Bring on that polar vortex. “Hot Mikado” at Hope Summer Repertory Theatre will keep the lakeshore warm.

Talk about a sizzling show! That’s not stage fog adding a dreamy atmosphere to the oriental setting. The stage is smoking from all that tap dancing and jitterbugging! Whew! Tires you out just watching all that activity!

It’s enough to wake up Gilbert and Sullivan!

“Hot Mikado” is a 1986 jazz/swing adaptation of Gilbert and Sullivan’s most popular 19th century comic operetta. The story is basically the same. The Mikado (Churaqui Mosley) has decreed flirting to be a capital crime. But so many people were getting executed that the town of Titipu decided the next person scheduled to be executed, Ko-Ko (Dwight Tolar), should be Lord High Executioner. He can’t execute anyone if he’s top on the list. His side-kick, Pooh-Bah (Chip DuFord), takes over all the other government titles so he can rubber stamp anything.

The son of the Mikado comes to town disguised as a musician, Nanki-Poo (Thomas Joscelyn), looking for his love, YumYum (Taylor Harvey), who is about to marry her guardian, KoKo. In a plot twist only W.S. Gilbert could come up with, KoKo agrees to let Nanki-Poo marry Yum Yum if Nanki-Poo agrees to be the required execution victim a month later. But the nuptials are threatened by Katisha (Sierra White), an older vamp who wants Nanki Poo.

Never mind that the adaptation uses the fashions, music and dance of the 1940s in a Japan with no threat of World War II.

All the plot absurdities are swept away in one fantastic ensemble dance number after another. Joscelyn offers a great tap dance introduction when Nanki-Poo arrives. Later, others in the ensemble put on their tap shoes as well. More than once the ensemble rubber legs in unison. The Gentlemen of Japan juggle their hats up and down their arms. But the most breath taking dancing is the ensemble jitterbug and lindy hop, tossing partners over shoulders and landing on the floor in splits. Excellent fun. Who needs “Dancing with the Stars?”

The seven-piece onstage band features lots of big band brass and swing beat. With these orchestrations, it’s hard to imagine this music bears any resemblance to Arthur Sullivan’s original score, even though the song list is similar. “The Three Little Maids” is sung in perfect Andrews Sisters harmony.

Hope favorite Chip DuFord does an excellent job with the multiple personalities of the great Pooh-Bah. Tolar’s KoKo is also very funny, especially with his oversized glasses and epaulettes.

I love a theatrical set that takes my breath away, and this one does. It’s the basic red Japanese bridge and arch, accented with over-sized fans. But when the second act opens, a wall of Japanese lanterns is lowered. The lanterns take on various color schemes creating wonderful effects. Kudos to Brian Bembridge (scenic design) and Stephen Sakowski (lighting design). And another nod to costume designer Kristen P. Ahern for the bold pink and purple and yellow Zoot suits and a wraparound wedding dress that combines kimono and ’40s styles.

I must admit I was worried about this show in the beginning. The opening number sounded flat, and one of the singers alternating in a three-part song didn’t have his microphone on. But once everyone got over opening night jitters, the show soared at a break-neck pace. To quote the finale, sung with the crowd clapping along with revival enthusiasm, “Joy! Joy! Joy!”