Playwright Grabbing Most of the Applause

Can you name the most-performed playwright in Ventura County? Shakespeare would be a good guess, as would be Neil Simon. But at the moment, the answer is Jack Sharkey.

The Elite Theater Company, which has produced several of his scripts, is presenting his “Honestly, Now!” in Oxnard, and his “A Gentleman and a Scoundrel” opens Friday at the Marquie Dinner Theater in Camarillo.

The Moorpark Melodrama has mounted many of his shows, and across the county line in Agoura Hills, Sharkey’s first play, “Here Lies Jeremy Troy,” from 1965, opened last week at the Stage Door Theater.

So why haven’t we heard of Jack Sharkey or--unless you’ve seen them--his plays? Probably because he’s never been produced on Broadway, where playwrights usually gain their stardom. Virtually all of his work was written for community theater.

The playwright, who died at age 61 in September 1992, was exceedingly prolific. A representative of the Samuel French Co., which licenses his plays, estimates that he has between 80 to 100 titles in its catalog, written under his own name as well as “Rick Abbott,” “Mike Johnson,” “Monk Ferris” and “Mark Chandler.”

“The idea of writing under pseudonyms came from French [Co.],” said his widow, Pat Sharkey, “because theaters shy away from doing more than one play by an author per season.”

Aiming his shows at nonprofessional companies wasn’t Sharkey’s original intention, explained Pat Sharkey, who was married to Jack for 30 years.

“His first play, ‘Here Lies Jeremy Troy,’ was about two days from opening on Broadway on two occasions, but just didn’t happen. He got comfortable with not trying for that anymore. He wrote what he would enjoy seeing, feeling that if he would enjoy it, other people would.

“About 25 years ago, a dinner theater owner in Maryland was head of a national association of dinner theaters. Jack would get new plays to him, and if he did well with them, word would get out.”

He soon developed a formula of sorts, suited to community theater’s needs: large casts including more women than men; simple sets; and, according to the French representative (who asked not to be identified), “there are a lot of jokes in them, they’re fast-paced, easy to produce, and there’s nothing in them to offend anybody.

“They’re very tame, in a good way, and they’ve got titles that excite an audience. Who wouldn’t want to see something called ‘Bone-Chiller’ or ‘But Why Bump Off Barnaby?’ ”

Pat Sharkey, who lives in Orange County, plans to attend Friday night’s Marquie Dinner Theater performance. Her late husband--who wrote science fiction and humor for magazines before embarking upon his play-writing career--seemed to understand that “most audiences enjoy comedy rather than heavier drama, and they enjoy mysteries as well.”

“I remember a few times, Jack would try writing a straight mystery, and after a few pages he’d decide to turn it into a comedy mystery, after all,” she said.

* “Honestly, Now!” continues at 8:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2:30 p.m. Sundays through Sept. 7 at the Petit Playhouse, 720 South B St. in Oxnard’s Heritage Square. Tickets are $10; $8, seniors, Visa and MasterCard accepted. For reservations or further information, call 483-5118.

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* “A Gentleman and a Scoundrel” opens Friday night and continues Thursday through Saturday evenings through Sept. 28 at Marquie Dinner Theater, 340 N. Mobil Ave., Camarillo. Doors for all shows open at 6:30 p.m., dinner is served beginning at 6:45, and the show begins at 8:15. Tickets are $28, Fridays and Saturdays; $26, Thursdays; and $24, Thursdays for seniors only. Admission includes the show, buffet dinner, nonalcoholic beverages, tax and tip; a full cash bar is available. For reservations or further information, call 484-9009.

‘50s Live at Moorpark: A fast-paced musical with a ‘50s theme, the Moorpark Melodrama’s production “Greased” is a hair’s breadth from copyright law violation, including as it does parodies of songs from the hit show “Grease” as well as its film adaptation.

Fans of those shows will find similarities in the plot and characters as well, though “Greased” may just be funnier.

It’s a particular triumph for Jason Prince, who co-wrote the highly entertaining show with his brother; choreographed it; and co-stars as “Vinnie,” the nice guy competing with tough-guy Spike (Ed LaBey) for the affections of nice-girl “Cindy.”

Everybody in the cast is tops under Steve Robertson’s direction. There’s a great running gag involving a secondary character (Adam Finlay) who speaks only in song lyrics; and the “Hand Jive” dance number is one of the Melodrama’s most exciting in years.

* “Greased” continues through Sept. 22 at Moorpark Melodrama, 45 E. High St., Moorpark. Performances are at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, with Saturday and Sunday matinees at 3 p.m., and some Thursday performances at 7 p.m. Tickets are $12; $9.50 for seniors (55 and up), children (11 and under) on Thursday nights and weekend matinees only. For reservations, information on Thursday performances or other information, call 529-1212.