SYNOPSIS:  When the curtain rises on The Unsinkable Molly Brown, Molly Tobin is being wrestled to the ground by her brothers. But she not only refuses to holler "Uncle!", she tells the boys that she is going to be rich and famous (I Ain't Down Yet). She leaves home, walking all the way from Missouri to Leadville, Colorado, where she finds work as a singer-pianist at the Saddle Rock Saloon, with a repertoire of one song (Belly Up To The Bar, Boys). When a handsome miner named Johnny Brown begins to tease her, a fight breaks out; within three weeks, though, he proposes to her (I've A'ready Started In). He has plans for them (I'll Never Say No), and Molly begins to weaken when she sees what he already has to offer her (My Own Brass Bed).  

Johnny disappears for a week after their wedding, then returns suddenly with a fortune he made from a mine. Molly hides the money in the stove and a drunken Johnny burns it, but he's convinced he can make more. He soon becomes the richest miner in Colorado, and the newly rich Mr. and Mrs. J.J. Brown decide to scale the carefully guarded heights of Denver society (The Denver Police). Molly and Johnny crash a party at the home of Mrs. McGlone, their new neighbor (Bea-u-ti-ful People Of Denver). The beautiful people are appalled and they even resist her plea to give to the local church (Are You Sure?). Molly invites them all to a party at her house. When none of them shows up, she and Johnny take the suggestion of their one new friend, Msgr. Ryan: They'll go to Europe and buy them some class (I Ain't Down).

The second act begins several years later in Paris, where Molly delights continental society from her salon (Happy Birthday, Mrs. J.J. Brown). Prince DeLong applauds her newfound skill at foreign languages (Bon Jour). But Molly still wants to humiliate the Denver parvenus who turned up their noses at her, and she invites her regal friends to return home with her. A miserable Johnny looks on, disturbed by what has happened to Molly, whom he still loves (If I Knew). He tries to keep up with her after the return to Denver (Chick-A-Pen). The big party has the desired effect, until some of the Leadville crowd turns up and the raucous scene ruins Molly's revenge. She returns to Europe with Prince DeLong, but Johnny refuses to follow. He goes back to Leadville where he fails to convince his old friends that he's happy (Keep-A-Hoppin' / Leadville Johnny Brown).

In Monte Carlo, where the party never ends (Up Where The People Are), Prince DeLong proposes to Molly, who nearly accepts (Dolce Far Niente / I May Never Fall In Love With You). But she realizes she loves Johnny and can't enjoy life without him. She books passage on the luxurious Titanic to get back to Johnny as soon as possible. The ship sinks, but Molly doesn't, and she rushes back to Leadville, where Johnny waits for her (I Ain't Down Yet) as the curtain falls.

HISTORY: Four of Meredith Willson's great songs were used to make up the Overture: "Belly Up to the Bar, Boys"; "I Ain't Down Yet"; "I'll Never Say No"; and "Colorado, My Home".