Sills, who earned his Tony nom for The Scarlet Pimpernel, is the bloodthirsty title character, opposite Kelly McGillis as Lady Macbeth, under the direction of he DC troupe's artistic director, Michael Kahn. Performances play Aug. 31-Oct. 24.

With the so-called "Scottish Play," The Shakespeare Theatre "explores one of the most profound studies of evil ever written," according to the company's announcement. "Storms rage, fires burn and night blankets the earth in this tale of sound and fury, which follows the fall of the once-noble Macbeth and his ambitious lady.  With writing so poetically rich it is deemed operatic, Macbeth gives us a king with an insatiable lust for power and no chance against fate."

This marks The Shakespeare Theatre debut of Sills. Though known for musicals such as the Reprise! concert version of Mack and Mabel, the national tour of Into the Woods and workshops of When You Wish and The Gondoliers, Sills has also clocked time in classics, including turns in Othello, Cymbeline, The Winter's Tale, Major Barbara and The Seagull for California Shakespeare Festival. He appeared as Carl Magnus in the Kennedy Center run of A Little Night Music.

McGillis (of Hollywood's "Witness," "Top Gun" and "The Accused") returns to the company, having played As You Like It, Mourning Becomes Electra, Twelfth Night, Merchant of Venice, Measure for Measure, Much Ado About Nothing and The Duchess of Malfi there.

Designers will be Linda Cho (costumes, in a Jacobean style), John Coyne (set) and Michael Chibowski (lighting). The Shakespeare Theatre's current attraction is Cyrano de Bergerac, directed by Kahn, to Aug. 1. For more information, visit www.shakespearedc.org.

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The Shakespeare Theatre's 2004-05 season includes Shakespeare's Pericles, Alfred de Musset's Lorenzaccio, Shakespeare's The Tempest and Oscar Wilde's Lady Windermere's Fan.