Act I:
There’s a party at Delray’s, an underground African-American Rock and Roll bar in 1950’s Memphis (“Underground”). Huey Calhoun, a white man, arrives on the scene. The regulars begin to leave, but Huey convinces them to stay, claiming he is there for the music (“The Music of My Soul”). Later, Huey is about to be fired from his job as a stock boy at a local department store, but he makes a deal with the owner – if he can sell 5 records by playing them over the speakers, he can have a sales job. Huey plays a Rock and Roll hit (“Scratch My Itch”). He sells 29 records in a matter of minutes, but the store owner fires him anyway, incensed at the type of music being played.

Huey returns to Delray’s club, and begins flirting with Felicia, Delray’s talented sister, and promises to get her on the radio (“Ain’t Nothin’ But a Kiss”). Huey then proceeds to apply for DJ jobs at various local white radio stations. One of the owners, Mr. Simmons, invites him in, saying he’ll show him what a ‘real’ DJ looks like. Huey hijacks the mic, and plays another African-American rock song (“Everybody Wants to be Black on Saturday Night”). Mr. Simmons is about to have Huey thrown out, but then dozens of teenagers start calling in demanding more of Huey and his music. Mr. Simmons agrees to give him a two week trial, and if he’s successful he’ll get hired full time. After a few days Huey is told to read an advertisement for beer, but he is illiterate. Huey asks Bobby, a friend of Delray’s with a janitor position, to tell him what it says. He forgets the exact words almost immediately and begins to improvise, ending with the phrase “Hockadoo!”. Mr. Simmons again almost fires Huey, until the manager of the store advertised calls in saying that he wants Huey to do all of his advertisements, seeing as his stock sold out in minutes.

Huey’s station gains immediate popularity, as does his new catch phrase, even though no one understands what it means – including Huey. While on the radio, Huey encourages white people to go down to black churches (“Make Me Stronger”), and they begin to. Meanwhile, Delray has saved enough money to put Felicia’s voice on the record, and she travels to Huey’s house to tell him this. He is overjoyed and promises to play it the next day. Huey’s prejudiced mother, however, breaks the record, which leaves Felicia heartbroken, but Huey tells her to come down to the radio station anyway (“Colored Women”). The next day, Huey brings in a band and back-up singers to play for Felicia live. Despite her reservations, Felicia sings and becomes an instant sensation (“Someday”). Felicia and Huey’s relationship begins to grow, and Delray is becoming more and more infuriated with Huey. He warns him of the danger of what he is doing, threatening to harm Huey if anything happens to Felicia (“She’s My Sister”).