The 78th Annual Tony Awards are currently underway to celebrate the 2024–2025 Broadway season. And to look ahead to the next season. Playbill is currently covering the red carpet, and host Jeffrey Vizcaíno was able to grab the stars of the upcoming Broadway revival of Chess: Lea Michele, Aaron Tveit, and Nicholas Christopher.

As Michele teased: "I had an anthem for a really long time with 'Don’t Rain on My Parade,' [from Funny Girl]," while adding that the Chess score from ABBA’s Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus "feels like a new anthem for me.” 

Based on an idea by Tim Rice (and originally featuring a book by Richard Nelson), Chess tells the story of American and Russian chess champions playing a match against each other—and competing for the same woman—at the height of the Cold War. It was first performed on Broadway in 1988 and hasn't been revived since.

Playbill also asked the stars what to expect from the revival, which will have a new book by Danny Strong. Says Michele: “He’s brought the heart across. He’s really straightened our characters’ storyline and aligned the music with the story really well.”

Added Tveit: "We hope that amidst the great music and humor and love story, there’s going to be a little bit of thought that takes place from the audience that sees the show."

Vizcaíno then asked who the trio are rooting for at tonight's ceremony and Christopher says playfully: “I’m rooting for all the Black people tonight," he said laughing, before adding, "but really everybody…"

Performances will begin in the fall in a Shubert-owned theatre, both to be announced. Sign up for ticketing alerts at ChessBroadway.com. See Playbill's red carpet livestream here and follow along with the rest of Playbill's Tony night coverage at Playbill.com/Tonys.