Play On!

Play On! is a musical adaptation of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, featuring the music of Duke Ellington, with a book by Cheryl L. West. The musical resets the story in 1940s Harlem.

Production history

The 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. The cast included Tonya Pinkins, André De Shields, and Carl Anderson. An original cast recording was released on May 20, 1997 on Varèse Sarabande.

The book, by playwright Cheryl L. West, departs from Twelfth Night's usual setting of Illyria, resetting the play's action and characters in 1940s Swing-era Harlem.

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. Lady Liv finds Vy-man charming, and a series of mistaken pairings results.

Play On

Play On may refer to:

Play On (John Miles album)

Play On is the sixth solo album by John Miles released in 1983 via EMI label.

Overview

EMI promised that Miles would use a top producer and top session musicians for his second album for EMI.

Eventually they chose Gus Dudgeon who had worked with artists like Elton John, Chris Rea and Elkie Brooks. Originally, the album was planned to be released in 1982, but because Dudgeon was not available at the time, the release was delayed.

It was also the first time that drummer Barry Black and bassist Bob Marshall were not used on the album. (Although Marshall still wrote the songs with Miles) Instead they were replaced by session musicians. "The Right to Sing" was the first single released from the album and was written about the fact that record companies wanted to decide which songs Miles had to release and which direction he had to take.

"That's Rock 'n' Roll" was left off the album, because it was too different and was released as a B-side.

Track listing

All songs written by Bob Marshall and John Miles