Your performance as Freddie Trumper in Chess is spectacular, and while you make it look easy, I have to imagine that it’s very physically and emotionally difficult work. Freddie is angry, depressed, manic, and conniving — whenever he’s onstage, he’s either singing or shouting, basically. He’s also the only lead character in the show with a big dance number, “ One Night in Bangkok. ” How did you get into Freddie’s headspace?

I was really, really interested as I was starting to work on Freddie and thinking about Freddie, and I was really curious about his trauma, and about where those mental-health issues were stemming from. This is a kid who was thrust into the spotlight at 11 years old. He was the U.S. champion at that age. And so what does that look like? We learn from “Pity the

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