MTI musical · Full-length
Hello! My BabyScript, Piano/Vocal Score & show details
- Full-length · 2 acts
- Flexible cast size
- Roles: 6 women · 7 men + ensemble
- PG
The printed Hello! My Baby script comes with your MTI license. The digital version is a separate add-on for your whole cast and crew. See pricing
Hello! My Baby synopsis
From debutante balls to Delancey Street, Hello! My Baby reboots the greatest hits of Irving Berlin, The Gershwins, Eubie Blake and more, weaving their updated classics and fresh, new tunes into a comic valentine set on the gritty sidewalks of New York at the turn of the last century. From Emmy Award winner, Cheri Steinkellner (Sister Act), comes a hysterical romantic farce that is fun for all ages.
Mickey McKee, teen King of the Song-Pluggers, dreams of writing the next crackerjack million-selling hit-song. Only he can't write a note... until he meets Betty Gold, a seamstress in a factory, who is bursting with music and moxie. She becomes Mickey's partner/sweetheart/arch-nemesis when she pulls on the trousers that she once sewed to be named the new King of the Pluggers. As they navigate first love, class-struggles, social reform, street-gangs, tap-shoes and ukuleles, Mickey, Betty and company make Tin Pan Alley sing and dance again, selling the songs that we're all still humming a hundred years later.
Written specifically with young performers in mind, Hello! My Baby is a perfect choice for high schools or theatre academies. There are tons of featured roles, classic songs and rousing dance numbers creating an infectious toe-tapping, hum-along musical.
Full synopsis
Act One
Tin Pan song-plugger, Mickey McKee, dreams of writing a million-seller hit tune to become the next Irving Berlin ("Plugger's Prologue"). The only trouble is that he can't write a note... not until he teams with Betty Gold, a feisty Jewish sweatshop worker who happens to be a musical demon. Together, they makebeautiful music ("Play a Simple Melody"), writing a song that Mickey thinks could sell a million and save the orphaned Gold sisters' Delancey Street Music Hall from the constant threats of Johnny Giovanni's street gang, as well as land baron, Stanford J. Tierney, who plans to demolish their Lower East Side block to build skyscrapers.
Betty yearns to fulfill her beloved Papa's dying dream – to write and sell songs ("I'm Always Chasing Rainbows"), but, as she quickly learns from Ethel Coots, a tough female music publisher, song- plugging is a male-dominated field ("A Good Man Is Hard to Find"). Undaunted, Betty dons the trousers that she once sewed to hit the streets as Buddy O'Reilly.
Betty's disguise may fool the Gangs of New York ("Oh, Johnny, Oh!"), but, when Buddy wins Mickey's job in a fierce Plug-Off ("Ja-Da"), becoming the new King of the Pluggers, an intense rivalry ensues ("Some of These Days").
Mickey, clueless that his best girl and worst enemy are the same person, finds himself tricked by fate into collaborating with Buddy on a new waltz for the debutante ball of Stanford J. Tierney's sweet granddaughter, Alice ("Alice Blue Gown").
At Alice's Ball, romantic farce unfolds as Mickey woos Betty, Alice woos Buddy and Alice's Yalie brother, Junior Tierney, wins the favor of Betty's hardworking sister, Frances ("If You Were the Only Girl in the World"). But, romance fizzles, and the ball falls apart when the Gold sisters are unceremoniously booted from the restricted club, leaving Mickey in the lurch when his partner Buddy mysteriously disappears along with his girl, Betty.
Act Two
The second act opens ("After the Ball"), with Mickey and Junior waking the Delancey Street neighbors in their attempt to win back Betty and Frances ("Hello! MyBaby"). Tierney arrives, infuriated, and forbids Junior to return to the Lower East Side. Betty tries to tell Mickey the truth about Buddy's identity, but a hotheaded misunderstanding leaves Mickey believing that Betty can never love him because she's in love with Buddy ("I Don't Care")!
To save his wounded pride, Mickey gets mixed up with Johnny Giovanni's gang ("Ballin' the Jack"), and Mickey and Buddy must now come up with a new song to save their lives ("My Buddy / I Ain't Got Nobody"), Junior must deliver the Gold sisters an eviction notice and Frances must convince the neighbors to occupy Delancey Street so they won't end up homeless ("Ain't We Got Fun").
