Sunrise, New York City, April 1876. Wall Street (Prelude). Business Men gather to discuss the morning headlines (Good Old Days). Richard Hunter (Ragged Dick), asleep in a box, is awakened by a neighborhood cop. Soon after, joined by a first-time bootblack (Foswell), Dick presents his sales pitch (Shine). After being insulted by a customer, Dick encounters Allen Carlisle, a well-dressed gentleman. Dick learns that Carlisle was once a bootblack just like himself (Respectable). By serendipitous circumstance, Dick gets a job in a haberdashery (Silas Snobden, Inc.). Dick meets Luke Gerrish, his stepfather, fresh out of prison. Gerrish’s philosophy is clearly different from Dick’s (Cock and Bull). A young woman, Stacia Jane Hauser, makes her way home to the man she loves (Maybe Today). Dick takes his new friend Foswell to dinner at the Wall Street Saloon where they manage to convince the young bucks there that they are wealthy entrepreneurs (Put Your Money In). High on their success at the saloon, the boys make a deal (Partners). Now that he has a proper job, Dick needs a proper place to live. He meets Mrs. Mooney, boarding house proprietress (The Room). Weeks pass. Lunchtime. Dick is being tutored by Foswell and on his way to open his first bank account. Snobden, Allen Carlisle and the entire town give him advice (Keeping Up with the Times). The three characters at Snobden’s store reveal their true feelings about Dick (A Hardworking Boy). Carlisle offers Dick a second job as companion to his son Rob. It’s July 4th and the three go to Union Square to join in the Centennial festivities (Look How Far We've Come). Much happens there, but the big event is the kidnapping of Rob Carlisle by Gerrish. As the first act curtain falls, the crowd is celebrating as Dick discovers Rob is missing.