Cover image courtesy of Reduced Shakespeare Company

The Ultimate Christmas Show (abridged)

Reed Martin and Austin Tichenor

Price range: $15.00 through $25.00

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PERFORMANCE RIGHTS

Note

This is the June 2025 revised edition of the play.

Recordings consist of 2 optional WAV backing tracks for production: "Mrs Santa Claus" and "HMCKH — Happy Merry Chrismakwanukkahanzukkah."

This title may also be purchased in the following bundle at 20% off the regular price: THE CHRISTMAS COLLECTION

Description

Welcome to the Annual Holiday Variety Show and Christmas Pageant at St. Everybody’s Non-Denominational Universalist Church, where all faiths are welcome because we’ll believe anything. But there’s a problem: none of the acts scheduled to perform have arrived, so three members are pressed into service to perform the entire Variety Show and Christmas Pageant by themselves. An irreverent yet heartwarming trip through the holidays, THE ULTIMATE CHRISTMAS SHOW (ABRIDGED) is festive, funny, physical, family fun as these Three Wise Guys send up and celebrate our favorite holiday traditions.

Production Info

Cast: 3 total (3 male, as written; gender-diverse and/or expanded casts welcome)
Full Length Comedy (about 100 minutes)
Minimal Set Requirements
Contemporary Costumes
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Reviews

Press Quotes

“Critic’s Choice! They tell me vaudeville died some time ago, but … the knockabout, anything-for-a-laugh spirit of the ancient genre is alive and well. Agile and quick witted … there’s no denying their ingenuity when it comes to grabbing comedy out of thin air.” —⁠Boston Globe

“Brought down the house with gales of laughter.” —⁠Theatre Mirror

“A pure delight from start to finish … Inspired madness!” —⁠Broadway World

“Delightfully twisted holiday cheer. Christmas will never be the same once you share the holiday with the inspired lunacy of the masters of condensing the classics.” —⁠San Diego Theatre World

“Side-splitting!” —⁠Nashua Telegraph

“THE ULTIMATE CHRISTMAS SHOW (ABRIDGED) will make your spirits bright, whether you joyfully embrace the upcoming season or get dragged into it kicking and screaming.” —⁠Broadway World

“Nothing less than hysterical!” —⁠Zingology

“Side-splitting fun … A night of belly-aching laughter!” —⁠New England Theatre Geek

“Gloriously irreverent style … a Christmas pageant gone horribly, hilariously awry.” —⁠Dallas Morning News

“THE ULTIMATE CHRISTMAS SHOW (ABRIDGED) [is a] zany, irreverent, side-sticker-inducing amalgam of vaudeville, improv and song. Thunderous, standing applause.” —⁠Arts à la Mode, Charlotte, NC

“The bad boys of abridgment are in fine comedic form … This rollicking romp lovingly skewers every holiday tradition you can imagine.” —⁠The Accidental Thespian, Washington, DC

“These brilliant clowns take us on an irreverent, but heartwarming trip through the holidays guaranteed to step on more than a few sacred cows and ‘mistel-toes.'” —⁠San Diego Magazine

“Like no holiday show I have seen before … this trio of actors delivers a tour de force performance that left the room in stitches and exiting the theater still buzzing … an absolute delight!” —⁠Edge San Diego

“Stunningly hilarious … a must see for your entire family!” —⁠KDHX Radio, St. Louis

“Triumphant!” —⁠Creative Loafing, Charlotte, NC

“A complete delight!” —⁠Two On The Aisle, HEC TV, St. Louis

“It is a long time since I have seen an audience laugh as loud and as long as this. THE ULTIMATE CHRISTMAS SHOW (ABRIDGED) is a delight that will keep you smiling for days and a great way to get you in the true holiday spirit.” —⁠LGBT Weekly, San Diego

About the Author

Author

  • Reed Martin

    Reed Martin is best-known for his work as a Writer/Performer/Director/Producer with the Reduced Shakespeare Company with whom he has toured the world since 1989 and co-created eleven stage shows. He has performed in forty-seven states and eleven countries, including shows at The White House, Madison Square Garden, London's West End, The Lincoln Center, and The Kennedy Center. He has written for the BBC, TBS, National Public Radio, Britain's Channel Four, RTE Ireland, Public Radio International, The Washington Post and Vogue magazine. Reed's work has been nominated for an Olivier Award in London, a Helen Hayes Award in Washington, DC, and a San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critic's Circle Award. Along with his RSC partner Austin Tichenor, Reed was awarded the 2025 Berger Award by the international Shakespeare Theatre Association in recognition of outstanding talent and dedication to the works of William Shakespeare. He lives in Northern California with his wife, who is much funnier than he is.

