‘The Queen’s Gambit’ Is Being Turned Into a Musical
Netflix‘s The Queen’s Gambit is one of its most acclaimed and viewed miniseries on the platform. The show follows Beth Harmon (Anya Taylor-Joy), a young girl who gets abandoned at a Kentucky orphanage following her mother’s death.
During her time at the orphanage, Beth is taught chess by one of the building’s custodians. The game quickly becomes an obsession, especially after getting thrust into the male-dominated professional world of chess.
As her success continues to rise, Beth also deals with her addiction to tranquilizers, which was then was given to children in orphanages in the 20th century because they were thought to calm them down.
Is ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ based on a true story?
Though The Queen’s Gambit is highly realistic, Beth is not based on a real-life figure. Instead, the series was adapted from writer Walter Tevis’ novel of the same name. Tevis wrote the novel in 1983 and based some of Beth’s experiences on his own dealing with addiction and his love of chess.
“I like Beth for her bravery and intelligence. In the past, many women have had to hide their brains, but not today,” he told The New York Times. Tevis also explained that he grew up loving chess, but as he got more skillful he became intimidated to play against more seasoned players.
He was also very candid about his dependency on heavy drugs following a rheumatic heart diagnosis.
Netflix has not renewed ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ for Season 2
The Queen’s Gambit has quickly become a fan favorite on Netflix. However, the streaming platform has no plans on renewing the series for a second season. From the beginning, they have been very clear that they were sharing Beth’s story in a mini-series format.
“The last scene feels like a beautiful note to end the show on, so I’m not sure if we want to go on and answer that question,” executive producer William Horberg told Town & Country. “Maybe we can just let the audience imagine what comes next.”
‘The Queen’s Gambit’ is being turned into a musical
Though we’ve seen the complete narrative of Beth’s story, fans of The Queen’s Gambit may be thrilled to know that they can see Tevis’ story come to life differently. It appears that there is a musical version of The Queen’s Gambit underway, and it might just be a Broadway sensation in the coming years.
According to Variety, Level Forward, the company behind the Jagged Little Pill musical and Oklahoma, has acquired the state rights to The Queen’s Gambit. Though it is still very early on, and songs and a script need to be written, it will surely please theater lovers who will be eager to return to Broadway when shows open in the near future.
The Queen’s Gambit is not the first of Tevis’ work to get the musical treatment. His novel The Man Who Fell to Earth, starring singer David Bowie was transformed for the stage and renamed Lazarus. It was a massive hit.
