like, that's like having a good swing
at the plate, you know, like you can't just hit
the ball over the fence once, like you got to
hit it over the fence every night, and so you
have to craft it in a way that you can
do that sustainably, And that to me is like peak.
Peak Broadway performer is the one who can not only
(20:48):
do it as if it was a one night concert,
but can do it sustainably over months and months and months.
And if you know some of the music that you
know these three have to sing. Aaron Devate sings Pity
the Child like the same way every night, and every
night he stops the show and every night people lose
their minds. Like that is so impressive to me, it's
(21:09):
like being an athlete.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
All of you are so so wonderful in this show.
Can't recommend it enough. Bryce Pinkham, thank you so much.
Thanks for taking us behind the scenes on Inside Broadway.
You can catch Bryce in Chess now playing at the
Imperial Theater. For tickets, visit Chess Broadway dot com and
thank you for tuning in. Be sure to subscribe to
the Inside Broadway podcast so you never miss an episode.
(21:31):
Follow iHeartRadio Broadway across social platforms. Check out the iHeartRadio
Broadway channel to stream Broadway hits free on the iHeartRadio app,
and add it to your presets to keep the magic
of Broadway with you wherever you go. Until next time, Bryce,
thank you once again. I'm Christine Nagi. This is Inside Broadway.
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