Royal visits, town criers and the continuing Broadway success of Bermudian actor Nicholas Christopher combined this week on late-night television for a colourful segment on his role in the acclaimed revival of the show Chess.

Mr Christopher appeared on Monday night for the NBC current affairs and comedy show Late Night with Seth Myers, alongside fellow Chess cast members Aaron Tveit and Lea Michele.

The interview over his latest Broadway role offered Mr Christopher a chance to retell the origin story, more than 30 years ago, of his father, Ed Christopher, as the Hamilton town crier.

During the broadcast, Mr Christopher explained the role, official duties and his father’s uniform, which the family scrambled to put together just in time for the 1994 visit to Bermuda by the late Queen Elizabeth II.

It came up after the host raised a picture of the actor as a toddler sporting his own town crier outfit, complete with bell, adding: “I want to ask Nick to explain what’s going on in this photo.”

The actor said: “My mother made his first uniform, and out of the scraps of his uniform — because I wanted to be just like my dad when I was little — she made that uniform.”

The scene shows Mr Christopher at the age of 3 dressed up like his father, who got to announce the Queen in 1994 from the steps of City Hall in Hamilton.

Mr Christopher, whose performances have included the hit musical Hamilton, explained to the audience that his father’s role featured in Bermuda’s capital rather than the show.

Chess, written in 1984, features a chess tournament between an American and a Soviet player to the backdrop of Cold War tensions.

Mr Christopher described playing the Russian character — and hanging out in New York’s Brighton Beach neighbourhood, with its large Russian immigrant community, where playing chess on the Coney Island boardwalk is a popular pastime.

He added: “I knew nothing about chess and I knew nothing about Russia, so I figured I could get both of them if I went to Brighton Beach.”

Ed Christopher confirmed his son’s lack of chess experience.

He told The Royal Gazette: “Never, never — he learnt how to play chess at the same time he was learning about Russians down on the boardwalk.”

The senior Mr Christopher added that he had gone to enjoy Chess “several times”.

“I saw it on the opening night and I’ve been back since. My wife and I go and support — it’s great.”

Mr Christopher said the show had been extended to September, and highlighted the glowing review of his son’s portrayal of Anatoly Sergievsky, the Soviet chess master, this week in the Los Angeles Times.

Recalling his royal announcement for the Queen back in 1994, he said: “Truth is, it was exciting — but I didn’t know the scope of it; I wasn’t told.”

Mr Christopher’s height, booming voice and theatrical experience all came to the fore that day on the City Hall steps.

However, the town crier emphasised that details on any reprise of his job for the visit next week by King Charles III could not be revealed — for now.