From all the Monte Cristo musicals I've seen, this is by far the best one. You certainly can't adapt the whole Dumas' novel in 30 songs but they managed to do an almost perfect adaptation.
Although Act 1 tells the story of Edmond's imprisonment and it takes years, Act 2 takes place in one single night on a masquerade so you won't see very much of the original plot. No Danglars, no Morrel, no Caderousse, no Franz, no Maximilien, almost no Albert... but you know what? It works out. The focus on Edmond and the two villains makes it easy to understand.
You get a good lesson (not like the one from the *cough cough* Frank Wildhorn's version), you get an extravagant set of outfits and stage decoration, you get amazing songs that portray every character to perfection AND you also get a lot of crying by the end.
Although Act 1 tells the story of Edmond's imprisonment and it takes years, Act 2 takes place in one single night on a masquerade so you won't see very much of the original plot. No Danglars, no Morrel, no Caderousse, no Franz, no Maximilien, almost no Albert... but you know what? It works out. The focus on Edmond and the two villains makes it easy to understand.
You get a good lesson (not like the one from the *cough cough* Frank Wildhorn's version), you get an extravagant set of outfits and stage decoration, you get amazing songs that portray every character to perfection AND you also get a lot of crying by the end.