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A successful community theatre company is turned upside down when the director of an upcoming production of "Cyrano" casts an inexperienced young man with no apparent talent in the lead. The young man, Peter Rooker (Marcus Thomas), soon becomes caught up in the various intrigues of the "theater people," including the charming but mercurial Michael (John Corbett), the beautiful leading lady Grace (Amy Smart), and a colorful cast of eccentric players (including Sean Astin, Patty Duke and Alan Corduner). Peter soon discovers that in the world of theater the normal rules do not apply–but in the end there is a role for everyone.
It's the 1660s, and Edward 'Ned' Kynaston is England's most celebrated leading lady. Women are forbidden to appear on stage and Ned profits, using his beauty and skill to make the great female roles his own. But Charles II is tired of seeing the same old performers in the same old tragedies. Since no one will take him up on his suggestion to improve 'Othello' with a couple of good jokes, he decides to liven the royal palate by allowing real women to tread the boards. In a slightly less progressive spirit, he rules that men may no longer play women's parts. This is good news for the monarch's mistress, the saucy, stage-struck Nell Gwyn. It is also good news for Maria, Kynaston's lovelorn young dresser who has been secretly performing at the Cockpit Theatre in lavish costumes borrowed from her employer. It is very bad news for Ned who plummets from his exalted position as one of London's most desirable females to become a virtual nobody, virtually overnight. Cast out of the spotlight, Ned seems headed for the end of the pier until Maria, now a rising star, takes it upon herself to make a man of him again.