Claire, Alice and Hal, residents at the Alpine Retirement Home, sing about the routine of their lives with Home administrator Tanya. (“Alpine Routine”) Lori visits her mother Claire who wants them to sing together but Lori is too busy and leaves. (“Alpine Routine Reprise”) Tanya, the Home’s administrator, introduces Nelly, a new resident. Tanya urges them all to live more cautiously but Nelly’s spirited rebuke inspires Alice, Claire and even Hal to declare they “won’t freeze-dry life; give it to me fresh!” (“Half Life”) Claire and Alice are attracted to each other. Afterwards, Nelly discovers that, like every other resident, she no longer controls her own finances. Nelly wants to organize Claire, Alice, Hal and herself to get their finances back, but the others are distracted. Hal is convinced there’s a Peeping Tom looking in the window. Alice and Claire are absorbed in their love and only want to be with each other. Claire is refused permission to move in with Alice. The couple at first despairs, but then declares they’ll “find a way, together.” (“Together”) Lori enters and sees Alice and Claire dancing together, then leaves before they see her. Claire becomes disoriented and confused but Alice calms her. (“Together Reprise”) Lori confronts Alice, claiming that Alice is taking advantage of Claire. After Lori leaves, the couple pleads with Nelly to help them, wanting to form a SKI Club (an acronym for Spending our Kids’ Inheritance). They could live on a cruise ship, which would cost about the same as the Alpine Retirement Home. But Nelly is now making plans to leave the Home. (“What Do You Suggest?”) Because Hal is dragging around old Christmas lights, administrator Tanya accuses him of being delusional and says he might have to move. In the face of Tanya’s bullying, Nelly changes her mind and announces they will form a SKI Club. (“Downhill”) Inspired by their cruise ship dream, Nelly, Alice and Claire pursue different ways to find money, but they are unsuccessful. When they return to the Home, 14-year-old Zane urges them to use a YouTube influencer for publicity (“Exposure”). Hal uses the Christmas lights to catch the Peeping Tom, who turns out to be administrator Tanya’s ex-husband Bruno. Tanya is filled with gratitude and newfound respect for Hal. Nelly becomes romantically interested in Hal but there are impediments to a relationship. (“Senior Romance”) Zane has booked the seniors to appear on Judge Scum’s YouTube show. Unknown to Zane, Judge Scum is a grandstanding, anarchic neo-punk. (“Rough Justice”) The Judge intimidates and enrages the SKI Clubbers and the stress causes Nelly to collapse. (“Half Life Reprise”) Act II begins with a memorial service for Nelly, who has died of an aneurysm that she’d kept secret. At the same time, Hal’s son Bryan arrives for a visit, embarrassing his father. When it’s announced that Nelly’s children will not fulfill Nelly’s wish to be buried at sea, Alice pulls the fire alarm. (“Fire”) In the melee that follows, Claire steals Nelly’s ashes by scooping them into her purse. Later that day, the remaining SKI Clubbers and Zane debate what to do with Nelly’s ashes. Lori arrives to announce she’s going on retreat in Mexico to relieve her stress. Alice surreptitiously pockets Lori’s car key, and Lori searches her mother Claire’s purse for it, finding the ashes. Lori calls in Tanya, who faints at the sight of the ashes. After Lori calls a taxi to go to the airport and runs off, the seniors borrow money from Zane to take Nelly’s ashes to the ocean. Enraged at being caught as the Peeping Tom, Bruno (Tanya’s ex-husband) stalks Claire, Alice and Hal as they travel to the coast in Lori’s car. Bruno catches up with them when they stop for dinner but, like the waitress, Bruno can’t seem to see the seniors. (“Invisibility”) Once at the coast they can’t afford to charter a boat to scatter Nelly’s ashes at sea. A mysterious passer-by named Captain Wry offers them his dilapidated dinghy. With Bruno in pursuit, the SKI Clubbers jump into the dinghy and push out to sea, realizing too late that it has no oars. Lori is meditating at her silent retreat (“Monkey Mind”) when she receives calls first from the police who have found her car at the coast, and then from Tanya about her missing mother. In the dinghy, Claire, Alice and Hal are caught in the outgoing tide as the fog rolls in. Meanwhile their relatives at home panic and lament their disagreements. (“This Is It”) Alone, Zane also regrets that he wasn’t more help. (“This Is It Reprise”) Though their plight is desperate, Claire begins an eulogy for Nelly. (“Dance the Blue Prelude”) A cruise ship interrupts, appearing out of the fog and nearly capsizing their dinghy. Claire refuses to be rescued until she has spread Nelly’s ashes at sea. (“Dance the Blue”) Claire, Alice and Hal are instant celebrities for their loyalty to Nelly, and are reconciled with their families as they consider their new options. ("New Waters")