Sweethearts Max and Maggie are holed up in a Cleveland, Ohio, hotel suite anxiously awaiting the arrival of world-famous Italian tenor Signor Tito Merelli, known to legions of fans as Il Stupendo. The appearance of the opera star in the evening's performance of "Otello" will be the highlight of the Cleveland Grand Opera Co.'s most important fundraiser for the 1934 season. When a tiff between Tito and his hot-headed wife, Maria, appears to have driven the slumbering star to snuff it. Maria's "Dear John" letter is mistaken for Tito's suicide note the company stands to lose. $50,000 in ticket sales. That is unless they can find a way for the dead singer to deliver the performance of his life!