  • Austin Tichenor

    "A man of letters in the theatre" (Peter Marks, Washington Post), Austin Tichenor's "intellectual vaudevilles" (Stephen Holden, New York Times) have been produced Off-Broadway, in London’s West End, at the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, and in theaters across America and around the world, including American Repertory Theatre, Pittsburgh Public Theater, Seattle Rep, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Atlanta Shakespeare Company, San Francisco's Marines Memorial Theater, Princeton’s McCarter Theatre, Bath Theater Royal, Gielgud Theatre, Criterion Theatre, Jerusalem Theatre, Montreal's Just For Laughs Festival, and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, to name a few. He's the co-artistic director of the Reduced Shakespeare Company, for whom he's co-written ten stage comedies (all published and licensed by Broadway Play Publishing), the short film The Ring Reduced (for UK's Channel 4), a 6-part BBC World Service radio series, two TV pilots and several unproduced others, and the illustrated children's book Pop-Up Shakespeare. An alum of the BMI Musical Theatre Workshop, Austin's also written over 25 plays and musicals for young audiences, two published adaptations (FRANKENSTEIN and DANCING ON THE CEILING), and stage versions of Jasper Fforde's novel The Eyre Affair and Christopher Moore's New York Times bestseller Fool; co-created the illustrated children's book Daisy The Littlest Zombie; worked in story development for Disney Feature Animation; and is a monthly contributor to the Folger Shakespeare Library's culture blog "Shakespeare & Beyond." Austin is also an actor, director, and the producer and host of the Reduced Shakespeare Company Podcast, the world's longest-running (since 2006!) theater podcast. His script THE BIBLE: THE COMPLETE WORD OF GOD (abridged) received a Helen Hayes Award nomination for Best New Play, and you can find him on the socials or his website TheShakespeareance.com.

About the Book

Book Information

Publisher BPPI
Publication Date 5/15/2016
Pages 86
ISBN 9798888560358

Special Notes

Special Notes

Licensees are required to include the original stage producers credits in the following form on the title page in all programs distributed in connection with performances of the Play and in all advertising in which the full cast appears in size of type not less than ten percent (10%) of the size of the title of the Play:

Originally produced by Reduced Shakespeare Company

The following must appear within all programs distributed in connection with performances of the Play:
The Ultimate Christmas Show (abridged) is produced
by special arrangement with Broadway Play Publishing Inc, NYC
www.broadwayplaypublishing.com

Rehearsal Video/Audio

Rehearsal Video

Note: This video is for rehearsal use only for the “Lil Nutzy” scene.

Rehearsal Audio

The tracks below demonstrate how the three major songs in the show should sound.

“All in One Christmas Carol” by Reed Martin and Austin Tichenor
Note: This song is sung a capella in the show.

“Mrs Santa Claus” by Reed Martin and Austin Tichenor

“HMCKH — Happy Merry Chrismakwanukkahanzukkah” by Reed Martin and Austin Tichenor

Productions

Upcoming and Recent Productions

Professional


11/24/2023 – 12/23/2023
Hippodrome State Theatre
Gainesville, FL

12/12/2019 – 12/15/2019
Wilde Rep Theatre
New Hartford, NY

11/7/2018 – 12/31/2018
Stages
Houston, TX

11/15/2017 – 12/31/2017
Capemaystage
Cape May, NJ

Nonprofessional


12/11/2025 – 12/13/2025
Moline High School
Moline, IL

12/5/2025 – 12/21/2025
Lakewood Theatre Company
Old Hickory, TN

12/20/2024 – 12/20/2024
Altoona Area High School Drama Club
Altoona, PA

12/13/2024 – 12/14/2024
Lebowski's
Washington, IA

12/6/2024 – 12/7/2024
Chadron State College
Chadron, NE

12/7/2023 – 12/9/2023
Bsd
Portland, OR

12/1/2022 – 12/17/2022
Stage Coach, Inc.
Boise, ID

11/17/2022 – 11/19/2022
Mount Saint Mary’s University
Emmitsburg, MD

11/16/2022 – 11/19/2022
Odyssey Productions Inc
Prince Albert, SK, Canada

7/8/2022 – 7/23/2022
Northern State University
Lake City, SD

12/3/2021 – 12/19/2021
Kailua Onstage Arts
Honolulu, HI

12/3/2021 – 12/19/2021
Kentwood Players
Los Angeles, CA

12/14/2019 – 12/14/2019
Chickasha Community Theatre
Chickasha, OK

12/13/2019 – 12/21/2019
Shoestring Community Players
St Helens, OR

12/13/2019 – 12/14/2019
Blank Conversations Theatre Company
Las Cruces, NM

12/6/2019 – 12/29/2019
Maryland Ensemble Theatre
Frederick, MD

12/6/2019 – 12/21/2019
The Barn Theatre
Porterville, CA

11/29/2019 – 12/15/2019
Kailua Onstage Arts
Kailua, HI

4/19/2019 – 4/19/2019
Macalester College
Saint Paul, MN

12/7/2018 – 12/15/2018
Casabuena Cp
Philadelphia, PA

12/7/2018 – 12/23/2018
Theatre In The Heights
Citrus Heights, CA

11/30/2018 – 12/15/2018
Renaissance Theatre
Lynchburg, VA

11/23/2018 – 12/9/2018
Adobe Rose Theatre
Santa Fe, NM

11/9/2018 – 11/17/2018
Theatre Huntsville
Huntsville, AL

12/14/2017 – 12/30/2017
Mammoth Lakes Repertory Theatre
Mammoth Lakes, CA

12/8/2017 – 12/17/2017
St. Dunstan's Theatre Guild of Cranbrook
Bloomfield Hills, MI

12/1/2017 – 12/10/2017
Cumberland Players
Vineland, NJ

12/1/2017 – 12/17/2017
Atlantic Beach Experimental Theatre
Atlantic Beach, FL

12/1/2017 – 12/17/2017
Inspire Theatre
Westland, MI

12/1/2017 – 12/16/2017
The Waterhouse, Inc
Peoria, IL

11/30/2017 – 12/17/2017
Adobe Rose Theatre
Santa Fe, NM

11/24/2017 – 12/17/2017
Mountain Community Theatre
Ben Lomond, CA

11/11/2017 – 12/17/2017
Torrance Theatre Company
Torrance, CA