‘Monte Cristo’ Review: A Tale of Betrayal, on Two Counts
5 / 10
The York Theater production that just opened, however, didn’t get that memo. Imagine a stage version of “Gone With the Wind” in which Scarlett and Rhett run off together, or a “Casablanca” with Rick boarding the plane to stay with Ilsa. That is the equivalent of what Peter Kellogg, the “Monte Cristo” book writer and lyricist, presents, in a departure from Dumas’s original (published in serial form from 1844-46). Generally, he seems to lean on Charles Fechter’s 19th-century play variation, which is not a good idea.
