Community Theatre Holiday Plays & Musicals

52 pages

9 characters plus carolers and Munchkins

The main characters of Oz are mixed with the mean Miss Gulch, who is about to foreclose on the farm. Knowing they need the help of the Wizard, they make the trip to Oz, only to find a sign - "Closed for Christmas." They decide to have Christmas in Oz and the Wicked Witch reappears. Dorothy gives her her first present ever, magic slippers, and the witch is so overcome with joy that she becomes a better person. When Miss Gulch arrives to foreclose, she is invited to share their Christmas. They all learn that the best way to celebrate Christmas is to share it wi...

26 pages

1 m, 3 w, 1 flexible, 1 boy, extras

Goldie, Frank, and Myrna, three counselors at an emotional helpline, have devised a way to have Christmas Eve off this year. They have engaged Thomas Wellmore, a charming but self-centered Wall Street type, to man the phones. He willingly embraces the opportunity to “balance his karma” and “do something real at Christmas for those less fortunate.” As the evening wears on and no one calls, he becomes increasingly irritated and his true character is revealed. Then, at the stroke of midnight, a cleaning woman enters with her young son, Christopher. Though the ey...

58 pages

3 m, 6 w

Geraldine Pointer is a selfish woman whose materialism alienated both her husband and daughter. But years have passed, and something strange is happening to Geraldine. Although she never gives anything to anybody, her neighbors and friends are turning up with gifts and cards attributed to Geraldine, and in her own handwriting no less! First the cleaning lady receives a hundred dollar tip, then an old boyfriend gets a pure Italian silk tie, and finally the neighbor with the sick little boy gets money to help his recovery. Geraldine doesn't know what's going on...

26 pages

4 m, 6 w, 1 flexible, 1 child

The Hillsdale Community Theater wants to produce "A Christmas Carol," but they don't have enough actors to play the extraordinarily large number of parts. So their undaunted director, being resourceful (if not totally realistic), has triple and quadruple-cast the roles. And since everyone in sight has been recruited, the cast also fills in as costumers, stagehands and technicians. The impossibility of this situation brings tensions to a comical head as the final rehearsal invites one calamity after another. "Scrooged Up!" provides a Dickens of a time for ever...

71 pages

17 m, 11 w, 7 b, 1 g, 2 teen boys, 2 teen girls, flexible carolers, party guests and townspeople

This unique and faithful adaptation of the holiday classic takes a closer look at the character of Jacob Marley and the circumstances which lead him to his decision to save his unrepentant friend, Ebenezer Scrooge. The play begins in "another world" where Marley is granted permission to return to Earth. A "small but powerful army" of holiday spirits is to accompany him on his adventure of converting the covetous old sinner into a Yuletide saint. The most popular scenes of the novel are dramatized with added bits that are not often included. The play is fast m...

20 pages

2 m, 3 w, 1 boy, 1 girl

Ted and Jane are hosting Ted’s mother and sister for Christmas. As they share memories of their childhood home (acted out live) it becomes clear that their perspectives about the past are very different. An on-going “falling off the ladder” gag adds to the laughs. Finally, Mom presents them each with a DVD featuring their old home movies. As they watch it together, the realization that perhaps they each had things better than they remember brings a lump to the throat and an appreciation for the value of family. Performing groups can be as creative as desired ...

26 pages

2 m, 5 w, 3 flexible

This time it's not Ebenezer Scrooge but his grandson, Engelbert, who is "bah humbugging." The fun begins when the first ghost, a lovely young lady, pops in, intent on showing the crotchety old executive a grand tour of Christmases past. Add to this merry melange another two ghosts, a snippy secretary, and carolers, and the result is a hilarious situation that Dickens couldn't possibly have foreseen. One act.

69 pages

Flexible cast, approx. 6 - 8 m, 6 - 8 w

"Dear Santa" is composed of a number of short scenes that range from the hilarious to the touching. Many views of Santa are seen - from the point of view of the child who alphabetizes her Christmas list and sends it out in August as well as that of children at various stages of belief - and disbelief! Santa and his helpers shed light on many of the mysteries surrounding him, including why you don't always get the gift you ask for, how Santa delivers all those gifts in one night, how he finds children spending Christmas away from home, and how his power transc...

