 | An easy, flexible, 45-minute musical play for grades 3-8. Comes with the script, audio recording (with both a vocal and instrumental version of each song), and a teacher's guide. No music or drama experience needed! |
 | ✓ Funny script ✓ Catchy tunes ✓ Flexible casting ✓ Dumb jokes
A tuneful and goofy look at the major points of the American Revolution, 1763-1789. Learn more! |
HotMusicalGr. 3-845 Min.
Musical Play: “American Revolution: 1763-1789”
Complete Script & Audio: $45 (other items also available)
We sell wonderful, short, funny plays and musicals for use in your classroom, after-school program, drama club, music class, summer school program, homeschool, and any other place where kids can thrive by participating in theater! If you are not familiar with us or how to use theater to teach, check out our Q&As.
Synopsis
Betsy Ross---a bit prone to exaggeration---tells her grandkids how the colonies became a nation. It's a difficult time: taxes are high, Sam Adams hates tea, and Paul Revere keeps forgetting his horse. The colonies don't even like each other that much, and John Hancock is spending way too much time practicing his signature. From the French and Indian War to the election of George Washington as the first president, The American Revolution gives students the chance to sing their way through the most exciting period in our nation's formation.
Preview the script and songs!Key Concepts
While there's no way any short play can cover all the happenings of the American Revolution, this show contains lots of curriculum in the songs and dialogue; it covers the major events and issues during the 25-year period of 1763-1789. For even more detail on the constitution, see U.S. Constitution; for a higher-level overview of the whole period from 1600-1791, check out 13 Colonies.
The American Revolution reinforces students' familiarity with the following events and concepts:
- The French and Indian War
- England's relationship with the Americas and European nations
- England's Acts, duties, and levies on the Americas
- The Boston Tea Party
- Taxation without representation
- Paul Revere
- The Declaration of Independence
- The nature of warfare during the revolution
- The Treaty of Paris
- The Articles of Confederation
- State representation in Congress
- The creation of the Constitution
- The electoral college
- George Washington elected as the first president
- See the "Read the Script" tab (on this page to the right) for the full character list
The American Revolution is a great complement to your curriculum resources in social studies. And, like all of our plays, this show can be used to improve reading, vocabulary, reading comprehension, performance and music skills, class camaraderie and teamwork, and numerous social skills (read about it!) -- all while enabling students to be part of a truly fun and creative experience they will never forget!
Aligned with national standards! View the standards and vocabulary.Publication Info
Author: Ron Fink (Composer) and John Heath (Book and Lyrics)
ISBN:
978-1-886588-28-8
© 2003
Bad Wolf Press, LLC
7 reviews for Musical Play: “American Revolution: 1763-1789”
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The Show
We want you to know what you're getting, so the cast list and first third of the script are available here! Bad Wolf shows are written for flexibility and can be edited however you like to meet the needs of your actors, school, curriculum, parents, astrological chart, latest whim, etc. If you have questions about the portions of the script not shown, please contact us.
Casting
Flexible casting from 11-40 students. Use as many Minute Men, Redcoats, etc. as desired. One student can easily play several roles if needed. There are a lot of parts, but some of them have just a few lines. All characters can be played by any gender.
CHARACTERS:
Betsy Ross
Students
King George III
Counselors
John Adams
James Otis
Sam Adams
Bostonians
John Jay
Patrick Henry
Paul Revere
Rachel Revere
Revere Kids
Clerk
Ben Franklin
Thomas Jefferson
John Hancock
Redcoats
Minute Men
Bert
Alice
General Rochambeau
John Paul Jones
Benedict Arnold
Colonists
James Madison
Alexander Hamilton
Small States
Big States
Voters
and a CHORUS comprised of all students who are
not playing roles on stage at the time.
Script
This is the first one-third of the script.
(TWO STUDENTS step forward and address the audience )STUDENT #1: If you're like me, you're tired of the same old stories about the American Revolution.
STUDENT #2: Enough about George already! We want to hear from someone else. Like...
STUDENT #1: Betsy Ross.
STUDENT #2: Betsy Ross!
STUDENT #1: Finally the woman who sewed the first American flag tells all about the stitch heard 'round the world.
STUDENT #2: And now everybody, here she is...the Seamstress of the Revolution...
STUDENT #1: The Empress of Embroidering...
STUDENT #2: The Sultan of the Saddle-Stitch...
STUDENT #1: The Guru of Needlework...
BOTH STUDENTS: Betsy Ross!
(Music begins as BETSY steps forward with knitting needles and nods at the audience. She sits in her rocking chair at the side of the stage.)
Song 1
Listen to
a sample!
