• My Account
  • Quick Order
  • Cart
  • Checkout
 
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Clients

 
  • Home
  • The Plays
    • The Plays
    • Not Yet Published
    • Newly Published
    • Bestsellers
    • Classics
    • Collections
    • Bundles
    • Catalog
  • Performance Rights
    • Restrictions
    • Payments
    • Performance Rights
    • Upcoming Productions
  • Authors
  • FAQs
    • FAQs
    • Shipping Info
    • Refund Policy
    • Privacy Policy
    • Submissions
    • Wholesale Customers
    • Desk Copies
    • Standing Orders
  • Blog
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
Menu
  • Home
  • The Plays
    • The Plays
    • Not Yet Published
    • Newly Published
    • Bestsellers
    • Classics
    • Collections
    • Bundles
    • Catalog
  • Performance Rights
    • Restrictions
    • Payments
    • Performance Rights
    • Upcoming Productions
  • Authors
  • FAQs
    • FAQs
    • Shipping Info
    • Refund Policy
    • Privacy Policy
    • Submissions
    • Wholesale Customers
    • Desk Copies
    • Standing Orders
  • Blog
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
 

  • Home
  • The Plays
    • The Plays
    • Not Yet Published
    • Newly Published
    • Bestsellers
    • Classics
    • Collections
    • Bundles
    • Catalog
  • Performance Rights
    • Restrictions
    • Payments
    • Performance Rights
    • Upcoming Productions
  • Authors
  • FAQs
    • FAQs
    • Shipping Info
    • Refund Policy
    • Privacy Policy
    • Submissions
    • Wholesale Customers
    • Desk Copies
    • Standing Orders
  • Blog
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
 
  • Home
  • >
  • The Plays
  • >
  • Western Civilization! The Complete Musical (abridged)
    Cover photo courtesy of Reduced Shakespeare Company

    Western Civilization! The Complete Musical (abridged)

    book and lyrics by Reed Martin and Austin Tichenor, original music composed by Nick Graham, additional material by Dee Ryan
    Trade Edition$15.95
    ePlay$15.00 + $10.00 per additional user
    Scores$100.00
    Recordings$50.00
    Performance Rights

    Note

    118-page PDF piano/vocal score for production. View Perusal.
    Recordings consist of 33 WAV backing tracks for production.
    Please note that the cast recording is available on iTunes under the title THE COMPLETE MILLENNIUM MUSICAL (abridged).

    Play Description

    History like you’ve never experienced it before. As a musical. You’re gonna laugh like it’s 1499, and the music will knock you out!

    Production Info

    Cast: 3 total (1 female, 2 male, as written; gender-diverse and/or expanded casts welcome)
    Full Length Comedy (about 90 minutes)
    Minimal Set Requirements
    Contemporary Costumes
    Categories: The Plays Tags: Music, Abridged
    • Reviews
    • About the Author(s)
    • About the Book
    • Special Notes
    • Productions

    Press Quotes

    “In some ways, it’s their funniest presentation yet … With a musical score that gives the script bite and zest, the three performers ‘turn history inside out and upside down, cramming 1,000 facts into 90 minutes.’ By the end they have given us a nonsensical but hilarious rendition of each major epoch.” —Andrew Warshaw, The Guardian

    “Singing that ‘history ain’t what it used to be’ the three-person ensemble put a deranged spin on the events of the past 1,000 years … Mixing broad physical humor with sly satire, the three sang, disco-danced and adopted phony accents and even phonier facial hair to view the highlights (and low points) of history, from Leif Ericsson to the Y2K bug … The show was consistently hilarious.” —Donna Freedman, Anchorage Daily News

    “The show, overall, is a riot … Don’t miss it. After all, a comedy this funny only comes along once or twice a millennium.” —Patrick Meighan, New Hampshire Telegraph

    “… combining smarty-pants irreverence with physical buffoonery and street-wise smarts … it touches greatness.” —Christopher Rawson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

    Author(s)

