Based on Kass's teleplay for the 1975 Emmy Award-winning television drama Queen of the Stardust Ballroom starring Maureen Stapleton, the plot focuses on lonely widow Bea Asher, who becomes romantically involved with Alfred Rossi, a mail carrier she meets at the local dance hall.

Her dream of a happily-ever-after relationship is shattered when she discovers Alfred hasn't been as honest about his personal life as she thought.

When her friend Angie urges her to get out of the shop and start living again and suggests that she visit a local dance hall, the Stardust Ballroom, Bea agrees.

Like the other regulars, Al shakes off the tedium and the fear of daily life by dancing, and he spins Bea through cha-cha, merengue, waltz and, finally, a foxtrot.

At the junk shop, Bea realises her plans to go back to the Stardust that evening conflict with an earlier promise to baby-sit for her daughter, Diane.

When Diane tries to insist, Bea makes it clear that she has begun a new chapter in her life and that the ballroom will take priority.

When she appears, she is no longer gray-haired and simply dressed, but has dyed her hair red and wears a beautiful gown.

Finally, as everyone departs, Al arrives, all apologies, but even though Bea thinks she has accepted that this is how things must be, she feels afraid and vulnerable.

After eleven previews, the Broadway production, directed and choreographed by Michael Bennett, opened on December 14, 1978 at the Majestic Theatre, where it ran for 116 performances.