Oceanside High School student doubles as playwright

Oceanside High School junior Alex Orandello is only 17, but he already has an impressive list of accomplishments.

He is an Eagle Scout, a member of Troop 332 in East Rockaway. He’s also a second-degree black belt in tae kwon do, which he teaches at Ryu’s Martial Arts in Lynbrook.

And Orandello has recently added another item to his resume: playwright. His short one-act play “Going Nuts” is set to be produced by a local theater company called Middle Class American Productions as part of its show “The Dating Catastrophes X,” which will be performed one night only, Jan. 22, at the Bellmore Theater.

“I’ve never really been on a date before in my life,” Orandello said. “So I went around asking people about their experiences on dates and their love lives, and I came across weird stories, including a love pentagon. I found out that dating is crazy, dating can sometimes be fun and dating is nuts.”

His play is about a man trying to get over a girlfriend he has recently dumped. In the process, he goes crazy. The cast of four is under the direction of John Blenn, who directs all of the plays in “The Dating Catastrophes,” a series that debuted in 2003.

“I actually met [Blenn] because my mom is good friends with him,” Alex said. He saw one of Blenn’s original works, “Crooked Lines,” as well as a previous version of “Dating Catastrophes” that he directed.

“And after seeing one of the ‘Dating Catastrophes’ he did, I got inspired to write my own,” Orandello said. “I was laughing throughout most of the show, and I thought to myself, I want to do that.”

He spent a month writing, going through four drafts before finally finishing the play. “This is my first major written piece,” he said. “I’m usually busy working at my tae kwon do school.”

While not involved directly in the play’s production, Orandello did get to see a “cold” reading of it, in which the actors read the play before beginning rehearsals. “To see it being performed, it was awesome,” said Orandello. “I loved it. And that was just a cold reading, with no information prior. I would love to see what it’s actually going to look like.”