Play On!

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Musical by Cheryl West and Duke Ellington

title: "Play On!" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1997-musicals", "african-american-musicals", "broadway-musicals", "plays-and-musicals-based-on-twelfth-night", "swing-music", "duke-ellington-songs", "musicals-set-in-harlem", "musicals-set-in-the-1940s"] description: "Musical by Cheryl West and Duke Ellington" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Play_On!" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Musical by Cheryl West and Duke Ellington ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox Musical"]

FieldValue
namePlay On!
image"Play On!" broadway musical cast recording cover.jpg
captionOriginal Cast Recording Artwork
musicDuke Ellington
lyricsVarious (see below)
bookCheryl L. West
basisTwelfth Night
by William Shakespeare
productions1996 San Diego
1997 Broadway
2024 UK tour
image_size220px
premiere_date
premiere_locationOld Globe Theatre, San Diego
::

| name = Play On! | image = "Play On!" broadway musical cast recording cover.jpg | caption = Original Cast Recording Artwork | music = Duke Ellington | lyrics = Various (see below) | book = Cheryl L. West | basis = Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare | productions = 1996 San Diego 1997 Broadway 2024 UK tour | awards = | image_size = 220px | premiere_date = | premiere_location = Old Globe Theatre, San Diego Play On! is a musical adaptation of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, featuring the music of Duke Ellington, conceived by Sheldon Epps, with a book by Cheryl L. West. The musical relocates the story from Illyria to 1940s Swing-era Harlem.

Premiering at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, the production moved to Broadway at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre in 1997. The New York production received three nominations at the 51st Tony Awards, including for performances by Tonya Pinkins and André De Shields.

Production history

The original production, conceived by director Sheldon Epps, premiered in San Diego at the Old Globe Theatre in September 1996. The show then opened March 20, 1997, at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre on Broadway, where it ran for 61 performances. The cast included Tonya Pinkins, André De Shields, Carl Anderson, Yvette Cason, and Angela Robinson. An original cast recording was released on May 20, 1997, on Varèse Sarabande.

A 1999 production of Play On! at the Pasadena Playhouse was recorded for the PBS series Great Performances.

Talawa Theatre Company produced a UK tour directed by Michael Buffong, beginning September 2024 at Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, then Liverpool Playhouse, Salisbury Playhouse, Birmingham Hippodrome, Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, and Bristol Old Vic.

Synopsis

Vy comes to swinging 1940s Harlem to write songs for the Duke, Harlem's greatest band leader. To overcome the sexist barriers of the time against women songwriters, she disguises herself as a man, Vy-man. She finds the Duke in tears over his loss of Lady Liv, Harlem's "queen of the blues". The Duke likes Vy-man's music, so he instructs the songwriter to go to the Cotton Club and present one of her songs as if it were a new song written by the Duke for Lady Liv. Once Lady Liv finds Vy-man to be quite charming, a series of mistaken pairings ensue.

Meanwhile, Jester and several other Cotton Club performers are rebelling against the overly serious and tyrannical club manager, Rev. Since Rev has a crush on Lady Liv, the performers persuade him that he should woo her by learning to swing and scat, giving up his old fashioned ballads. More confusion results before the truth is revealed, and the couples are appropriately united.

Cast

::data[format=table]

CharacterBroadway1997DukeMiss MaryJesterVyLady LivRev
Carl Anderson
Yvette Cason
André De Shields
Cheryl Freeman
Tonya Pinkins
Lawrence Hamilton
::

Musical numbers

;Act 1

Awards and nominations

Original Broadway production

::data[format=table]

YearAwardCategoryNomineeResult
1997Tony AwardBest Performance by a Featured Actor in a MusicalAndré DeShields
Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a MusicalTonya Pinkins
Best OrchestrationsLuther Henderson
Drama Desk AwardOutstanding Featured Actor in a MusicalAndré DeShields
Drama League AwardOutstanding Production of a MusicalPlay On!
::

References

References

  1. Viagas, Robert. (April 21, 1997). "Playbill Critics Circle: Your Reviews of Play On!".
  2. "Play On!". Guide to Musical Theatre.
  3. (May 6, 1997). ""The Life" leads Tony Nominee".
  4. Evans, Greg. (March 21, 1997). "Play On!: a musical has to work pretty hard to let such an inspired idea slip through the floorboards".
  5. Grimes, William. (April 18, 1997). "On Stage, and Off". [[The New York Times]].
  6. "Play On!".
  7. Jones, Kenneth. (June 21, 2000). "Play On! Finds Its Way to Small Screen, on PBS, June 21". [[Playbill]].
  8. "Play On! at Belgrade Theatre and on tour – Duke Ellington musical review".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

1997-musicalsafrican-american-musicalsbroadway-musicalsplays-and-musicals-based-on-twelfth-nightswing-musicduke-ellington-songsmusicals-set-in-harlemmusicals-set-in-the-1940s