Facing heartbreak and ruin, all decide "There'll Be Some Changes Made." Junior cashes in his trust, Tierney hires Johnny's gang to torch the neighborhood. Johnny strong-arms Mickey into doing his dirty work and Buddy rescues Mickey with a song, unwittingly revealing "his" true identity ("You Made Me LoveYou").
Mickey at last sees Betty for who she, as love wins the day, the kids save the neighborhood, songs get published, dreams come true and a crackerjack sing-along brings everyone together ("Hello! My Baby").
Synopsis courtesy of Music Theatre International (MTI).
Hello! My Baby characters & vocal ranges
The Hello! My Baby musical has 14 named roles plus an ensemble, and the cast size is flexible. Many roles can be cast across gender. ‘Written as’ reflects how MTI lists each role.
| Character | Written as | Vocal range | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Albie And Artie Coots | Male | C5–B2 | Brothers. Mama's boys who long to bring the old-fashioned family music-publishing business into the 1900s. Baritones/ with strong falsetto, must hold tight harmonies. |
| Alice Tierney | Female | Not listed | A whimsical debutante who falls for Ned. Sweet lyric soprano. |
| Bert Coots | Male | E4–Bb2 | A mild-mannered milquetoast who loves Gilbert and Sullivan. Solid character baritone, and fast-patter (Modern Major General). |
| Betty Gold / Buddy O'reilly | Female | G5–G3 | A feisty teen factory-worker who passes as a boy to plug Tin Pan Alley tunes. Strong comedy required, a belter who can sound like a boy. Prototype: A young Judy Garland. |
| Dickie The Duck And Kid Vicious | Male | A4–D3 | Johnny's henchmen. Strong and funny character types with strong movement - tumbling an asset! Character Baritones. |
| Ethel Coots | Female | A4–A3 | The pants in the Coots family and boss at Coots Classics Music Publishing. Strong belter, Sophie Tucker/Merman sound. |
| Featured Ensemble | Any | Not listed | May be played by as few as 4-6 actors, with doubling - or parts may be split to feature many more: Pickle Seller, Sausage Man, Apple Seller, Male Song-Pluggers, Female Customer, Music Publishers, Neighbors, Debutantes and their Dates, Beekman Club Band-Leader, Beekman Club Bouncer, Radio Crooner. |
| Frances Gold | Female | A5–G3 | Plainspoken, hardworking eldest Gold sister, who discovers her romantic side with a young uptown gentleman. Strong belt/mix. |
| Johnny Giovanni | Male | E4–A2 | A teen mug from Five Points, who, due to a childhood accident, speaks in rhyme. Character baritone. |
| Junior Tierney | Male | G4–B2 | A Yale-man who finds the depth of his love on the Lower East Side. Lyric baritone - legit, but not operatic. |
| Marie | Female | Not listed | Johnny's mail-order bride, fresh off the boat from Sicily. Belt/mix. |
| Mickey Mckee | Male | A4–Ab4 | Brash and funny Bowery street-kid who dreams of becoming the next Irving Berlin; in love with Betty and fierce rivals with her alter-ego, Buddy. Juvenile tenor. Young Mickey Rooney |
| Stanford J. Tierney | Male | F4–C3 | Grandfather of Junior and Alice, a rich and powerful land baron who threatens the Gold's neighborhood with demolition. |
| Violet Gold | Female | D5–B3 | The baby in the Gold family, irrepressible with a strong belt/mix. |
Hello! My Baby song list
- Plugger's Prologue
- Play a Simple Melody
- I'm Always Chasing Rainbows
- Modern Major General/Three Little Maids
- A Good Man is Hard to Find
- Oh, Johnny, Oh!
- Three Little Maids
- Ja-Da
- Alice Blue Gown
- If You Were The Only Girl in the World
- Hello My Baby!
- I Don't Care
- I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise
- Ballin the Jack
- You d Be Surprised
- My Buddy/I Ain t Got Nobody
- Ain't We Got Fun
- There ll Be Some Changes Made
- You Made Me Love You/Finale
How to get the Hello! My Baby script & Piano/Vocal Score
The printed materials come with your MTI license. The digital version is an add-on that gives your whole cast and crew immediate access. See what that looks like
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Delivered through ProductionPro, MTI’s exclusive digital delivery partner. Looking for a free Hello! My Baby script PDF? The script comes with your MTI license, so it isn’t available on its own.
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