Before graduating from Danhurst College, a group of friends, known as the Muppets, perform their original stage musical, Manhattan Melodies, at the senior class variety show. During the curtain call, fellow students applaud enthusiastically and someone shouts out that the musical should be on Broadway. The show’s lead actor and playwright, Kermit the Frog, thanks the audience for their support. Backstage, the Muppets embrace the idea of being on Broadway, but Kermit is worried the script is not good enough. The ambitious Miss Piggy, Kermit’s girl friend and leading lady, argues that being on Broadway would give them enough money to get married, while the rest of the troupe reminds Kermit they have no other plans after graduation. Arriving at the bus terminal in New York City, the Muppets sleep in the station lockers. They are confident the arrangement is only temporary as they anticipate being Broadway sensations very soon. However, the first producer they approach, Martin Price, is revealed to be a wanted con man named Murray Plotsky, who wants $300 from each of them before booking the show. Undeterred, the Muppets continue to knock on doors of other theatrical producers, but are repeatedly sent away. After several months of rejection, the friends have run out of money. As leader, Kermit feels responsible for the group, but the others express guilt for being a burden to him. At a luncheonette, Kermit explains their financial predicament to the owner, Pete, and offers to work for food. Both Pete and his daughter, Jenny, are sympathetic and prepare soup for the starving artists. However, the rest of the Muppets tell Kermit they are leaving town and go their separate ways to pursue other interests. After saying goodbye to Miss Piggy at the train station, Kermit is alone in Manhattan, but remains optimistic that he can sell the musical and bring his friends back. He persuades Pete to give him a job at the diner, and asks Jenny, an aspiring fashion designer, to create a costume that will help him pass as an experienced theatrical agent. However, the wig, gold chain, and fast-talking performance fails to convince anyone. Meanwhile, Miss Piggy has secretly returned to Manhattan and spies on Kermit. Watching him in the company of Jenny, Miss Piggy can barely control her jealous rage. Back at the diner, Kermit reads letters from his Muppet friends, such as Fozzie the Bear and Scooter, and dreams of reuniting the troupe. For the next phase of his plan, called the “whispering campaign,” Kermit dresses as a rich Broadway impresario and arrives at Sardi’s, the famous restaurant in the Theater District known for the caricatures of show-business personalities on its walls. Kermit replaces entertainer Liza Minnelli’s caricature with his own and enlists the Rats, his colleagues from the diner, to hide underneath the tables and whisper among the patrons about “the hottest show coming to Broadway, Manhattan Melodies, produced by Kermit.” However, the scheme backfires when the Rats make their presence known, causing patrons to scream and panic. Kermit and his colleagues are thrown out of the restaurant. In Central Park, Kermit confides to Jenny that he is baffled about how to proceed. While Miss Piggy peers at them through bushes, Jenny comforts Kermit and takes him jogging to help him feel better. Miss Piggy struggles to keep pace, until a thief snatches her purse. Enraged, she borrows a pair of roller skates to pursue the criminal and assaults him, which alerts Kermit to her presence. After the incident, Kermit and Miss Piggy argue as he tries to convince her that Jenny is just a friend who has been helping him sell the show. The two reconcile when Kermit takes Miss Piggy on a romantic horse-drawn carriage ride through the park. Back at Pete’s Luncheonette, Kermit receives a letter from theatrical producer Bernard Crawford requesting a meeting. Arriving at Crawford’s office, Kermit encounters Ronnie Crawford, Bernard’s son, who confesses that he sent the letter. The young man loves Manhattan Melodies and wants to produce it as his first Broadway production. He introduces Kermit to his father, who is ambivalent about putting the Muppets on stage, but Bernard once promised to support his son’s first show and agrees to the project. Rushing to a payphone, Kermit calls the diner to announce the show is going to be on Broadway. After hanging up, he saunters across the street singing and is hit by a taxicab. Back at the diner, Miss Piggy becomes worried when he does not return. Ronnie arrives with news that the show must open in two weeks. While Jenny, Miss Piggy, and Ronnie search for the missing frog, Pete sends telegrams to Kermit’s friends asking them to return to New York City. Meanwhile, Kermit is in the hospital with amnesia. Upon release, he is given a set of clothes, but still does not know who he is. He wanders into an advertising agency run by frogs, and is hired after impressing the staff with a catchy slogan. As Kermit becomes part of the corporate world of Madison Avenue, the Muppets reunite at the diner. With one week until the show opens, Ronnie tells them they will have to rehearse around the clock while continuing to search for Kermit. On the day the show is set to premiere, Kermit walks into the luncheonette with his advertising colleagues for lunch, but his Muppet friends, sitting in another booth, do not see him. The frog begins tapping on glasses, inadvertently playing a melody that is very familiar to the troupe. Walking over to the sound, they embrace their missing friend, and rush him to the theater, despite the fact that he has no recollection of the Muppets or their show. Backstage at the Biltmore Theater, the Muppets are unable to jog Kermit’s memory and are faced with performing the show without him. Frustrated, the hotheaded Miss Piggy hurls Kermit across the room. The knock to his head causes Kermit to regain his memory, and he takes the stage with the rest of the troupe. The audience applauds as Kermit and Miss Piggy play a young couple getting married. Although Gonzo usually performs the role of the minister, Miss Piggy arranges for a real one to step in so she can finally wed Kermit.