STUDENTS:
Tell us, Betsy, tell us
Shoo bee doo bee shoo bee doo shoo
Come on, Betsy, tell us
Shoo bee doo bee shoo bee doo shoo
Tell us how your sewing
Helped us win the war.
Tell us, Betsy, tell us
The tales you've told before.
STUDENTS and CHORUS:
Tell us, Betsy, tell us
Shoo bee doo bee shoo bee doo shoo
Come on, Betsy, tell us
Shoo bee doo bee shoo bee doo shoo
Tell us how you tailored
Food at Valley Forge.
Tell us, Betsy, tell us
The one how you saved George.
STUDENTS: Tell us how you knitted muskets
BETSY: I felt it was my duty.
STUDENTS: And then crocheted a cannon
BETSY: Oh that one was a beauty.
(spoken)
Oh, and it sparkled!
STUDENTS and CHORUS:
Tell us, Betsy, tell us
(clap)
Come on, Betsy, tell us
(clap)
Tell us how your sewing
Helped us win the war.
Tell us, Betsy, tell us
The tales you've told before.
STUDENTS: How you stitched the revolution
BETSY: You know I'm double jointed
CLASS: You sewed the Constitution
BETSY: No, that I needle-pointed.
(spoken)
And didn't it turn out fine!
STUDENTS and CHORUS (whispered):
Tell us, Betsy, tell us
(clap)
Come on, Betsy, tell us
(clap)
Tell us how you tailored
Food at Valley Forge.
Tell us, Betsy, tell us
The one how you saved
(loudly)
Shoo bee doo bee shoo bee doo
Shoo shoo bee doo bee shoo bee doo shoo.
STUDENT #1: Can you tell us about the American Revolution again, Betsy?
BETSY: Oh my. It's been so many years.
STUDENTS: Pleeeeaaaaase!?
BETSY: Okay, okay. Well, let's see. A good place to start is when England defeated France and Spain in a long war.
STUDENT #2: My dad told me about that. The colonists helped the British defeat the French here in America in 1763.
BETSY: Yes, but the French and Indian War was just a small part of a much bigger conflict. A patch in the quilt of world politics. England became the leading power in the world. How King George III gloated.
(THEY exit. GEORGE III enters with COUNSELORS)
COUNSELOR #1: Tremendous news, your majesty. We've won the Seven Years War.
GEORGE III: Well it's about time. We've been fighting for...um...how many years now?
COUNSELOR #1: Seven.
GEORGE III: That's quite a coincidence, isn't it?
COUNSELOR #2: Yes, my lord. Our victory is especially beneficial for our prospects in America.
GEORGE III: America? How splendid! Did we get any of those fur hats? You can't beat America for fur hats.
COUNSELOR #2: Even better, your majesty.
GEORGE III: Better than fur hats? You don't mean...fur sunglasses?!
COUNSELOR #1: Your majesty. We've driven the French out of most of America. The entire North is ours, as well as Florida, and everything east of the Mississippi.
COUNSELOR #2: Our empire's never been bigger. We rule the seas. Our colonies are rich and well-organized. England is the most powerful country in the world.
GEORGE III: In other words...
COUNSELORS 1 &2: That's right, your majesty:
(THEY shout)
You're da man!
(quickly, back and forth)
GEORGE III: Who da man?
COUNSELORS: You're da man.
GEORGE III: Who da man?
COUNSELORS: You're da man.
GEORGE III: Rootin' tootin' right I'm da man.
Song 2
Listen to
a sample!
GEORGE III and COUNSELORS:
We spanked old Spain
We flogged the French
We whipped the world
Yeah we're a mensch.
Our colonies
Are our great joy
Hey, America
Our fav'rite toy.
And it's great to be an empire
Everyone shines your shoes
Yeah it's great to be an empire
Nobody can refuse.
It's great to be an empire
In its early days
In its early ways
It's great to be an empire
'Cause it pays.
(During the dobro solo, GEORGE and his COUNSELORS
do a Victory Dance.)
Now we're in debt
Up to our knees
So where to turn?
The colonies!
They fought with us
To win the war
Hey, and now they'll know
What they fought for.
GEORGE III, COUNSELORS, and CHORUS:
And it's great to be an empire
Everyone shines your shoes
Yeah it's great to be an empire
Nobody can refuse.
It's great to be an empire
In its early days
In its early ways
It's great to be an empire
'Cause it pays.
It's great to be an empire
In its early days
In its early ways
It's great to be an empire
'Cause it pays.
(THEY exit. STUDENTS and BETSY enter.)
STUDENT #3: What do they mean,"it pays"? Does being an empire come with a salary and retirement plan and stuff like that?
