Sally is a musical comedy with music by Jerome Kern, lyrics by Clifford Grey and book by Guy Bolton (inspired by the 19th century show, Sally in our Alley), with additional lyrics by Buddy De Sylva, Anne Caldwell and P. G. Wodehouse.

The plot hinges on a mistaken identity: Sally, a waif, is a dishwasher at the Alley Inn in New York City.

She poses as a famous foreign ballerina and rises to fame (and finds love) through joining the Ziegfeld Follies.

The story combined the innocence of these earlier "Princess musicals" with the lavishness of the "Ziegfeld Follies" formula.

The show was designed as the musical comedy debut of Marilyn Miller, a 22-year-old Ziegfeld Follies girl.

[5] Miller was hired by the Warner Brothers to reprise her role at an extravagant sum (reportedly $1,000 an hour for a total of $100,000).