Rock star Tim Howar, playing Freddy in a new revival of the ABBA/Tim Rice musical Chess, had to leave the theatre at the intermission of the first preview performance because his wife had gone into labor. “Understudy Cellen Chugg Jones stepped into the role despite never having completed a full cast rehearsal – winning a standing ovation and praise from co-stars Michael Ball and Alexandra Burke, who both said he ‘smashed it’. “