Chess Closes Tonight on Broadway, Stranding JoJo’s Debut and Torching $15 Million

Chess — the cult musical with a score by ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson and lyrics by Tim Rice — holds its final performance of its 2025–2026 Broadway revival tonight, June 21, closing three months earlier than originally planned. The production starred Lea Michele as Florence Vassy alongside Aaron Tveit and Nicholas Christopher, opening officially on November 16, 2025, after its first performance on October 15. Joanna “JoJo” Levesque had been publicly announced as Michele’s replacement beginning June 23 and was set to lead the show through at least September [1, 4].

Instead, producers announced in May that the show would close on the date of Michele’s final bow, canceling Levesque’s Broadway debut entirely. Attendance had slipped to roughly 70 percent capacity in recent weeks, and Tony Award nominations in early May delivered a further blow: neither Michele nor Tveit received acting nominations, and the show was not recognized in the Best Revival of a Musical category [1, 2]. The production’s capitalization has not been formally disclosed, though reports estimate approximately $15 million was invested — a figure producers will not recoup [2, 3].

Why It Sucks:

JoJo Fans and Theatergoers

• JoJo’s Broadway debut was canceled two days before it started. Levesque had prepared for and publicly promoted her role as Florence Vassy; the production closing June 21 — with her first scheduled performance June 23 — eliminated her Broadway debut with less than a week’s notice, an outcome that had nothing to do with her preparation or ability and everything to do with the show’s inability to survive its lead star’s exit [4].
• Ticketholders who bought seats for JoJo’s run are out of luck. Fans who purchased tickets specifically for post-June 23 performances — often months in advance at significant cost — will receive refunds but no equivalent opportunity; there is no alternative production, no rescheduled debut, and no timeline for when or whether Levesque will get another shot at a Broadway lead role [4, 1].
• A comeback narrative gets cut off at the finish line. Levesque spent much of the 2020s building credibility as a serious musical theater performer, and her announced casting in Chess was widely framed as a major career moment; the production’s collapse forfeits that moment entirely and raises legitimate questions about whether a replacement lead was ever a realistic save or merely a press release [2, 4].

Broadway Investors

• Fifteen million dollars is gone, and the Tony voters told them why. The production will not recoup its estimated $15 million investment; the decisive turning point was the Tony nominations in early May, when neither Michele nor Tveit received acting recognition and the show was passed over for Best Revival — the single category that could have generated the press momentum needed to reverse a declining box office [1, 2].
• Star-driven replacements don’t work when the star is the only draw. Data from Michele’s own announced absences earlier in the run showed ticket sales falling sharply whenever she was out; that pattern gave producers concrete evidence that Levesque — however talented — would not transfer Michele’s audience, making the calculus to close rather than continue financially rational even at the cost of a promised debut [3, 1].
• Two extensions followed by a collapse is the worst-case scenario. The production had extended its run at least twice before the Tony snub, suggesting early momentum that made the investment look recoverable; the Tony nominations reversed that trajectory entirely and left producers holding a show with declining attendance, a replacement star, and no awards heat to sell [2, 3].

Chess Musical Devotees

• Broadway has now failed this show twice in four decades. The original 1988 Broadway production of Chess ran just 68 performances before closing; this revival closes without recouping, cementing a two-for-two record of Broadway failure for a show with a score that its devoted fanbase considers among the finest of the 1980s — and making a third attempt significantly harder to finance or attract talent for [1, 3].
• The Björn and Benny score may never get its Broadway moment. Ulvaeus and Andersson’s Chess has thrived in concert productions and regional theater for decades while failing twice on Broadway; every failed revival further entrenches a conventional wisdom among producers and investors that the show is structurally unproduceable at Broadway scale, regardless of cast [1, 2].
• The Tony voters’ verdict shapes the show’s reputation permanently. By declining to nominate Chess for Best Revival — even with two extensions behind it and a recognizable cast — the Tony community effectively ruled the revival noncompetitive in the industry’s most-watched arena; that ruling will be cited in pitch decks and investment conversations the next time anyone tries to bring the show back to New York [2, 3].

Sources & Citations:

[1] Variety: ‘Chess’ to Close Early on Broadway, Timed to Lea Michele’s Exit in June
[2] Deadline: ‘Chess’ To Close On Broadway Next Month With Departure Of Lea Michele
[3] Deadline: Broadway Summer Closings: What’s Leaving & When?
[4] Just Jared: Chess to Close on Lea Michele’s Final Show, Ending JoJo’s Return to Broadway