    • Reed Martin

      Reed Martin co-created and performed in the original productions of THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF AMERICA (ABRIDGED), THE BIBLE: THE COMPLETE WORD OF GOD (ABRIDGED), WESTERN CIVILIZATION: THE COMPLETE MUSICAL (ABRIDGED), ALL THE GREAT BOOKS (ABRIDGED), COMPLETELY HOLLYWOOD (ABRIDGED), THE COMPLETE WORLD OF SPORTS (ABRIDGED), THE ULTIMATE CHRISTMAS SHOW (ABRIDGED), AND THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF COMEDY (ABRIDGED). He also contributed additional material to THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (ABRIDGED). Reed is a managing partner of the Reduced Shakespeare Company and has performed in London's West End, at Lincoln Center Theater, Kennedy Center, Seattle Repertory Theatre, American Repertory Theatre, Pittsburgh Public Theater, California Shakespeare Festival, McCarter Theatre, Long Wharf Theatre, Old Globe Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, The White House and Madison Square Garden, as well as in 11 foreign countries. Reed has performed at A.C.T. in San Francisco in Travesties by Tom Stoppard and The Government Inspector, as well as at the Magic Theatre in Moving Right Along, written and directed by Elaine May and featuring Marlo Thomas. He toured for two years as a clown/assistant ringmaster with Ringling Brothers/Barnum & Bailey Circus. His voice was heard in the animated feature film Balto,/i> and just about every other part of him was seen in the British film Carry On Columbus. Reed has written for the BBC, NPR, Britain's Channel Four, RTE Ireland, Public Radio International, The Washington Post and Vogue magazine. With Austin Tichenor he co-authored the book The Greatest Story Ever Sold, published by John Knox/Westminster Press, as well as Reduced Shakespeare: The Complete Guide For The Attention-Impaired (abridged), published by Hyperion. His work has been nominated for an Olivier Award in London, a Helen Hayes Award in Washington, D.C., and San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critic's Circle Award. He has a BA in Political Science/Theatre from UC Berkeley, an MFA in Acting from UC San Diego and is a graduate of Ringling Brothers/Barnum & Bailey Clown College. A member of both the Dramatists Guild and The Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, Reed is also a former professional minor league baseball umpire. He lives in Northern California with his wife and two sons, all three of whom are much funnier than he is.

    • Austin Tichenor

      Austin Tichenor is a playwright, lyricist, songwriter, director, and actor. He's the co-author of nine COMPLETE (abridged) stage comedies, which have been produced around the world, published in two countries, and translated into over a dozen languages; the beautifully illustrated (by Jennie Maizels) children's book for all ages Pop-Up Shakespeare; the irreverent reference book Reduced Shakespeare: The Complete Guide for the Attention-Impaired (abridged); the comic memoir How The Bible Changed Our Lives (Mostly For The Better) for all e-book platforms; the half-hour film The Ring Reduced for UK's Channel 4; the half-hour pilot The Week Reduced for TBS; and the six episode Reduced Shakespeare Radio Show for the BBC World Service. He also produces and hosts the weekly Reduced Shakespeare Company Podcast, which was named one of Broadway World's Top Ten Podcasts for Theatre Fans. Austin is an alumnus of the BMI Musical Theatre workshop and has written over a dozen plays and musicals for young audiences. His full-length one-act DANCING ON THE CEILING (an adaptation of Kafka's "The Metamorphosis") and adaptation of FRANKENSTEIN are both published by Broadway Play Publishing, and he directed the world premiere of his adaptation of New York Times bestselling author Jasper Fforde's THE EYRE AFFAIR in 2016. As co-managing partner of the Reduced Shakespeare Company, he has performed with them around the world, Off-Broadway, in London's West End, in the PBS version of THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (abridged), and at such theaters as the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, American Repertory Theatre, the Folger Shakespeare Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Pittsburgh Public Theatre, Merrimack Repertory Theatre, and Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. On TV, Austin played recurring roles on 24, Alias, Felicity, Ally McBeal, and The Practice, and guest starred as Guys In Ties on The West Wing, The X-Files, ER, The Mentalist, Nip/Tuck, Gilmore Girls, and on many other hours of episodic television. He's also performed his own material many times on NPR and the BBC, performed with both the Oakland Symphony and in Disney Hall with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and acted in the midwest premiere of Lauren Gunderson's THE BOOK OF WILL at Chicago's Northlight Theatre, and in the world premiere of IN THE GARDEN: A DARWINIAN LOVE STORY with Chicago's Tony Award-winning Lookingglass Theatre Company. Austin is a fifth-generation Californian who was born on the 54th anniversary of the San Francisco Earthquake and the 185th anniversary of Paul Revere's Ride, which makes him older than he looks but short for his weight. Austin is a member of the Dramatists Guild, has a BA in History and Theatre from UC Berkeley and an MFA from Boston University, and currently lives in Chicago with his improviser and writer wife Dee Ryan, their two kids, and too many cats.

