Concept Album: A bit of story revealed

The recent reissue of the concept album contains a very weird demo of "Press Conference" that was intended to precede "The Russian and Molokov." It's not nearly as effective as the final stage version, and particularly wants for Florence's "Smile, you got your first exclusive story..." section.

More interesting is a brief section of dialogue that was recorded over a demo version of "Der Kleine Franz." It's actually not bad dialogue for Tim Rice's standards, although I do not think that an American would have actually used the term "cock-up." This is the full dialogue:

The American
Well where the hell is he? We're ten minutes late.

Florence
He'll be here.

The American
You're losing your touch, Florence. It's another cock-up. I don't know what I'm doing letting you handle my affairs.

Florence
He'll be here. Will you sit down? Have a drink.

The American
You have a drink. I'm off to look at the mountain. I might be back.

Florence
Wait!

The Russian
Hello. Just you here? Where's your boss, I thought?

Florence
Oh, he's here, he'll be back in a few minutes. Have a drink, while we're waiting.

The Russian
I hope I'm here for the reasons Molokov told me. Or are we being taped? Are we on the air right now?

Florence
Of course not. Look, we're here to get the match together again, to clear up all this misunderstanding.

The Russian
I suppose I should be used to his behavior by now.

After this, Anatoly and Florence segue into "Mountain Duet" as it appears on the album.

Now, in the concept album, this scene is set in "[a] private room in a restaurant half-way up a mountain in Merano," giving us a cozy setting rather than having Anatoly and Florence bundled up - "a drink" rather than "a walk" in Anatoly's first line. The context makes sense of Florence's line "All I can say is moments ago / He was right here, ready and waiting," and the change to the line about cable cars in the London production.

I like the characterizations, particularly Anatoly's bit of paranoia. For some reason, I also really like the idea that Freddie actually walked out on the meeting because of Anatoly being late.

This dialogue could be used in the London script as-is, although the lyrics to "Duet" would have to be changed back to their Concept Album equivalents. I doubt this would be much noted; the Chess lyrics change a lot anyway. And a private room at a restaurant is a different staging challenge, but in many ways a more interesting one.

It's interesting to note that, contra both London and Broadway, Florence and Anatoly don't kiss at the end of this song:

The American and the Russian argue, trade insults and jokes but thanks largely to Florence's delicate touch, they both agree on a press statement sharing blame for the breakdown and to resume playing.

Generally, I think the sketch story in the concept album is more interesting in almost every way than London's; the greatest shame is that the London version went so far afield from it, which particularly hurt Anatoly's characterization. And with this little bit that I'd never heard before, I like that story even a bit more.