“The Count of Monte Cristo” is a magnificent story of love, betrayal, desire for justice and vengeance…

Lina Stankevičiūtė
For the first time ever in Lithuania the Kaunas State Musical Theatre invites the audience to an outstanding musical spectacle – the musical version of the famous Alexandre Dumas’ novel “The Count of Monte Cristo” presented by the composer Frank Wildhorn and writer Jack Murphy.

… He was betrayed by everyone who, as he believed, where his friends. His only love was taken away from him, his honorable name was stained and he himself was imprisoned for life in the fortress called If. However, wrath and jealousy celebrated their victory much too soon. After thirteen years of imprisonment the Angel of Vengeance escaped from the prison thanks to an incredible coincidence and did not relent until his wrongdoers were punished…
 
It is not a surprise then that this piece which is almost two centuries old was noticed by other artists too: there are lots of various adaptations of “The Count of Monte Cristo”, especially cinema versions. However, there are only a few of the musical adaptations, among them – a musical by a famous American Broadway composer Frank Wildhorn.
 
This production in the Kaunas State Musical Theatre was staged by a team of top professionals: chief director of the Theatre Kęstutis S. Jakštas, conductor Jonas Janulevičius (who is the conductor of the most popular performances of the Theatre “Aida”, “The Legend of Notre Dame”, “Siegfried Werner Cabaret”, “Madam Pompadour”), internationally and nationally renowned set designer who won many awards Gintaras Makarevičius, costume and makeup designer the famous fashion guru – Juozas Statkevičius, lighting designer Audrius Jankauskas, choreographers Dainius Bervingis and Gintaras Visockis.
 
The role of the Count of Monte Cristo is played by three totally different performers who differ in their vocal background and education, voice timbre, performing experience, not to mention their psychophysics. Thus, they are all bestowed with a relative freedom by the director: that is why the character of the Count is developed in such various colors. The role of the Count is played by - the winner of the national TV singing project “The Golden Voice” Jeronimas Milius, baritone Raimondas Baranauskas, and baritone Ramūnas Urbietis.
 
The role of his beloved Mercedes is played by the finalist of the last season’s national TV singing project “The Golden Voice” Karina Krysko-Skambinė and the Theatre’s soloist Kristina Siurbytė. Other roles are created by invited actors, as well as the singers of the Theatre: “The Golden Stage Cross” nominees Viktorija Streiča, Akvilė Garbenčiūtė, Vaidotas Martinaitis; also Ieva Vaznelytė, Egidijus Bavikinas, Žanas Voronovas, Kęstutis Alčauskis, Ramūnas Šimukauskas, Giedrius Prunskus and others.
 
The musical happens as if in one breath because the creators indulge into the musical stylistics, create wide emotion, which emphasizes tragic and sometimes comic situations of the performance. The effect of the stage design is enforced through the applied modern technologies which provide the sense of vitality and boundlessness.  There are almost 80 singing and dancing artist who created nearly 40 different characters. More than 90 pairs of shoes and 230 costumes were manufactured for this particular stage piece. It took almost 2000 meters of various textiles. The most of the performers will change their costumes at least several times during the show. The combination of all decorations weighs one and a half tons. Ingenious visual projections create lively 3D effect. Luxurious stylized garments of the 19th century are complemented with kilograms of Swarovski crystals. There are lots of other dashing costume accessories – expensive jewelry, belts, scarves, ornaments, and masks... Not to mention pyrotechnic tricks, stunt rehearsals with professional stuntmen and fencing coaches…
 
It is safe to say that this grandiose project can align with the highest quality standards of the of musical genre, as here we can find all the components which create a dynamic show – beautiful music, spectacular costumes, decorations, modern visual effects, along with the essential artistic unison between professional actors and professional singers…
 
An American composer who received numerous awards Frank Wildhorn writes songs for world-famous artists, he creates music for famous pieces (history about Jekyll and Hyde, Bonnie and Clyde, Carmen, Dracula, Serrano de Bergerac, the Count of Monte Cristo) and adapts them for the musical stage. The musical “The Count of Monte Cristo” was nominated for “Tony” award four times (“Tony” in the theatre world can be compared to the “Oscar” in the cinema world)! It is one of the most recent stage creations by this author – the world premiere took place in St.Gallen Theatre in Switzerland in 2009.