Some of D.C.’s most memorable productions of the past few years have been born from unlikely pairings—take, for example, the combination of ballet and hip-hop in The Hip Hop Nutcracker or Step Afrika!’s remounted The Migration: Reflections on Jacob Lawrence, which blended step dancing and visual art. Now, Signature Theatre joins that trend with its season opener, Play On! Fusing William Shakespeare and jazz, the musical dazzles by taking the story of Twelfth Night and setting it to the sounds of D.C.-born composer Duke Ellington.

Play On!, conceived by Sheldon Epps with a book by Cheryl L. West, weaves Ellington’s music so seamlessly with Shakespeare’s plot that viewers leave convinced that the jazz great’s compositions were not only meant to be performed, but dramatized. Director Lili-An

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