The show begins in the theatre where there is a Shakespearean play, Othello, in progress. Due to the recent gold strike Virtue City is full of rogues and gold diggers. As you can imagine they are not exactly Shakespeare fans. When the cast refuse to go on with the play because of the crowd's terrible manner, they get nasty and begin to take potshots at the actors demanding they go on with the show or give them their money back. They continue with their performance that night but have to cancel the production. When Britt Ponset runs in to his old friend Archie Plunket and his wife, owners of the theater company that was forced to cancel, unexpected turns means he, Britt Ponset - the Six Shooter, ends up treading the boards in a Shakespeare production being put on for none other than P. T. Barnum!