The Count of Monte Cristo

I LOVE the Count of Monte Cristo. I love the movie, I love the book....and now I officially love the musical. :)

I heard that BYU was doing a musical version, but tickets got snapped up fast. I thought I would have to miss out. Then today Melissa facebook messaged me that they were releasing cheap tickets for a dress rehearsal tonight.

I read up a little bit on the show before we went. Turns out, it's an even bigger deal than I thought. It's a musical originally commissioned for a theater in Switzerland. It's done very well overseas, but this was the first time it's been performed in the US. 

Frank Wildhorn, the composer (a famous composer who's done many Broadway shows) was invited to perform a concert at BYU back in 2013 and to teach master classes to the BYU theater students. He was so impressed with the quality of their work, that he decided to do something essentially unheard of and debut his musical for the first time in America at BYU, before it goes to Broadway.

You can read more about it in this awesome article from the Deseret News: 

BYU readies English premiere of Broadway composer Frank Wildhorn's 'The Count of Monte Cristo'

Or you can watch Frank Wildhorn talk about it here: :)

Anyway, all of that really impressed me. I felt like I was getting to preview a Broadway show. And it felt very Broadway. (Okay, I've only ever seen Wicked, but still). The set and the special effects blew my mind. The actors were all super talented with amazing voices.

And the book was adapted beautifully into the musical, in a way that felt true to the original story. I loved it.

And I love that we got to see it on dress rehearsal night, even before the official opening night. We were some of the first people (on American soil, anyways) to see the musical! I loved it so much--I wouldn't be surprised if it's hugely popular once it hits Broadway. If you ever have a chance to see it, you should go!!

I think I'm going to reread the book.