{"id":699302,"date":"2026-05-28T04:38:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T04:38:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/699302\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T04:38:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T04:38:12","slug":"video-jojo-sings-from-chess-shares-reaction-to-production-closing-with-lea-michele","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/699302\/","title":{"rendered":"Video: JoJo Sings From CHESS & Shares Reaction to Production Closing with Lea Michele"},"content":{"rendered":"

Joanna “JoJo” Levesque has shared her reaction to the news that the Broadway revival of Chess<\/a> will be ending its Broadway run sooner than expected.<\/p>\n

In a new video, JoJo gives fans a behind the scenes look at her preparation process for the show, rehearsing the songs, “Nobody’s Side,” and, “I Know Him So Well”. The post includes a look at her reaction to the news that she would be joining the cast as well as her initial reaction to the production’s closing announcement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

JoJo was announced to take over the role<\/a> of “Florence Vassey” from Lea Michele<\/a> on June 23. However, the show announced Tuesday<\/a> that they will close on June 21, just days before her first bow.<\/p>\n

Upon the shows closing, the star revealed that she was supposed to start rehearsals for Chess<\/a> on Broadway the day that the show announced its final performance.<\/p>\n

Levesque was slated to reunite with her Moulin Rouge! the Musical co-star Aaron Tveit<\/a>, along with Tony nominee Nicholas Christopher<\/a> in the Broadway revival at the Imperial Theatre.<\/p>\n

Chess<\/a> is\u00a0nominated for five Tony Awards<\/a>\u00a0including Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical (Nicholas\u00a0 Christopher), Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical (Bryce Pinkham<\/a>), Best Performance by a Featured Actress\u00a0 in a Musical (Hannah Cruz<\/a>), and more.<\/p>\n

Featuring a new book by Emmy Award winner Danny Strong<\/a>, with music and lyrics by Emmy and Tony Award nominees\u00a0 ABBA\u2019s Benny Andersson<\/a> and Bj\u00f6rn Ulvaeus and Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award winner Tim Rice<\/a>, based on an\u00a0 idea by Tim Rice<\/a>, this new production is directed by Tony Award winner Michael Mayer<\/a> and choreographed by Drama\u00a0 Desk Award nominee Lorin Latarro<\/a> with original orchestrations by Anders Eljas<\/a>, orchestrations by Anders Eljas<\/a> and 2026\u00a0 Tony Award nominee Brian Usifer<\/a> and music supervision by Brian Usifer<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Chess<\/a> features scenic design by Tony Award winner David Rockwell<\/a>, costume design by Tom Broecker<\/a>, lighting design by\u00a0 four-time Tony Award winner and 2026 Tony Award nominee Kevin Adams<\/a>, sound design by John Shivers<\/a> and video design\u00a0 by Tony Award nominee Peter Nigrini<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Johanna McKeon<\/a> serves as Associate Director, Travis Waldschmidt<\/a> serves as\u00a0 Associate Choreographer and Music Direction is by Ian Weinberger. Casting is by Jim Carnahan<\/a> C.S.A. and Jason Thinger<\/a>\u00a0 C.S.A. Hair, Wig and Makeup Design are by Luc Verschueren<\/a> for Campbell Young<\/a> Associates.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ghostlight Records recently released the Chess<\/a> (2025 Broadway Cast Recording), which is now available in digital and\u00a0 streaming formats. The recording will be released on CD and vinyl later this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n


\n \"Theater
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

\n 2026 Theater Fans’ Choice Awards – Live Stats\n <\/p>\n

\n Best Lead Performer in a Musical – Top 3\n <\/p>\n

\n 1.
\n LJ Benet – The Lost Boys, A New Musical <\/p>\n

\n 15.8% of votes\n <\/p>\n

\n 2.
\n Joshua Henry – Ragtime <\/p>\n

\n 15.5% of votes\n <\/p>\n

\n 3.
\n Nicholas Christopher – Chess <\/p>\n

\n 8.9% of votes\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n


\n \"\"<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n


\n \"\"<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n RELATED STORIES<\/p>\n

1<\/p>\n


\n \"JoJo
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

2<\/p>\n


\n \"CHESS
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

CHESS Will Close Early on Broadway<\/a><\/p>\n

Chess will play its final performance on Sunday, June 21, 2026 at Broadway\u2019s Imperial Theatre after over 250 performances starring Aaron Tveit,\u00a0 Lea Michele and Nicholas Christopher.<\/p>\n

3<\/p>\n


\n \"Interview:
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

\n BWW Merch Shop – Shirts, Mugs, Phone Cases & More\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Joanna “JoJo” Levesque has shared her reaction to the news that the Broadway revival of Chess will be…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":699303,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[64,63,134,136],"class_list":["post-699302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/699302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=699302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/699302\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/699303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=699302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=699302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=699302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}