Even though the new theater season is just beginning, the Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe’s elegant production of the Duke Ellington musical celebration “Sophisticated Ladies” already looks to be one of the highlights.

From the moment music director and band leader Carl Haan hits the downbeat for the rousing overture through the vibrant finale of “It Don’t Mean a Thing,” the production takes the audience on a swinging, singing and dance-filled journey through the magical music of one of the nation’s most important composers of jazz music and popular song.

The production, seen at the final preview performance Oct. 15, features a group of strong singers and enthusiastic dancers who combine to make each number exciting. Director and star Jim Weaver, who also plays the smooth and suave lead singer, gives a focus or story to each song.

Choreographer Monessa Salley, best known as a performer with Sarasota Contemporary Dance, keeps the cast moving with a lot of tap routines and sequences that encompass swing, jitterbug and other jazzy moves that were popular during Ellington’s musical run from the 1920s through early 1970s. 

Once “Sophisticated Ladies” takes off, it rarely slows down. In the first act, it’s about 30 minutes before the tempo softens briefly for a tender version of “Solitude.” But it doesn’t stay that way for long.

You’d expect the cast members to be too breathless to keep dancing and singing, but the voices never waver, even as they’re constantly reappearing in one of the dozens of costumes created by Suwatana “Pla” Rockland. They include spangly 1920s flapper dresses, elaborate Cotton Club showgirl outfits, and even a touch of the flower-power brightness of the 1960s, with the women dancing in tall white boots to “Imagine My Frustration.”

Haan leads a seven-person band that sounds much larger, performing more than two dozen songs that Ellington either composed or popularized. There isn’t a bad number in the show, and many of the cast members can make you believe the songs were written just for them.

Weaver has been absent from the Sarasota stage for many years while working as a director and instructor at Westcoast Black Theatre (and elsewhere), and he makes a welcome return. He sings with a warm and rich voice, accompanied by a beaming personality. He plays dashing, rakish or playful with equal skill while singing “Love You Madly,” “Take the A Train,” "Something to Live For,” "Sophisticated Lady” and “I’m Beginning to See the Light."

Jazzmin Carson continues to show broader vocal range and acting abilities in each new WBTT production. Here, she plays an angry, slightly pouty, girlfriend during “I’m Checking Out Goom’bye,” sultry and torchy diva during “In a Sentimental Mood” and then she’s a high-energy flirt for “It Don’t Mean a Thing.

Leon S. Pitts II and WBTT newcomer Dawn Derow play an off-again, on-again or would-be couple in a few fun duets, the comical “Bli-Blip” and the more tender “Satin Doll” and “Just Squeeze Me.”

There are also impressive dancers who sing (or vice versa) including Jocelyn Darci Trimmer, Kristen Grace Brown, Marcel Joshua and Jeff Gallup. In one segment, Trimmer oozes personality while seductively writhing around the stage while Brown sings “Solitude,” and then Trimmer quickly changes costumes and joins Weaver to sing a combination of “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore” and “Song Out of My Heart.” Gallup’s feet seem to fly across the stage when he’s tapping, and Joshua is slinky as a leopard while cavorting with several showgirls during “The Mooch.”

They are all backed by a large dance ensemble that performs spirited routines in support of the singers or on their own, like “Caravan” and “Echoes of Harlem.” They combine somersaults, flips and twirls, and the men pull their partners through their legs and up in the air as if everyone is weightless.

Scenic designer Harlan Penn has created a playing space with a large open floor and a circular platform surrounding the band adjoining two staircases, which lighting designer Michael Pasquini lights up in shifting colors to set different moods. It gives Weaver, Salley and a variety of ways to use the stage so the show keeps flowing as your feet keep tapping.

“Sophisticated Ladies,” featuring the music of Duke Ellington and based on a concept by Donald McKayle. Directed by Jim Weaver, choreographed by Monessa Salley. Reviewed Oct. 16. Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe, 1012 N. Orange Ave., Sarasota. Tickets are $60, $25 for students and active military. Through Nov. 22. westcoastblacktheatre.org; 941-366-1505