Chaps! A Jingle Jangle Christmas
by Jahnna Beecham, Malcolm Hillgartner

Chaps! A Jingle Jangle Christmas Book Cover — Chaps! A Jingle Jangle Christmas Cover

Highlights

Female

Male

90 mins 1940s/WWII Ensemble Cast Interior Set Period Costumes

Synopsis

The audience-favorite BBC musical Chaps!

now rewritten as a hilarious, heartwarming holiday show!

Whoa, Britannia!

Panic at the BBC!

It’s Christmas Eve 1944.

America’s favorite singing cowboy, Tex Riley, and his troupe are late for a special holiday broadcast at the BBC.

Out of desperation, Mabel, their tour manager, and Miles, the frantic young producer, grab whomever they can – a snobby announcer, an amiable soundman, a passing soap opera actor – slap them into costume, hand them scripts (after all, it’s radio!) and shove them in front of the studio audience.

The resulting performance, full of Christmas songs and quirky cowboy tunes, is one England will never forget.

Press Reviews

"As quirky a Christmas show as you’ll find – funny, nonsensical and just sweet enough to get you through the holidays with a smile on your face."
— Orlando Sentinel

"Rustles up a stampede of old-time radio nostalgia and campy humor."
— Seattle Post-Intelligencer

"An unbeatable mix... endearing characters with classic Western tunes, corny jokes and WWII nostalgia."
— Tacoma City Paper

"Hits just the right note... superlative entertainment."
— The News Tribune

"Chaps!... rides tall in the saddle!"
— Portland Oregonian

Characters

Character	Gender	Age	Description
ARCHIE LEITCH Cockney sound engineer. Down-to-earth and quick with a quip. Plays the guitar, loves cowboy songs--and knows quite a few of them.	male	—	Cockney sound engineer. Down-to-earth and quick with a quip. Plays the guitar, loves cowboy songs--and knows quite a few of them.
MILES SHADWELL Intense young producer who’s responsible for bringing the Singing Cowboys to Great Britain. If this broadcast doesn’t come off, he might as well kiss his job good-bye. If he wasn’t so neurotic, he’d be a nice guy.	male	—	Intense young producer who’s responsible for bringing the Singing Cowboys to Great Britain. If this broadcast doesn’t come off, he might as well kiss his job good-bye. If he wasn’t so neurotic, he’d be a nice guy.
LESLIE BRIGGS-STRATTON Imperious snob of a BBC announcer, á la George Sanders. Loathes cowboy songs. Is convinced he is civilization’s last line of defense against the rise of vulgar populism on the radio.	male	—	Imperious snob of a BBC announcer, á la George Sanders. Loathes cowboy songs. Is convinced he is civilization’s last line of defense against the rise of vulgar populism on the radio.
CLIVE COOPER A radio personality of sorts, Clive is the “Saltey’s Fish ‘n’ Chips Man.” An old school tie kind of guy, he really thinks of himself as a great “h’ac-tor.”	male	—	A radio personality of sorts, Clive is the “Saltey’s Fish ‘n’ Chips Man.” An old school tie kind of guy, he really thinks of himself as a great “h’ac-tor.”
MABEL HALLIDAY Tex Riley’s tour manager. Mabel is used to being a behind-the-scenes wallflower. But once she steps up to the mike, she’s a rose in full bloom.	female	—	Tex Riley’s tour manager. Mabel is used to being a behind-the-scenes wallflower. But once she steps up to the mike, she’s a rose in full bloom.
STAN The sound effects man. Like Buster Keaton, this shell-shocked veteran is a man of few words.	male	—	The sound effects man. Like Buster Keaton, this shell-shocked veteran is a man of few words.