31 pages

8 m, 8 w

As Christmas day approaches, a young girl asks her father for a story. He spins a delightful tale about a little girl named Betsy who makes a wish to have Christmas every day of the year. Her wish comes true. At first it is all very exciting, with Santa's visit, the opening of packages, the singing of carols, and the arrival of the cousins for dinner. But soon the daily repetition wears thin. Santa is too exhausted to deliver presents and goes to sleep in Betsy's living room. The carolers have no energy to sing, all of the forests are cleared of Christmas tre...

28 pages

2 m, 3 w, 2 flexible parts

It's the day of Eleanor's annual church Christmas dinner for the poor. She's brought along her new boyfriend, Leo, to meet her grown granddaughter, Jane, for the first time. Jane has also brought along her new boyfriend, Bobby, to meet her grandmother. Unfortunately, they are so busy serving the dinner that the two couples do not get the chance for formal introductions. Through a series of misunderstandings, Eleanor soon thinks Bobby is one of the homeless people while Jane thinks Leo is an insane stalker. The confusion escalates until the final hilarious con...

48 pages

Flexible from 16 to 33+ including some speaking roles for children

In this modern reimagining of Dickens’ "A Christmas Carol," a struggling theatre company is rehearsing a Christmas show. Carol, the hard-driving real estate agent who owns the building, interrupts, demanding rent. Later, in the empty theatre, deceased business partner Marlene appears to Carol, foretelling that three spirits will appear. Throughout first two, a sage child who speaks in Victorian slang and a gregarious game show host who forces Carol to play along, Carol still remains unmoved. It isn’t until she is visited by the Ghost of Christmas Future that ...

56 pages

5 m, 5 w, extra children

Ray awakens from a coma to learn that the country is celebrating Christmas every month, (Hanukkah every quarter), in order to stimulate the economy. “A Christmas Carol” is constantly playing at the local community theatre, Christmas lights blaze all night, and there’s enough fruitcake to choke a camel. Ray himself is different and his bitter attitude is affecting his fiancée, Mary. When she expresses her frustration with not being able to stop the multiple Christmases, and more importantly, with Ray’s behavior, he pulls a stunt that lands him in jail. There h...

22 pages

4 m, 6 w

"Four score and seven years ago, Christopher Columbus drove his Plymouth on a rock." This is just one of the tidbits of American history according to Dwayne. When asked in class to explain how America celebrated its first Thanksgiving, he launches into the most lopsided account imaginable. Father and Mother of this Pilgrim family get talked into hosting the event. "You have the table," the Preacher explains. And we finally find out how such Thanksgiving staples came about. "I can't believe we're having turkey," Mother groans. "Hey, I ran over it with the mule...

41 pages

18 flexible characters

The Breckenheimers are a colorful but loving family celebrating Christmas with a unique hillbilly flair all their own. As our story begins, we flashback to the day Poppa delivered some very exciting news to Mama, his parents and his children Bucky, Queazy, Myra Jean and Lindy. He has just been promoted to the Assistant to the Junior Assistant Manager at the pickled egg plant owned by Garver Goobler. Poppa even gets to help Goobler with a "special" project Christmas morning. But the family's happiness is tempered by Mama's uneasiness with the motives of Gooble...

56 pages

4 m, 3 w 3 girls, doubling possible.

Three related one-acts are woven together with scenes in a radio booth. George and Mary Williams are $14-million lottery winners. They host "Radio Riches," a local broadcast, where they receive calls and letters from people seeking money, and share stories about the people they help. The first one-act, "How Can They Call It a Fixed Income When We're Always Broke?" is about a retired man who hesitates taking a check from the Williamses, much to the wife's chagrin. In "Bus Stop Baptism," the homeless Preachin' Pearl discovers George's motives to help the poor a...