Playhouse Regular Takes Second Place in Festival

A morality tale with a Twilight Zone-style twist captured the most viewer votes to win first place in the 2011 ShowOff! playwriting contest at the .

Credit Check, by Eddie Zipperer of Milledgeville, GA, proved the most popular of the seven plays staged, based on the number of first-place ballots cast by Playhouse attendees during two-weekend run held earlier this month.

In Credit Check, a husband and wife learn the real meaning of a credit score when a “real estate angel” shows them a dream location in heaven. As it turns out, location is everything in the afterlife as well. Greed overtakes the husband, who reveals himself as a shallow cad, and thus, a poor credit holder. He finds a location in a much warmer location awaiting him.

Bruce Alexander, a regular Playhouse actor and frequent ShowOff! participant, won both second and third place. His (somewhat musical) comedy, Death of a Salesman–The Musical, trailed Credit Check by 15 votes, earning it second place.

Salesman, which had been submitted under the pseudonym Leslie Shelly Orsino, poked fun at community-theater productions with a behind-the-scenes look at how plays are developed. One running joke pointed to wine sales as the prime moneymaker, rather than ticket sales.

This marks a repeat finish for Alexander, who took second and third places in the 2010 ShowOff! An avid writer, Alexander said he was an English major who took a playwriting class as part of his college studies.

“He’s won a couple of first-place awards over the years,” said Beverly Blake, vice president of Capistrano Center for the Performing Arts, the nonprofit parent organization of Camino Real Playhouse.

Next up for Alexander is taking a directing turn for the comedy Getting Betta, an original play written by Don Fried that will have its West Coast premiere in March at Camino Real Playhouse’s Stage II.

Getting Betta tells the story of Michael, a senior citizen in a sheltered, independent-living facility, and Betta, a virtual computerized assistant assigned to him against his wishes. When Betta’s programmer, Crystal, enters the picture, a precarious situation starts spinning out of control.

Next up on the Playhouse’s main stage is Breaking Up Is Hard to Do, a romantic comedy with a musical score showcasing 18 songs by Neil Sedaka. Blake noted that the live-music production will feature a four-piece band with two backup singers.

Breaking Up Is Hard to Do opens Friday night and continues weekends through Feb. 13. Visit caminorealplayhouse.com for showtimes and ticket information.