Tony Nominee Hannah Cruz On Her Electrifying, Stakes-Raising Turn In ‘Chess’ [VIDEO]

Hannah Cruz enters the Chess stage early in act two, raising the already high stakes and she very near steals the show. For her electrifying work, she’s received a well-deserved Tony nomination.

The musical Chess has had quite the checkered past. Much like Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita, the show began life as a concept album, written by lyricist Tim Rice and composers Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus (ABBA) in 1984, chronicling a cold war chess match between champions of the U.S.A and the Soviet Union, and a young woman tossed in to provide a compelling love triangle. And, late in the game, another young woman, who has become a pawn in the game.

The latest incarnation began life with Lena Hall discussing the idea with writer Danny Strong. Strong, along with director Michael Mayer developed the new rethink which bowed on Broadway this past November starring Lea Michelle, Aaron Tveit, Nicolas Christopher, Bryce Pinkham and Cruz, the latter three receiving Tony nominations. To read more on the history, take a look at my review of the REVIVAL.

Cruz plays Anatoly’s enigmatic wife, Svetlana Sergievsky, who he abandoned. The actress slyly plays her part, so we are never certain if she truly loves Anatoly or if she’s wanting to appease the KGB and have a better life. Perhaps a bit of both? Her one solo, “He is a Man, He is a Child,” is a stunner. The song was written for 2002 Stockholm production and is a smart inclusion.

“I find her to be a very complicated person,” Cruz offers, “ I play it differently every night…At the base of her, she does really love him. That does not mean she doesn’t want to kill him…She’s not a very stable person.”

As embodied by Cruz, she is a sexy, dynamic and essential presence!

Cruz also has a key duet with Lea Michele, “I Know Him So Well,” which has been recorded by so many major artists and is one of the highlights in a show filled with musical highlights. Director Michael Mayer has the performers singing to one another in the latter part of the song, a keen deviation from the Chess staging norm and a choice Cruz celebrates.

“The show does not pass the Bechdel test,” Cruz points out, “but if we’re going to have two women onstage, I would like them to not just be hating each other. I would like them to see themselves in each other and maybe learn a little bit from each other, commiserate a bit with each other…”

Cruz began her career 2010, snagging a role in the Legally Blonde musical national tour. She would go on to be featured in the national tours of Bullets Over Broadway and Hamilton before co-starring in Shaina Taub’s Suffs at The Public Theater in 2022. Suffs made the move to Broadway in 2024 was nominated for six Tony Awards, winning two. Cruz deserved Tony attention for her captivating performance as Inez Milholland in Suffs.

In 2024, she also starred in acclaimed Jason Robert Brown/Jonathan Marc Sherman musical, The Connector, at MCC, for which she received an Outer Critics Circle Award nomination. She received the Clarence Derwent Award for promising performers for Suffs and The Connector. Suffs was videotaped for PBS’s Great Performances and premiered early this month.

The thesp is married to actor Edred Utomi, who is currently playing the titular role in Hamilton on Broadway.

On the big screen, she had a role in Paul Feig’s blockbuster The Housemaid in 2025. She is currently filming Richard Linklater’s ambitious version of the musical Merrily We Roll Along, which is tentatively set to bow in 2039.

The Contending had the pleasure of a VIDEO chat with Cruz.