This night in September of 1934 is the biggest in the history of the Cleveland Grand Opera Company - world-famous tenor Tito Morelli is to perform Othello, his greatest role, at the gala season opener. Saunders, the General Manager, hopes this will put Cleveland on the operatic map. Morelli is late; when he finally sweeps in, it is too late to rehearse the company. Through a hilarious series of mishaps, Morelli is given a double dose of tranquilizers, and he passes out. His pulse is so low that Saunders and his assistant, Max, believe he is dead.

What to do? Saunders MUST have a tenor!

Max is an aspiring singer and Saunders persuades him to get into Morelli's Othello costume and try to fool the audience into thinking he's Morelli. Max succeeds admirably, but Morelli comes to and gets into his other costume. Now, two Othellos are running around in costume, and two women are running around in lingerie, each thinking she has successfully seduced Il Stupendo!

Ken Ludwig's farce is a door-slamming, dress-dropping sexual romp with mistaken identities, mischievous misunderstandings and compromising positions.