Joanna “JoJo” Levesque will take over Lea Michele’s role in Chess on Broadway.
Levesque will play Florence Vassy starting June 23 through Sept. 13, opposite Aaron Tveit and Nicholas Christopher. This marks Levesque’s return to Broadway after she starred in Moulin Rouge as Satine for several months in 2023 and again in 2024.
Levesque rose to fame with the hits “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 for “Say So” with PJ Morton and has sold more than 8 million albums worldwide across her career. In addition to her previous Broadway runs, Levesque originated the role of Tess in Working Girl at La Jolla Playhouse.
The musical sees Vassy caught between American chess prodigy Freddie Trumper, played by Tveit, whom she coaches and once loved, and Russian grandmaster, Anatoly Sergievsky, played by Christopher, who begins to catch her eye. The cast also features Hannah Cruz, Bryce Pinkham, Bradley Dean and Sean Allan Krill.
The revival features a new book by Danny Strong, music and lyrics by ABBA’s Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus and Tim Rice (Evita), direction by Michael Mayer (Spring Awakening) and choreography by Lorin Latarro (Waitress). The scenic design is by David Rockwell (She Loves Me), costume design is by Tom Broecker (Call Me Izzy), lighting design is by Kevin Adams (Hedwig and the Angry Inch), sound design is by John Shivers (Kinky Boots) and video design is by Peter Nigrini (Hell’s Kitchen).
A new block of tickets has gone on sale for the duration of Levesque’s run at the Imperial Theatre.
