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. Lady Liv finds Vy-man charming, and a series of mistaken pairings results.
Meanwhile, several of the performers at the Cotton Club 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.
^Viagas, Robert (April 21, 1997). "Playbill Critics Circle: Your Reviews of Play On!". Playbill. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
^"Play On!". Guide to Musical Theatre. Retrieved 2013-01-24.
^""The Life" leads Tony Nominee". The Washington Post. May 6, 1997. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
^Evans, Greg (March 21, 1997). "Play On!: a musical has to work pretty hard to let such an inspired idea slip through the floorboards". Variety. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
^Grimes, William (April 18, 1997). "On Stage, and Off". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
^"Play On!". Playbill. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
^Jones, Kenneth (June 21, 2000). "Play On! Finds Its Way to Small Screen, on PBS, June 21". Playbill. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
play, musical, adaptation, shakespeare, twelfth, night, featuring, music, duke, ellington, conceived, sheldon, epps, with, book, cheryl, west, musical, resets, story, from, illyria, 1940s, swing, harlem, original, cast, recording, artworkmusicduke, ellingtonly. 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 resets the story from Illyria to 1940s Swing era Harlem 1 2 Play On Original Cast Recording ArtworkMusicDuke EllingtonLyricsVarious see below BookCheryl L WestBasisTwelfth Nightby William ShakespearePremiereSeptember 1996 1996 09 Old Globe Theatre San DiegoProductions1996 San Diego 1997 Broadway Premiering at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego the production was moved to Broadway at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre in 1997 The later production received three nominations at the 51st Tony Awards including for lead performances for both Tonya Pinkins and Andre De Shields and for Best Orchestrations to Luther Henderson 3 Contents 1 Production history 2 Synopsis 3 Cast 3 1 Original casts of notable productions 4 Musical numbers 5 Awards and nominations 5 1 Original Broadway production 6 References 7 External linksProduction history editThe original production conceived by director Sheldon Epps premiered in San Diego at the Old Globe Theatre in September 1996 After 19 previews it opened on Broadway on March 20 1997 at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre where it ran for 61 performances 4 5 The cast included Tonya Pinkins Andre De Shields Carl Anderson Yvette Cason and Angela Robinson 6 An original cast recording was released on May 20 1997 on Varese Sarabande A 1999 production of Play On at the Pasadena Playhouse was recorded for the PBS series Great Performances 7 From September 2024 to February 2025 Talawa Theatre Company plans to present the musical directed by Michael Buffong expected to open at the Belgrade Theatre Coventry before touring to Everyman Theatre Liverpool Salisbury Playhouse Birmingham Hippodrome Lyric Theatre Hammersmith and Bristol Old Vic 8 Synopsis editVy 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 Lady Liv finds Vy man charming and a series of mistaken pairings results Meanwhile several of the performers at the Cotton Club 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 editOriginal casts of notable productions edit Character Broadway 1997 Duke Carl Anderson Miss Mary Yvette Cason Jester Andre De Shields Vy Cheryl Freeman Lady Liv Tonya Pinkins Rev Lawrence HamiltonMusical numbers editAct 1 Take the A Train Music and Lyrics by Billy Strayhorn Drop Me Off in Harlem Music by Duke Ellington Lyrics by Nick Kenny I ve Got to Be a Rug Cutter Music and Lyrics by Duke Ellington I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart Music and Lyrics by Duke Ellington Irving Mills Henry Nemo John Redmond C Jam Blues Music by Duke Ellington Mood Indigo Music and Lyrics by Duke Ellington Irving Mills Albany Bigard Don t Get Around Much Anymore Music by Duke Ellington Lyrics by Bob Russell Don t You Know I Care Music by Duke Ellington Lyrics by Mack David It Don t Mean a Thing If It Ain t Got That Swing Music by Duke Ellington Lyrics by Irving Mills I Got It Bad and That Ain t Good from Jump For Joy Music by Duke Ellington Lyrics by Paul Francis Webster Hit Me With a Hot Note and Watch Me Bounce Music by Duke Ellington Lyrics by Don George I m Just a Lucky So and So Music by Duke Ellington Lyrics by Mack David Everything But You Music and Lyrics by Duke Ellington Don George Harry James Solitude Music and Lyrics by Duke Ellington Eddie DeLange Irving Mills Act 2 Black Butterfly Music and Lyrics by Duke Ellington Ben Carruthers Irving Mills I Ain t Got Nothin But the Blues Music by Duke Ellington Lyrics by Don George I m Beginning to See the Light Music by Duke Ellington Don George Harry James Johnny Hodges I Got It Bad and That Ain t Good reprise I Didn t Know About You Music by Duke Ellington Lyrics by Bob Russell Rocks in My Bed Music and Lyrics by Duke Ellington Something to Live For Music by Duke Ellington Lyrics by Billy Strayhorn Love You Madly Music and Lyrics by Duke Ellington Prelude to a Kiss Music and Lyrics by Duke Ellington Irving Gordon Irving Mills In a Mellow Tone Music by Duke Ellington Lyrics by Milt Gabler Awards and nominations editOriginal Broadway production edit Year Award Category Nominee Result 1997 Tony Award Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical Andre DeShields Nominated Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical Tonya Pinkins Nominated Best Orchestrations Luther Henderson Nominated Drama Desk Award Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical Andre DeShields Nominated Drama League Award Outstanding Production of a Musical Play On NominatedReferences edit Viagas Robert April 21 1997 Playbill Critics Circle Your Reviews of Play On Playbill Retrieved January 25 2024 Play On Guide to Musical Theatre Retrieved 2013 01 24 The Life leads Tony Nominee The Washington Post May 6 1997 Retrieved January 25 2024 Evans Greg March 21 1997 Play On a musical has to work pretty hard to let such an inspired idea slip through the floorboards Variety Retrieved January 25 2024 Grimes William April 18 1997 On Stage and Off The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved January 25 2024 Play On Playbill Retrieved January 25 2024 Jones Kenneth June 21 2000 Play On Finds Its Way to Small Screen on PBS June 21 Playbill Retrieved January 25 2024 Play On Talawa Retrieved 2024 02 19 External links edit Play On at the Internet Broadway Database Play On at IMDb nbsp Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Play On amp oldid 1209041505, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
