Indeed, The Black Monk as a whole works much better as a drama than as a musical. Presented by South Ark Stage. at the Samuel Beckett Theatre, 410 W. 42nd St., NYC. Dec. 4-Jan. 4.

Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich died in 1975 without completing his dream of setting Anton Chekhov’s short story, “The Black Monk,” as an opera.

The other is a black monk who, though nameless, figures prominently in the veneration of the apostle. This lively carved stone relief is one of the chief glories of Tarragona Cathedral.