We were all thinking it as we watched Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit last year. “There isn’t enough singing in this show about chess and drugs.” Worry no longer, because entertainment company Level Forward has acquired rights to bring the captivating chess tale to the stage, according to The Guardian.
Level Forward announced Monday that it has acquired the rights to produce the 1983 novel as a stage musical. The company is also responsible for turning Alanis Morrissette’s Jagged Little Pill into a musical, a new production of Oklahoma, and a variety of documentaries.
“It is a privilege for Level Forward to lead the charge of bringing The Queen’s Gambit to the stage through the beloved and enduring craft of musical theater,” said CEO Adrienne Becker, and producer Julia Dunetz in an official statement. “Audiences are already sharing in the friendship and fortitude of the story’s inspiring women who energize and sustain Beth Harmon’s journey and ultimate triumph.”
Level Forward has not yet announced where–or when, considering the ongoing pandemic–it will produce the show, but The Guardian points to Broadway as the likely destination.
The series adaptation of The Queen’s Gambit hit Netflix last fall and quickly became one of the service’s most-watched shows, and helped grab star Anya Taylor-Joy both Golden Globe and Critics Choice awards. The show was also just nominated for an award from the Directors Guild of America. The Queen’s Gambit will be, to our knowledge, the second chess-themed musical. The first was the aptly-named 1986 musical Chess.