    • Nick Graham

      Nick Graham is a British vocalist, songwriter, flautist, pianist, and bassist. He was one of the original members of the British progressive rock band Atomic Rooster from 1969 to 1970 and from 1998 to 2001 composed music for the Reduced Shakespeare Company.

    Book Information

    Publisher BPPI
    Publication Date 11/1/2002
    Pages 72
    ISBN 9780881456820

    Special Notes

    If original stage producers credits appear in bold below, all licensees are required to include them 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 and toured by Reduced Shakespeare Company

    In addition, the following must appear within all programs distributed in connection with performances of the Play:

    Western Civilization! The Complete Musical (abridged) is produced
    by special arrangement with Broadway Play Publishing Inc, NYC
    www.broadwayplaypub.com

    Upcoming and Recent Productions

    Professional


    8/23/2018 – 9/1/2018
    The Barnstormers Theatre
    Tamworth, NH

    Nonprofessional


    12/17/2020 – 12/19/2020
    Langham Creek High School
    Houston, TX

    11/18/2020 – 11/21/2020
    Adrian College
    Adrian, MI

    4/25/2020 – 4/25/2020
    Macalester College
    St. Paul, MN

    11/21/2019 – 11/23/2019
    Washington And Jefferson College
    Washington, PA

    Related Plays

    $15.00–$100.00
    In a Pig’s Valise
    book and lyrics by Eric Overmyer, music by August Darnell
    $15.00–$100.00

    Play Description

    In Eric Overmyer's hilarious send-up of private-eye pulp fiction, Shrimp Bucket and his brother, Gut, are stealing the sexy Dolores Con Leche's dreams. It's Taxi's task to find out why. From the ubiquitous fog to the cheap bedrooms at Heartbreak Hotel to Con Leche's legs, which are described as “gams that could raise goose flesh on a tossed salad,” IN A PIG'S VALISE pokes fun at and pays homage to the hardboiled detective novels we all know and love.

    Production Info

    Cast: 9 total (3 female, 6 male)
    Full Length Drama (about 90 minutes)
    Minimal Set Requirements
    Contemporary Costumes
    If Only We Knew
    Aishah Rahman

    Play Description

    An African immigrant in New York describes how he was shot by police.

    Production Info

    Cast: 3 total (3 male, plus 1 Musician)
    Short Drama (about 15 minutes)
    Minimal Set Requirements
    Contemporary Costumes
    $15.00–$25.00
    The Ultimate Christmas Show (abridged)
    Reed Martin and Austin Tichenor
    $15.00–$25.00

    Play 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
    $50.00
    Get Used to It!
    Tom Wilson Weinberg
    $50.00

    Play Description

    A musical revue that tackles sex, love and relationships, politics, religion, and AIDS, GET USED TO IT! is funny, serious, and always thought-provoking.

    Production Info

    Cast: 3 total (3 male, or up to 6 with any combination of genders)
    Full Length Comedy (about 90 minutes)
    Minimal Set Requirements
    Contemporary Costumes
    $15.00–$100.00
    Hat! A Vaudeville
    John Strand, music by Dennis McCarthy
    $15.00–$100.00

    Play Description

    A loving homage to Eugène Labiche and the High Vaudeville style he was instrumental in establishing a century and a half ago.

    Production Info

    Cast: 10 total (3 female, 7 male)
    Full Length Comedy (about 105 minutes)
    Minimal Set Requirements
    Sarita
    María Irene Fornés
    Winner of 1984 Obie Award

    Play Description

    When young Sarita sees her crush, Julio, flirting with other women, she vows to do the same with men, and at fourteen she becomes pregnant. She does not know by whom. After giving birth, she runs away and belatedly becomes Julio's lover, but his inconstancy wears on her. Even when she finally leaves him and marries a new man, Mark, she cannot give up Julio, who continues to torment her and eventually drives her into a murderous rage, the cost of which will be her sanity and freedom. Piano score available for perusal or production on request. Additional musical parts: bass, guitar, percussion, and trumpet.

