- Mr Hook - a widower, a wealthy liqueur distiller
- Sally - Miss Hook of Holland
- Captain Adrian Papp
- Lieutenant de Coop
- Bandmaster van Vuyt
- Ludwig Schnapps - Foreman of the distellry, in love
with Mina
- Hans Maas - A cheese merchant at Arndyk
- Hendrick Draek - a villager at Arndyk
- Van Eck - a very ordinary Dutchman
- Simon Slinks - a loafer by the canal at Arndyk
- Miss Voss - really Mrs Voos, a widow but posing as a
spinster
- Freda Voos - her daughter
- Clara Voos - her youngest daughter
- Gretchen - Manageress at the Distillery
- Thekla - a market girl
- Chorus of market folk, soldiers, cheese merchants,
villagers, assistants at the Liqueur Distillery, &c
The show opens in the Cheese Market at Arndyk with the chorus singing about going 'To Market' (No. 1 - Opening Chorus). Ludwig Schnapps, the foreman of Mr. Hook's factory, tells the story of how 'Little Miss Hook' (No.2) invented the liqueur Cream of the Sky that made her father's fortune. A sextet of orphan girls sing about 'Knitting' (No. 3) before Mr. Hook enters. Simon Slinks, the leader of a group of 'Lazy Loafers' (No. 4) picks up a piece of paper accidentally dropped by Mr. Hook which turns out to be the secret recipe for Cream of the Sky.
Sally, Miss Hook, enters and sings 'Fly Away, Kite' (No. 5). The cheese merchants then arrive (No. 6 - Cheese Chorus), followed by Lieutenant Papp, who heads the local unit of the 'Soldiers of the Netherlands' (No. 7). Papp is courting Sally, but she only has time for the Bandmaster van Vuyt, singing 'The Sleepy Canal' (No. 8) with him.
Slinks sells the secret recipe to Papp, telling him that its return will help in insinuate himself with both Sally and her father. Sally's maid Mina sings about a modern 'Flying Dutchman' (No. 9) before flirting with Schnapps. He sings a song about 'A Little Bit of Cheese' (No. 10). Shortly afterwards, van Vuyt and his band sing 'Tra-la-la' (No. 11).
The loss of the recipe is discovered, and Mr. Hook announces that he will give a reward for its return, only to add that people who find things usually turn out to have been the original thief. Papp announces that he will find and return the missing paper before the next day's fete in Amsterdam is over. His rival, van Vuyt, says that he will also go to Amsterdam the next day. The act ends with a toast to the health of 'Miss Hook of Holland' (No. 12 - Finale Act 1).
Act 2 is set inside Hook's distillery. The girls sing a chorus (No. 13 - 'Any Time You're Passing') followed by the men, who sing a madrigal (No. 14 - 'Bottles! Bottles!'). Papp flirts with Freda Voos, who sings to him of the old Dutch courting custom in 'The Cigar He Brought Her' (No. 15). Sally then sings a song about 'Little Miss Wooden Shoes' (No. 16).
Mina arrives and finds Schnapps flirting with Gretchen. He pacifies her by revealing that he bought a petticoat for her at the fete. This is her fifteenth this year she has been given by admirers (No. 17 - 'A Pink Petty from Peter'). Van Vuyt turns up and sings 'Love is a Carnival' with Sally (No. 18). This is followed by the ensemble 'The House that Hook Built' (No. 19), van Vuyt singing 'The Violoncello' (No. 20) and a duet for Mina and Schnapps (No. 21 - 'Pop, pop, pop'). Schnapps then sings a topical song about the Englishman who first crossed over 'From Harwich to Hook' (No. 22).
Sally catches Papp flirting with Freda, allowing van Vuyt to emerge as the victor for Sally's hand. The recipe finds its way back to Mr. Hook, and Sally leads a hymn to the qualities of 'Cream of the Sky' (No. 23). The cast then join in the Finale Act 2 (No. 24).