So that's what all the fuss was about! Harlequin has staged its homegrown production of A Rock ‘n' Roll Twelfth Night four times before, but not since 2003, five years before I arrived in Washington. I'd heard glowing reviews of the show and even listened to its entertaining CD, but Friday marked my first time seeing it in person. It deserves local-legendary status.

If you're new to the show as well, be advised it quotes plenty of Elizabethan language from Shakespeare's original text, then seasons it with a drizzle of "baby"s and "man"s. It jars the first time that gives way to pop, rock or, in one early number, reggae, but the vibe soon feels right at home. As we make our way through "the land of Dyleria" (what-no Dylan?), we encounter Jake Blues as Toby Belch, Little Richard as Andrew Aguecheek, and a Duke who looks suspiciously like the King of Rock and Roll.

I should note here I've met Little Richard. He and I used to frequent the same Hollywood post office. Rest assured, when Little Richard goes to the post office, he arrives and waits in line as Little Richard. ("Ooooooh, shut up! I'd like a book of regular stamps, please.") And while no one but Little Richard could ever be Little Richard, Miguel Pineda's Aguecheek comes close enough to make me happy.

It helps that I know Shakespeare's Twelfth Night back and forth, having played the Captain, Feste and Sir Toby Belch in years past. If that weren't true, I'm not sure I could've followed the setup for "The Letter," though I probably would've figured it out in retrospect. And yes, some impersonations work better than others. Christian Doyle looks but doesn't sound much like John Lennon. I missed Lennon's Liverpudlian cadence, which Shakespeare's text would've supported. If not for Gina Marie Russell's costume as Maria, I could never have guessed she was riffing on Janis Joplin. But when Feste says, "Two faults, madonna," to Olivia, guess who Olivia looks like? It must've given lyricist/director Scot Whitney and composer/conductor/brother Bruce Whitney a geeky thrill when they made that connection. It did for me as well.

The costumes, by Darren Mills, are dynamite, especially Orsino's full-body leather. Stacie Pinkney Calkins unloads one hammer of a voice as Viola. (My wife, a trained singer, praised, "I hate her.") Josh Krupke exudes classist smarm as Malvolio, and I may have never seen a better example of casting than Mark Alford as Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols-er, Antonio of the Sex Pirates. Rotten's giddy irascibility is deployed to perfection.

Stir in first-rate work from Kody Bringman as Elvis/Orsino, Gabriel McClelland as Jake/Toby, Bruce Whitney and his furious four, and the result is one kick-ass entertainment. Rock on, Dylerians. This is one of the best shows of 2014.

A ROCK ‘N' ROLL TWELFTH NIGHT, 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, through July 26, Harlequin Productions, 202 4th Ave. E., Olympia, $25-$38, 360.786.0151