Everyone loves the classic “mistaken identity” plotline. You know, the one where  you wear  your twin brother’s clothes because you think he died when you were both shipwrecked, but you’re really a woman so when people think you’re a man and another woman starts to fall in love with you, you just go along with it.  Meanwhile, your twin bro thinks you’re the dead one and adopts a new identity but is wearing clothes that matches yours. There’s love. There’s betrayal.  Hijinx ensues! So that’s the gist of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, but MusicalFare’s production adds a killer score and one of the best ensemble casts you can imagine. In other words, “if music be the food of love, play on!”

Conceived by Kwame Kwei-Armah with outstanding music and lyrics by Shaina Taub (she also gave a contemporary version of As You Like It the same treatment), this show is pure fun from start to finish. There’s still some Elizabethan-speak for authenticity, but this is contemporary, fast-paced, and an absolute delight.

Director Susan Drozd gave the MusicalFare production a unique touch, too: Feste the fool (Maria Pedro) opens the show with an Emcee/warm up schtick that is actually quite charming. Better a witty fool than a foolish wit, indeed. Then she straps on an accordion (songwriter Taub’s instrument of choice) and the musical voyage to Illyria begins. First, the music. Taub’s score is great, with a funk-pop-jazz vibe that is totally ear-appealing. It’s the stuff that is in music director/keyboardist Theresa Quinn’s wheelhouse. Larry Albert, Jim Celese, John Maguda, Jimmy Runfola, and Jim Runfola kick in on guitar, drums, trumpet, bass, and reeds respectively. Add in some great trombone riffs from cast member Ricky Needham, too (watching him move and play and sing reminds me of watching Jimmy Pankow from iconic band Chicago). Stand out songs were the peppy “Word on the Street,” the heartfelt and hummable “This is My Beloved,” the absolute radio hit potential “Is This Not Love” and the 11-o’clock anthem “I Am She.”  

It’s truly a stellar cast with Gabriella Jean McKinley and her power-diva vocals as Viola, Augustus Donaldson twinning as Sebastian, Louis Colaicovo  as the malevolent Malvolio, Stevie Jackson, Lisette DeJesus, Thomas Evans, Alex Anthony Garcia, Christian Hines, Kristen-Marie Lopez, Nick Lama, Dave Spychalski, Ember Tate, and Daniel Torres, singing and dancing like nobody’s business. The sign language choreography (by Melissa VanOsch) was an unexpected and way cool touch to the closing numbers.

So dispel your recollection of 10^th grade honors English and forget about the straight-laced Elizabethan romps of past productions. This version of Twelfth Night is the one you’ll remember as you search through YouTube to find your favorite songs again. Hasten to make way to MusicalFare before it’s curtains on August 6: procure tickets at Musicalfare. Huzzah!

This is two hours with a 15-minute intermission to refill your MusicalFare sippy cup with the signature Toby cocktail (spoiler alert, it’s good).