BETSY: Even better. England was in debt for over 140 million pounds. King George and Parliament figured the colonies could help pay.
STUDENT #1: 140 million pounds! Wow, like, you'd need to diet for months to lose that.
BETSY: Pounds as in English money, dear. The British Parliament passed a series of acts that placed duties and taxes on the colonists. By 1767 they weren't happy.
(THEY exit. JOHN ADAMS and JAMES OTIS enter)
JOHN ADAMS: Mr. Otis, what's the latest?
OTIS: John Adams! I'm glad I ran into you. It's another British outrage. They've passed the Townsend Acts, which put import duties on just about everything.
ADAMS: I didn't think it could get any worse. We've already had the Hat Act, the Wool Act, Iron Act, Currency Act, and Sugar Act.
OTIS: I know it. The British just can't get their Acts together.
ADAMS: Remember the Stamp Act?
OTIS: A direct tax on everything we printed, from cards to calendars.
ADAMS: I loved what you said. What was it? "Taxation without representation is exploitation."
OTIS: "Tyranny."
ADAMS: What?
OTIS: I said "tyranny." "Taxation without representation is tyranny."
ADAMS: You did?
(pauses, then:)
Doesn't really rhyme, though, does it?
OTIS: It's not supposed to rhyme. It's an aphorism.
ADAMS: Well of course, but the good ones rhyme. Take Ben Franklin's maxims. "He that goes a borrowing goes a sorrowing." "Little strokes fell great oaks." "Plough deep while sluggards sleep."
OTIS (interrupting): Okay, I get it. The point is the British are not treating us as equals but as subjects. They've prohibited us from settling beyond the Appalachians. They've even started enforcing the Navigation Laws so all commerce between England and here must be by British vessels.
ADAMS: You're right. This has got to stop.
Song 3
Listen to
a sample!
ADAMS and OTIS:
They're taxing my coffee, my paper, my wine
They're paying for theirs with what ought to be mine.
They're taxing my glass -- and everything I see
They call 'em "levies" -- they feel
like a tax to me.
They're taxing my sugar, they're taxing my paint
I don't think there's nothing I've got that
they ain't
They're taxing my tax -- and adding on a fee
They call 'em "duties" -- they feel
like a tax to me.
Taxation
Taxation
Without representation
It's not right
Time to fight
Lai lai lai lai lai.
Taxation
Taxation
Without representation
It's not right
Time to fight
Lai lai lai lai lai.
The Hat Act and Wool Act, the Iron Act too
The Townsend Acts, Greenville Acts, what can we do?
So what else is left? They wouldn't touch my tea!
They call 'em "acts" but they feel like a
tax to me.
ADAMS, OTIS, and CHORUS:
Taxation
Taxation
Without representation
It's not right
Time to fight
Lai lai lai lai lai.
Taxation
Taxation
Without representation
It's not right
Time to fight
Lai lai lai lai lai.
(THEY all freeze on the last note. Then THEY exit. SAM ADAMS enters with BOSTONIANS)
SAM ADAMS: This is the last straw, my fellow Bostonians.
BOSTONIANS: You tell 'em, Sam.
SAM ADAMS: Did we fight the Townsend Acts? We refused to import English goods and pay the duties. And what did they do?
BOSTONIAN #1: They sent warships into our harbor.
SAM ADAMS: And did we relent?
BOSTONIANS: Never!
SAM ADAMS: What about the Boston massacre?
BOSTONIAN #2: Right. The British shot and killed three un-armed colonists.
SAM ADAMS: Did we give up?
BOSTONIANS: Never!
SAM ADAMS: And finally they had to repeal the Townsend Acts in 1770.
BOSTONIANS: Yes!
SAM ADAMS: But here we are, three years later. They've passed the Tea Act. Are we going to keep paying a tax on tea?
BOSTONIANS: Never!
SAM ADAMS: They've shipped a half million pounds of tea to
America,
driving down the price of tea. Are we going to buy it?
(silence)
Well, are we?
BOSTONIAN #1: Come on, Mr. Adams. We've got to have a spot of tea.
BOSTONIAN #2: Yeah, I mean, we're only human.
BOSTONIAN #3: And the prices are so low!
(BOSTONIANS mumble in agreement)
SAM ADAMS: Listen to me! Today it's tea. Tomorrow it's sugar. The next day it's those nice fuzzy slippers with the bunny ears that keep our feet so cozy in winter.
BOSTONIANS: Not our slippers!
SAM ADAMS: Yes, your slippers! How long are we going to keep letting the British kick us around? It's time for action!
BOSTONIANS: Right!