    Production Info

    Cast: 7 total (3 female, 4 male)
    Full Length Drama (about 90 minutes)
    Multiple Sets
    Contemporary Costumes
    $15.00–$15.95
    William Shakespeare’s Long Lost First Play (abridged)
    Reed Martin and Austin Tichenor
    $15.00–$15.95

    Play Description

    Discovered in a treasure-filled parking lot in Leicester, England (next to a pile of bones that didn’t look that important), an ancient manuscript proves to be the long-lost first play written by none other than seventeen-year-old William Shakespeare from Stratford. We are totally not completely making this up. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S LONG LOST FIRST PLAY (abridged) is the literary holy grail: an actual manuscript in Shakespeare’s own hand showing all his most famous characters and familiar speeches in a brand-new story. But because it’s one hundred hours long and contains multiple unwieldy storylines, it was decided, as a public service, to abridge it down to a brief and palatable ninety-minute performance for this lost masterpiece.

    Production Info

    Cast: 3 total (3 male, as written; gender-diverse and/or expanded casts welcome)
    Full Length Comedy (about 90 minutes)
    Minimal Set Requirements
    Period Costumes
    $15.00–$15.95
    Abraham Zobell’s Home Movie: Final Reel…
    Len Jenkin
    $15.00–$15.95

    Play Description

    Abraham Zobell is a man like other men. No better, not much worse. But, unlike other men, he has a vital need to lay flowers on an ocean grave before it's too late. Though he's recovering from a recent heart attack, Abe rejects the pleas of his wife and the advice of his doctors, rips out his IV, and sets out on a pilgrimage to the sea. Along the way, he encounters ghosts and memories, music and moonlight, pilgrim strangers, and even stranger friends.

    Production Info

    Cast: 14 total (6 female, 8 male, doubling)
    Full Length Drama (about 100 minutes)
    Minimal Set Requirements
    Contemporary Costumes
    $15.00–$15.95
    All the Great Books (abridged)
    Reed Martin, Austin Tichenor
    $15.00–$15.95

    Play Description

    Confused by Confucius? Thoroughly thrown by Thoreau? Wish Swift was swifter? Then buckle up and hop aboard as you zip through everything you didn’t get around to reading in school, a ninety-eight minute roller-coaster ride through the world’s great books.

    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
    $15.00–$50.00
    Original Sound
    Adam Seidel
    $15.00–$50.00

    Play Description

    Who do you step on to get to the top? A young Nuyorican beat maker calls out a rising pop star for ripping off his track. ORIGINAL SOUND is a fierce, funny, musical journey through the heart of an unforgiving industry.

    Production Info

    Cast: 6 total (3 female, 3 male, one nonbinary character)
    Full Length Drama (about 90 minutes)
    Minimal Set Requirements
    Contemporary Costumes
    $15.00–$15.95
    Completely Hollywood (abridged)
    Reed Martin and Austin Tichenor, additional material by Dominic Conti
    $15.00–$15.95

    Play Description

    Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the theater … the Reduced Shakespeare Company boldly goes where few would dare — Tinseltown! America’s “bad boys of abridgement” take on America’s largest cultural and economic export (well, except for weapons) in this seriously silly show biz satire. Get your clapper boards ready as we rummage through the reels and flick through the films in this riotous carnival of the classics. Giving Hollywood more than just a nip and a tuck, they cut through the celluloid to condense the 186 greatest films in Hollywood’s over 100-year history into a complete compilation of classic cinematic cliches — plus a few brand new cliches they just made up.

    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

    Contact Info

    BROADWAY PLAY PUBLISHING INC

    148 W 80th St, NY, NY 10024

    Working Days: Monday – Friday

    Working Hours: 8 am – 6 pm EST

    Phone: 212­-772-­8334

    Email: info@broadwayplaypub.com

    Website: www.broadwayplaypub.com

    Company Info

    • About Us
    • Shipping Info
    • Refund Policy
    • Privacy Policy
    • Submissions
    • Contact Us

    Pages

    • Home
    • The Plays
    • Performance Rights
    • Authors
    • FAQs
    • Blog

    Newsletter Sign Up

    • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
    © Broadway Play Publishing Inc.  All Rights Reserved.

    ‹ › ×
      Posting....