She’s making her move. Joanna “JoJo” Levesque will return to Broadway this summer in Chess, succeeding original cast member Lea Michele as Florence Vassy from June 23 to September 13 only. As previously announced, Michele will play her final performance at the Imperial Theatre on June 21.
JoJo made her Broadway debut in Moulin Rouge! The Musical in 2023 and played a return engagement in 2024. She is best known, however, as the multi-platinum singer of hit songs like “Leave (Get Out),” “Too Little Too Late,” and “Say So” (with PJ Morton), which won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Song.
In Chess, she will join a Broadway cast that currently includes Aaron Tveit as Freddie Trumper, Nicholas Christopher as Anatoly Sergievsky, Hannah Cruz as Svetlana, Bradley Dean as Molokov, Sean Allan Krill as Walter, and Bryce Pinkham as The Arbiter.
Chess follows the on- and off-board battles between an American and a Soviet chess champion and the woman caught between them. First seen on Broadway in 1988, the musical is now in its first revival, with a book by Danny Strong and a score by Tim Rice and ABBA’s Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, based on an idea by Rice. Michael Mayer directs.
Chess tickets are now available through September 13. Get Chess tickets now.
Photo credit: Joanna “JoJo” Levesque. (Photo by Alfredo Flores)