The Count of Monte Cristo

Musical theatre adaptation

Music: Frank Wildhorn
Lyrics: Jack Murphy
Productions: 2009 St. Gallen, 2010 Seoul, 2012 Leipzig, 2013 Tecklenburg, 2013 Tokyo, 2014 Kaunas, Lithuania, 2014 Rottingen, Germany, 2015 BYU, Utah, US

The Lowdown

This refers to the 2009 musical version of The Count of Monte Cristo by Frank Wildhorn and Jack Murphy. There are actually several musical versions of the story but this is the only one I've been able to get my hands on the soundtrack for so far.

Some Observations

The story translates surprisingly well to musical format. As expected, the medium doesn't allow for the finer details of the novel to come through, but instead uses music to capture key moments and feelings in the story and giving them a new significance, particularly 'I Know Those Eyes, That Man is Dead', where Mercedes sees Edmond for the first time since his return and is the only one to recognise him.
That said, if you don't like musicals then probably best to skip this one as it's pretty much what you would expect.
This seems to take quite a lot from the 2002 film version and yet again we see Jacopo propelled forward to take a more central role.

The Verdict

If you like The Count of Monte Cristo and musical theatre, then needless to say this is probably for you.

Characters and Plot Elements

Character	Status	Plot Element	Status
Edmond Dantes	Present	Landing on Elba and meeting with Napoleon	Referred to
Mercedes	Present	Return to Marseille	Present
Fernand Mondego	Present	Conspirators - stage 1 (accused by enemies)	Present
Danglars	Present	Conspirators - stage 2 (betrayed by Villefort)	Present
Gerard de Villefort	Present	Imprisoned in the Chateau d'If	Present
Gaspard Caderousse	Omitted	Escape by posing as another prisoner	Present
Pierre Morrel	Present	Finding the treasure	Present
Maximilian Morrel	Omitted	Visiting Caderousse	Omitted
Louis Dantes (Father)	Present	Return to Marseilles; Morrel suicide attempt	Omitted
Abbe Faria	Present	Franz meets Sinbad the Sailor on Monte Cristo	Omitted
Jacopo	Present	Hallucinogenic drugs	Omitted
La Carconte	Omitted	Rome - Albert kidnapped by Luigi Vampa	Present
Julie Morrel	Omitted	Count as a vampire	Omitted
Emmanuel Herbaut	Omitted	Breakfast at Albert's - Count's arrival in Paris	Omitted
Noirtier de Villefort	Omitted	Dinner at Auteiul	Omitted
Luigi Vampa	Present	The Vendetta - Bertuccio and Villefort	Omitted
Albert de Morcerf	Present	Manipulation of the telegram	Omitted
Lucien Debray	Omitted	The dappled greys - wild horses	Omitted
Beauchamp	Omitted	Affair between Madame Danglars and Lucien Debray	Omitted
Baron de Chateau Renaud	Omitted	Noirtier paralyzed	Omitted
Franz d'Epinay	Omitted	Love story between Maximilian and Valentine	Omitted
Madame Danglars	Present	Toxicology - poisoner in the Villefort household	Omitted
Eugenie Danglars	Omitted	Ali Pacha story	Omitted
Louise d'Armilly	Omitted	Implied sexual relationship between Eugenie Danglars and Louise d'Armilly	Omitted
Heloise de Villefort	Present	Arranged marriage between Valentine de Villefort and Franz d'Epinay	Omitted
Les Saint-Merans	Omitted	Benedetto and Caderousse	Omitted
Valentine de Villefort	Present	Benedetto and Eugenie	Omitted
Edouard de Villefort	Omitted	Villefort's spies	Omitted
Barrois	Omitted	Revenge against Caderousse - stabbed by Benedetto	Omitted
Benedetto	Omitted	Trial of Fernand	Omitted
Major Cavalcanti	Omitted	Duel between Albert de Morcerf and the Count of Monte Cristo	Present
Haydee	Omitted	Albert joins the army	Omitted
Bertuccio	Omitted	Revenge against Fernand - his treachery revealed, he kills himself	Omitted
Baptistin	Omitted	Revenge against Danglars - unlimited credit	Omitted
Ali	Omitted	Revenge against Villefort - trial of Benedetto, he goes mad	Omitted
Abbe Busoni	Omitted	Mercedes' end - return to Marseilles	Omitted
Sinbad the Sailor	Omitted	Danglars' escape and Luigi Vampa's bill of fare	Omitted
Lord Wilmore	Omitted	Edmond gets together with Haydee	Omitted
		The phrase "wait and hope"	Omitted