Amos Babcock Bellamy (Joel Grey) and Ben Hucklebee (Brad Sullivan) scheme to get their respective children, Luisa (Jean Louisa Kelly) and Matt (Joey McIntyre), to fall in love.

When their plan works, they enlist the aid of El Gallo (Jonathon Morris), the proprietor of a traveling carnival, to put an end to their supposed disagreement in a manner which will not reveal their deception.

El Gallo pretends to kidnap Luisa with the help of his troupe, which includes elderly Shakespearean actor Henry Albertson (Barnard Hughes) and his mute sidekick Mortimer (Teller), and arranges for Matt to rescue her.

The couple settles into what they anticipate will be domestic bliss, but through the eyes of El Gallo and company they see the harsh realities of the world, and their innocent romanticism is replaced by a more mature understanding of love.

[1] The theatrical production traditionally is performed on a bare stage with two-piece musical accompaniment, while the film adaptation transposed the action to the farm country of the 1920s American West, affecting a look similar to Oklahoma!, and most of the songs were rearranged for a full orchestra.

The film was completed in 1995 and scheduled for a Thanksgiving release, but executives at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, discouraged by indifferent preview audience response, lost faith in the project and shelved it.

Joe McIntyre, of New Kids on the Block, and Jean Louisa Kelly catch just the right note of youthful yearning in their voices...even as the movie threatens to derail, the charm of the score...keeps breaking through.