The Count of Monte Cristo: The Musical

If this is the "abridged version," (according to creator, Kelly D'Angelo) I CAN'T WAIT to see the entire thing, Kelly! This classic story came to life beautifully - even with the restrictions of space and time! And I LOVED the music, Matt Dahan! It was perfectly matched in mood and tone to tell this story! What you two have created is just wonderful - and KUDOS to your performers! There was some SERIOUS talent on that stage. Bravo!... full review

Amazing show, and totally worth driving the four hours there and back to see it. I loved it!! Some of the singers could have been louder but otherwise I was in awe. The singers had wonderful voices!! Thank you for an amazing show!!!... full review

I was very impressed with the cast of this Fringe Show. Most of the cast was superior in their vocal range and quality.Initially I was concerned that it was going to be uneven and boring, but as it went along it got better and better. I am so looking forward to Kelly tweaking and getting more investors to put on a well funded show so that all elements, stage scenery, costumes, orchestra , are in place to present it at a big venue. It definitely deserves a future. The entire cast including one personal friend, knocked me out with their talent. good luck and keep truckin'... full review

[See the full writeup, with links, at http://cahighways.org/wordpress/?p=10393 ] Fringe festivals serve many purposes, all centered around the notion of having a low cost, short run production of some form of show. Sometimes the show is mature and just can be produced inexpensively. Sometimes the show is a simple artistic expression. Sometimes the show is the first step in a long journey for a production, allowing for audience and reviewer feedback as part of the maturation process. Understanding these varied goals is important to assessing a show, and particularly relevant to the show we saw Sunday afternoon at the Lounge Theatre (FB) as part of the 2015 Hollywood Fringe Festival (FB): “The Count of Monte Cristo: The Musical” (FB) (Kelly... full review

According to Wikipedia, there have been nine musical adaptations of Alexandre Dumas’ The Count Of Monte Cristo in the past fifteen years alone, leading one to wonder… Do we need a tenth? The answer, at least for Hollywood Fringe Festival-goers, is no, not if it’s Kelly D’Angelo and Matt Daman’s well-intentioned but ultimately unsuccessful attempt to transform the 1844 tale of revenge into a musical for 21st Century tastes. Click on "Original Review" to read my complete review at StageSceneLA.com.... full review

Wonderful music! Excellent adaptation of a great story. Expertly and creatively staged with a very large cast on a very tiny stage. 2 hours with no intermission, but it flies by. I had a little trouble keeping track of some characters, but overall a top notch show.... full review

This musical production is reminiscent of "Les Miserables" for whatever reason. I really enjoyed this show. It has the feel of a Broadway production. The voice talent was top notch. It definitely deserves a much larger staging. Mary Nepi as Valentine should be on Broadway. Kelly D'Angelo has obviously put a lot of hard work into this and it shows in flying colors. This is one of the best shows I have ever seen at a Fringe Festival. Anthony Gruppuso was very impressive as was most of the cast. ... full review

You can tell this show is a labor of love, and I mean that in the best way possible. This show was epic in terms of both scope and scale. Trying to condense an epic novel like The Count of Monte Cristo into an evening of theatre is no easy feat. From what I understand, the show had to be cut down even further to fit into its allotted time slot here at the Festival. On top of that, this large-scale, large-cast production was done no favors by the size of the stage it was presented upon. I see a lot of potential in this show, and I hope that I'll get to see a full production of it in the future, as I think that will allow me to truly appreciate it for what it is. Based on what I've seen so far, it is deserving of that opportunity.... full review

Best show I never saw ... That will teach me to "scan" rather that "skim", when buying tickets. David Zack told me the dates and I chose opening night! However, it turned out that there was no opening night, only an opening "afternoon", which I only discovered when I really look at the ticket purchase. I've been in show biz since my first chorus job at the Sacramento Music Cirus, in 1956; one would think I would take nothing for granted! I understand a "parade" kept one of the principals from being on stage at the beginning and some adjustments had to be made. Maybe I dodged a bullet! I just felt bad that there were two empty seats that I could have given to David to fill, had I looked earlier at the receipt. All is not lost, however as I h... full review

Rather than merely give us another shortened movie version of this literary classic, writer Kelly D’Angelo, who has read over six versions of the story including one in French, has no less than attempted to put as much time into creating the musical and include as intact a narrative as could be possible for stage — as did Dumas put into the actual literary writing. Only thing is, all that pre-study didn’t quite translate. Read the full review at Gia On The Move (official press) http://giaonthemove.com/2015/06/19/gia-hff15-reviews-the-count-of-monte-cristo/... full review