SAM ADAMS: It's time we stopped calling soccer "football"!
BOSTONIANS: Right!
SAM ADAMS: It's time we started riding on the RIGHT-hand side of the road!
BOSTONIANS: Right!
SAM ADAMS: And it's time we dressed up as natives and dumped those 342 chests of tea into the harbor!
BOSTONIANS: Right!
Song 4
Listen to
a sample!
SAM and BOSTONIANS:
Down, down, down
Just dump it off the boat
Down, down, down
Let's see if it can float.
Down, down, down
It's sinking in the sea
Something's brewing boys and it ain't tea.
Something's brewing boys and it ain't tea.
Trouble's brewing for the crown
Tell them all in London town
London town
All their lovely tea just drowned
Send some more it's going down
Send some more it's going down.
Send some more it's going down.
SAM, BOSTONIANS, and CHORUS:
Down, down, down
Just dump it off the boat
Down, down, down
Let's see if it can float.
Down, down, down
It's sinking in the sea
Something's brewing boys and it ain't tea.
Something's brewing boys and it ain't tea.
SAM and BOSTONIANS:
Something's brewing boys and it ain't tea.
(This concludes the first one-third of the script.)
The Songs
Click on any song to listen to a snippet. Click the cart icon to purchase any track for $1.
Standards
Common Core and Other National Standards
History/Social Studies
- National History Standards 4 and 5 for K-4th
- National US History Standards, Era 3, for 5th-12th
- National Social Studies Standards 1, 2, 5, 6, 10
Language Arts
- Common Core Reading Standards for Literature: 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th
- Common Core Reading Standards: Foundational Skills:
- Common Core Speaking and Listening Standards: Comprehension and Collaboration - 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th
- Common Core Language Standards: Vocabulary Acquisition and Use -3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th
- Common Core Standard 10: Range, Quality & Complexity:
National Core Arts Standards
- Music - Anchor Standards 4-6
- Theater - Anchor Standards 3-6
- Dance - Anchor Standards 1-6
Vocabulary
acts
duties
taxes
levies
traitor
conceded
incorpration
boycott
petitions
Common Sense
Townsend Acts
Stamp Act
Greensville Acts
"a patch in the quilt"
"getting their threads in a tangle"
"about to bust a stitch"
pleat
embroidering
saddle-stich
needlework
knitting
crocheted
needle-point
memorabilia
savoire-faire
gloated
aristocrat
mensch
parliment
aphorism
maxims
commerce
continental breakfast
reconciliation
assuredly
endorse
endowed
unalienable
eloquence
literally
skulking
legislative
executive
judiciary
darn
empire
Matthew Manera –
This is a bit of a tough one, I would definitely have at least fifth graders to do this one. But overall, it is very cute and has lots of good knowledge in it!
sdrake –
I have done this with my 5th-grade students for several years. I’ve had groups of students ranging from 20 students up to 90 students. I love the music because it’s so fun and catchy. I get all the songs stuck in my head. It’s easy to create choreography to go along with this. My students love all the characters and I was able to split roles so that everyone could be involved. My favorite song is “Ride on Paul Revere”. Doing this musical with my class is the highlight of our year and it recaps all the standards and timelines that we learned about in our social studies lessons.
Kelsey Curley –
Unforgettable experience for my 5th graders! This was the highlight of their year and they are already looking forward to a reunion show. There is so much great content brought into this performance and it allows students learn in depth about this time period through both the script and songs. We can’t wait for our next Bad Wolf experience!
3rd grade learners (verified owner) –
This product was more than I could even imagine- learning through song and kid friendly dialogue was the empitomy of authentic learning. I especially loved the ability for large to small parts choices.
Heights (verified owner) –
This is the third Bad Wolf production I've helped put on as a drama teacher. These plays are great for all students to be able to participate at their personal comfort levels. I love that it also crosses over with common core curriculum.
Jane Trapp (verified owner) –
We did the American Revolution program this spring and it was perfect. It aligned beautifully with our Social Studies curriculum. I teach 5th grade gifted students so they caught much of the humor that might be over the heads of the kids but certainly appreciated by the parents. Loved it!
Hobart family ministry (Building Young Leaders homeschool) (verified owner) –
I am beyond thrilled with this product! I homeschool 4 students from age 7-12 and the songs and content allowed me to "rewrite " or adapt in such a way we were actually able to perform a musical for a audience! I wish I could share the video as it is the best thing I thing I have done with children. It was very easy to adapt and the songs were easy and fun but not babyish. It covered every expectation I had. I am already looking for next year hoping to find a title just as great as the revolutionary war. Just really great!