for the first time. Backstage, before the exhibition, the twins discuss their future in America, Chang with visions of grandeur and Eng with apprehension (From Now On). We are then transported to the twins' childhood in Siam, 1819. At the age of eight, Young Chang and Young Eng are two healthy boys who have managed to adapt to living as conjoined twins. However, they are constantly mocked by other children and not accepted by them (Stuck Together). As a severe cholera epidemic breaks out in Siam, the twins are denounced as an evil omen. The twins' mother Nok continues to love, protect and reassure Chang and Eng through their difficulties (Mai Phen Rai (Never Mind)). Ten years later, Chang and Eng have become shrewd teenage businessmen, selling duck eggs to provide for their family. Their lives take an unexpected turn when they are summoned to appear before the King Rama III of Siam in the Royal Palace who is delighted to meet them and sends them as envoys to the Kingdom of Cochin China (Pride and Joy). By this time, they have caught the attention of Captain Abel Coffin, an opportunistic American merchant who takes them to America, leaving behind their home and their mother. Act 2 The day after the exhibition, paper boys crowd the streets of New York with breaking news about the Siamese Twins' arrival, their exhibition and speculation about whether or not they are a hoax (Read All About It). Coffin offers free shows to prove the twins are not a hoax, and as part of his publicity plan has the twins examined by a team of prominent surgeons in order to have the twins' condition authenticated and for the doctors to see whether separation is an option (How Extraordinary). Act 3 Act 3 opens when the twins declare their independence from Captain Coffin to be their own men. In 1840, they quit going on exhibit and settle down in North Carolina to lead a normal life. They become naturalized U.S. citizens, adopting Bunker as their new surname. They meet two sisters, Sallie and Adelaide Yates, at a garden wedding reception. Afterwards, both sisters find themselves drawn to the twins and share their feelings with each other (Four Could Be Heavenly). Facing opposition for their relationships (Chang with Adelaide and Eng with Sallie), they decide to let it run its course (Maybe it Needs a Little