(L to R) Ted Doolittle, Steven Fenley, Dylan Godwin, & Crystal O'Brien

Shakespeare's beguiling, sex-shifting romantic comedy Twelfth Night — with its immortal line: "If music be the food of love, play on!" — is a natural for musical adaptation; the play already sings. In previous musical versions, Your Own Thing (1968) rocked; Music Is (1976) soothed with easy-listening pop; and Play On (1997) incorporated jazz. For this 2002 incarnation, composer/lyricist/author Peter Mills lays on a contempo Broadway sound influenced by Sondheim and, to a greater extent, Jonathan Larsen of Rent fame. It's a sprightly, clever score, full of ideas, a few strained rhymes, one totally gorgeous torch song, "Save One," and a rousing comic number for prude Malvolio, who lets loose in "Malvolio's Tango." The music works beautifully for Shakespeare's tale of gender misidentity, as well as all the complexities of love that the Bard weaves with his poetic precision. Texas Rep's physical production is four-star all the way, from its fairy-tale set, silky lighting and sumptuous costumes to the game cast who give their all, especially Natalie Arneson as a young woman, Viola, masquerading as young Sebastian; Dylan Godwin as fey aristocrat Andrew Aguecheek; and Kregg Daily as Puritan incarnate Malvolio. Although the orchestra's amplification often overpowers the singers and there are a few scenes that could be excised without harming old Will's intentions, this musical is thoroughly entertaining and keeps the imminent death of the Broadway musical very much at bay. Play on, indeed!