Back in the big city, their agent, Madame Basilova (Maria Ouspenskaya) gets them an audition for a hula number. Bubbles has yet to return from Akron so Judy does the solo. She is a ballet dancer, and unfortunately, her "classy" style is not what they are looking for in a hula. Just when the girls think they've lost another job, Bubbles comes along and saves the day with her more "oomph"-filled interpretation of the hula. Unfortunately, she does it so well on her own, she alone gets the job. After three days of hula dancing in Hoboken, Bubbles is discovered by burlesque show producer "Dwarfie" Humblewinger (Edward Brophy), who turns her into "Tiger" Lily White, burlesque queen.

Dwarfie has a new idea for Lily's show- before her big number, he'd like to have a ballerina go out and get the crowd riled up, a "stooge", if you will. The crowd will be expecting a striptease and demand for Bubbles to come back out, which he hopes, will turn "Tiger" Lily into an overnight sensation. Bubbles suggests Judy for the part. Judy is ecstatic about the job, she doesn't realize she is really being hired to be Bubbles' "stooge". On opening night it comes as a big surprise to her when she hears all the boo's and hisses from the audience. She feels awful, but the job pays well and all she cares about is that she gets the chance to do what she loves, dance ballet, so she stays on. Dwarfie was right, Lily becomes the biggest hit on Broadway and Judy climbs the ladder of fame right along with her.

Then one night, the gentleman they'd met in Akron, Jimmy Harris, goes to their show, still reeling from his recent divorce. But his troubles are forgotten when he sees Judy. He doesn't remember that they'd met before in Akron at first, but when he does, they decide to pick up where they left off before Bubbles came between them. Harris begins romancing Judy and enraging Bubbles with jealousy because he's the first man to prefer Judy over her! Everything seems to be going great between Judy and Jimmy, but, she soon finds out, he is still in love with his ex-wife, Elinor (Virginia Field). Though he does genuinely care for Judy, Elinor still has his heart. The truth comes out and Judy is reasonably upset. But Jimmy's still confused about his feelings. Though he and his estranged wife obviously still love each other, it doesn't look like they can ever make it work out, so he comes to the false conclusion that he loves Judy, not Elinor. After hitting the bottle, trying to drown his sorrows, he goes to see Judy to explain everything, but she won't see him.

Meanwhile, Bubbles' interest in Mr. Harris escalates when she learns he's rich. She takes advantage of his drunken state and elopes with him solely for the purpose of getting his money. That night at the show, Judy learns of the elopement and is heartbroken. When her number comes up, after a few of the usual boo's and smart remarks from the audience, she stands up to the them and tells the entire crowd off. After her speech the audience gives her a rousing applause and when Bubbles comes out with her burlesque routine, she gets all the boo's and hisses. This infuriates Bubbles and she slaps Judy. Then, the already infuriated Judy hits her back. From this a full scale fight ensues between them on stage.

It was immediately after the filming of this scene that Lucille met Desi Arnaz for the first time, in the RKO commissary. She was still in her torn dress and sporting a fake black eye when they were introduced to each other by George Abbott, the producer of her next film, Too Many Girls. It was not the ideal first impression, but it didn't matter. Maureen O'Hara says, "Lucille fell like a ton of bricks." They went on a publicity tour together across the country for Dance, Girl, Dance and she remembers Lucille talked about him all the time.