The Count of Monte Cristo

Content Advisory

SYNPOSIS: On the very day of his wedding to the beautiful Mercedes, young Edmund Dantes is framed by three men, arrested and thrown into the notorious prison Chateau d’If. Befriended there by a fellow prisoner, he plots a daring escape, unearths a secret fortune and returns to Marseilles and Paris disguised as the mysterious Count of Monte Cristo, determined to seek vengeance on the men who framed him.

LANGUAGE: A very small amount of language, including one profanity and one vulgarity, along with several exclamatory oaths.

This language includes one use of “Goddamn,” one use of “shit,” and several uses of “Mon Dieu” and its English equivalent, “My God.”

Patrons should be aware that the creators of the show are still working on the script. The script used in the BYU student production differs from the current script, and there may be further changes.

SMOKING AND DRINKING: There are scenes in which various characters drink.

SEX: None. Dantes is rescued at sea by a crew of women pirates led by the Pirate Queen Louisa Vampa, and Louisa and her female crew sing several songs containing some bawdy sexual innuendo, but there is no explicit sexual activity in the play.

VIOLENCE: Major swordfights and other staged theatrical violence, but nothing that would frighten even young children.

FOR WHICH AUDIENCES?: The Count of Monte Cristo is a classic adventure story which has been turned into a musical by composer Frank Wildhorn, the composer of Jekyll & Hyde, Bonnie and Clyde, and other musicals. It is suitable for all general audiences and children over the age of ten. The bawdiness of the Pirate Queen may be unsuitable for younger children, and the general story of imprisonment and revenge may be too intense for them.

RATING: If it were a movie, The Count of Monte Cristo would be rated “PG.”