It’s surprising that “The Count of Monte Cristo,” Alexandre Dumas’s classic story of revenge—and ultimately forgiveness—has had little life on stage. Given that the original work, first published in 1846, is so sprawling, any attempt to tell it properly is a challenge—one that writer Peter Kellogg doesn’t always meet in the York Theatre’s current offering, “Monte Cristo: A New Musical.”
Based on the Dumas tale and an 1868 stage version by Charles Fechter, the production begins promisingly enough, with Anne Mundell’s bleak and forbidding set. Also helping set the tone is the ominous number “Dangerous Times.” France in 1815 was a powder keg as the exiled Napoleon Bonaparte was plotting a return to power, and the fragile government has eyes everywhere. Saying the wrong thing might result in a death sentence.
