When bringing a book to the silver screen, it can be hard enough to stay true to the story and capture the author’s original emotions. As for condensing a 1,200-page novel into a two-hour musical theater performance, that’s what senior Brett Boles attempted with Alexandre Dumas’ “The Count of Monte Cristo.” From soothing woodwinds to extravagant costumes, the production is a breakthrough for Boles.

Performed for the first time in front of a live audience Tuesday in the Hoerner Theatre in Dillingham Center, “The Count of Monte Cristo” marks the first student-written play performed during Ithaca College Theatre’s main-stage season in more than 25 years.

Since the age of 17, Boles has worked on composing the script and score, as he hoped to transform the epic novel to a musical. As a result, the production’s greatest strengths are the music and the writing, a true testament to Boles’ dedication to the project, love for the novel and passion for musical theater.

The story is simple, set in France in the early 1800s. On the wedding day of young Edmond Dantès (senior Jeremy Jordan), he is arrested. Believing it is just a mistake, Edmond tells his fiancee, “Wait and hope.” But Edmond is unjustly imprisoned as a traitor in the dreadful Château D’If. Years later, he escapes and finds an immense fortune, changes his name to the Count of Monte Cristo, and vows to exact revenge on the three men responsible for his suffering.

The story is well illustrated, but the music carries the production. From enchanting clarinet parts that accompany the sweet Haydée (freshman Elysia Shutrump) to the soft flutes for Mercédès (a charming senior Marisa Dargahi), the orchestra flourishes throughout. Music director/conductor Joel Gelpe, an accompanist and musical director in the Department of Theatre Arts, paces each song well and seamlessly shifts tempos while the show’s director, Susannah Berryman, an associate professor in the Department of Theatre Arts, keeps each scene equally compact.

Though the characters don’t have time to establish close relationships with each other, the actors personalize their roles. Freshman Matt Musgrove plays the jolly Faria, a prison inmate who digs a tunnel to Edmond’s cell. Though the scene didn’t go off as planned, the chemistry between them echos the close relationship the characters depicted in the novel had in the time before Faria died in prison. Jordan and Musgrove enjoy frivolous dancing and fencing.

Then there are the three villains: Baron Eugene Danglars (senior Michael Mott), Fernand de Morcerf (senior Aaron Morris) and Gérard de Villefort (junior Daniel Greenwood). All three are smug in their roles. They each attack a quest for power differently, but Morris is more animated in personifying his character beyond a stiff, selfish brute.

To help create contrast in the differing worlds of Edmond and the villians, scenic designer Steve TenEyck, assistant professor and chair of the Department of Theatre Arts, provides a long balcony with five openings overlooking the stage that stays constant and a rotating set with small set elements for scenes on the pier and in Edmond’s cell. Costumes like Haydée’s colorful sequined dress and a black-and-white cape for the Count of Monte Cristo, designed by Greg Robbins, an associate professor in the Department of Theatre Arts, complement each other well.

To see the passionate actors, elaborate vocal arrangements and innovative set design come together as a student work is truly exciting, especially for Boles. And the show can only get better with each performance. Maybe it’ll be on Broadway some day. All Boles can do is to wait and hope.

“The Count of Monte Cristo” will be performed at 8 p.m. today, tomorrow and Saturday, and at 2 p.m.tomorrow and Saturday in the Hoerner Theatre. Tickets range from $4.50 to $10 and can be purchased at the door, at www.ithacaevents.com, or by calling the Ithaca College Theatre Box Office at 274-3224.