'Chess' cast dishes on offstage friendship, 'crazy' TikTok trends

NEW YORK ‒ God bless the "Chess" marketing team.

Every week since the hit Broadway revival opened last fall, the show's trio of stars have gamely jumped on all manner of viral memes, lip-syncing to everything from Pink to Nelly to "Wicked" on social media.

"If you had asked me five years ago if I'd be participating in TikTok trends while doing 'Chess the Musical,' I would have said you're absolutely crazy," Aaron Tveit, 42, says in a joint interview with Nicholas Christopher, 35, and Lea Michele, 39.

Their personal favorite: "The Natasha Bedingfield one, bringing it back to old-school Rachel Berry (on 'Glee') holding the hairbrush," Michele says with a smile.

"And then she commented on it!" Christopher adds. Those videos are "a good depiction of what it's like backstage. It's very heavy onstage, but we really do keep it nice and easy."

Featuring an impossibly catchy score by ABBA's Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, "Chess" charts a Cold War-era romance between a Soviet chess grandmaster (Christopher), his American opponent (Tveit), and the woman (Michele) who loves them both. The musical was an infamous flop when it premiered on Broadway in 1988, but it has since gained a cult following and is now a box-office phenomenon.

USA TODAY chats with the actors about backstage tricks, parenting and much more:

Lea, you've said you have way too many preshow rituals to count. What are some of those?

Lea Michele: I have to do my makeup, which I'm terrible at. Nick sometimes comes and watches me do it, and he can also concur that I'm not good at it. Aaron will come by and visit, and I like to call my mom before the show. I check in on my children: I watch all the little cameras on my kids at home and make sure everyone is OK.

I have a photo of myself from 1996 in my dressing room that I always make sure I have a moment with before the show. I'm in the same theater where I made my Broadway debut 30 years ago. So it’s a lot of little things: some serious, some crazy – and some I’ll never mention.

Do your kids have a favorite "Chess" song?

Nicholas Christopher: My girls don't want me to sing at home. When I sing at home, they block their ears and say, “Daddy, stop!” But they love “Where I Want to Be.”

Michele: My son loves “Where I Want to Be.” He makes me sing it and he wants to hear Nick singing it, too.

Christopher: And he gives me notes.

Michele: Yes, my son gives Nick notes.

Aaron Tveit: My almost 15-month-old daughter doesn't respond to anything that I sing from “Chess,” but when I sing “Belle” from “Beauty and the Beast,” she really starts to dial in.

Michele: Wait, that’s the sweetest. Now everyone is going to need an Aaron Tveit “Belle.”

What was a show like "Chess" for you guys, that made you realize musicals can be big, splashy entertainment but also Trojan Horse a more profound message into it?

Michele: Being in “Ragtime,” I knew we were telling an important story. And then also “Spring Awakening” – just being a part of these projects that are incredibly timely. I don’t want to do anything that doesn’t say something.

Christopher: “Ragtime” is a huge one. I did “Ragtime: School Edition” and very famously played every Harlem man in the ensemble. I took hours to comb my hair to the side.

Michele: That was a long time ago! (Laughs.)

Tveit: Whoof!

Christopher: Right? (Laughs.) But that was the moment I actually felt, “Oh, this is fun and entertaining, and there’s also a gravity in the stories we tell.”

Tveit: Being part of “Next to Normal,” I realized the power of what you're doing onstage. In the same way, “Rent” was my first job, and getting to do that show on tour and taking that to cities where our show was being picketed because of the subject matter – you very quickly realize that people are coming to see the show to find a place they feel accepted. At the same time, people are coming that might not agree with what you're saying and you're changing people's minds.

This score is no walk in the park. What's the biggest mountain for you to climb every night?

Christopher: Literally the "Mountain Duet!"

Michele: I'll go from screaming at Aaron into belting "Nobody's Side," and then start warming up the other side of my voice for our "Mountain Duet," which is a much more lyrical soprano sound. Playing Fanny Brice (in "Funny Girl") vocally was one thing. This is just as much, if not even more of a challenge, but one that made me want to accept this job.

Aaron, there's a moment in "One Night in Bangkok" where you're lifted into a pair of pants that made everyone around me gasp. Has there ever been a performance where you missed them?

Tveit: There have been two misses, so we're at a 99% success rate, which is pretty good. It's funny: That's one of our most consistent reactions from the audience. I never expected that, but it's a cool moment. I get lifted into pants!

Michele: They love it. So smooth!

What are some unexpected hacks to maintaining your voice and stamina?

Tveit: Lea's going to hate this answer, but my dresser turns my room into a rainforest. Just because our theater's so dry, he puts the shower on – for a limited time! – to create steam in the dressing room. People constantly walk into my dressing room, as it's so freezing in our theater.

Michele: He's basically destroying our planet. It's like the Rainforest Café in there (laughs). Unfortunately, not drinking any alcohol is what you have to do to maintain this kind of schedule. We have all these things that help us for our show at night, but before we go to work, we do the hardest job, which is being parents. We have five kids under 5 between the three of us, and we need all of the energy that we can get. So it's just about getting sleep, drinking water, eating well – it’s the boring stuff that works. But the other day, I had a Vitamin C packet and was pouring honey down my throat. I do it all!

Christopher: Definitely nasal rinses, and then I eat a green apple or two every show, depending on how it’s going. It’s the same pH level as your body, so it helps hydrate. And there’s something called pectin in it, which helps take away the phlegm.  

You're all in very similar places in your lives as performers, partners and parents. What has it meant to be able to lean on one another?

Tveit: It's pretty amazing, and it’s not just us. There’s a lot of people in our show who also have kids and families. It’s very different than 20 years ago, doing a show on tour with a bunch of 20-year-olds. It’s really nice to have that camaraderie.

Michele: Leaving my kids every day is very hard. I love performing, and it's important for them to see me going and doing what I love. But it doesn't make it any easier, and there are tears sometimes. So to go to work every day, and be able to turn to these two and just say, “I really miss my kids today,” it's so helpful. And because of that support, I’m the happiest I've ever been in a job in my life. I don’t feel alone.

Christopher: Sometimes it can just be a look or saying, “Hey, I got you.” Also, there’s no drama. We keep the drama for the stage, and we really understand the cost of what it takes for us to leave our families. We take it very seriously, but then we can also come in and share a joke – or some tea and honey.

"Chess" is now playing at the Imperial Theatre (249 W. 45th St).