Schools all over the United States may soon be staging a play written by a well-known South County drama teacher after one of the largest play publishing companies agreed to include his original work in its catalog.

Samuel French Inc. will publish Mike Liebo's play “Tenderfella” in its Baker's Plays division catalog of scripts for youth productions.

“There are only like seven publishing companies that publish plays, and Samuel French is the largest,” said Liebo, a Judkins Middle School teacher who has been writing and directing plays in Lucia Mar Unified School District for 28 years.

“They create a catalog with all the plays they have in it, including some that were written 150 years ago,” Liebo said.

“They publish very few new ones, so it means they must have liked it, obviously,” he added, noting that only plays with a proven track record are considered.

They have to have a proven record of being produced, and some of the supporting documents Liebo submitted with the script included newspaper articles about his students performing it and a professional-quality poster for it created by a friend.

Baker's Plays sells the rights to produce youth plays as well-known as “Oliver Twist” and “Jack and the Beanstalk” to as obscure as “Once Upon a Clothesline.”

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Liebo said any drama teacher looking for a play to produce can read about “Tenderfella” in the catalog and then buy the rights to produce it.

The Baker's Plays Web site lists rates ranging from about $4.50 to about $20 for youth plays.

Liebo said he'll get royalties each time his script is purchased for production, but he doesn't expect them to be much.

“Of all the forms of writing, playwriting is probably the toughest one to make a living,” he said.

Liebo specializes in writing plays for elementary through middle school students that are often based on real-life situations or, at least, about issues common enough that students can relate to them.

He uses humor to keep audiences - and the actors - entertained while often dealing with serious subjects.

“Tenderfella” is a modern spin-off of the classic “Cinderella” tale that's set in Pismo Beach, Liebo said.

It centers on two characters: a boy - Tenderfella - who is mistreated by his family and everyone else at school, and an actress the same age who is sick of the Hollywood life and wants to escape to a more normal world.

The actress moves to Pismo Beach and enrolls in “Judkins High School” to start over but finds herself the center of attention again, swarmed by adoring fans and those who simply want to be close to her fame.

“The only one who doesn't treat her that way is the Tenderfella character, and they end up falling for each other,” Liebo said.

Liebo has written about 15 full-length plays and about 60 one-act comedies.

“Tenderfella,” one of his more serious scripts, wasn't the only play Liebo submitted to the publishing house. He also submitted a number of his short comedies, but none of those was accepted.

That doesn't mean they're dead in the water, however. Liebo has now submitted them for the 33rd annual Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Short Play Festival set for July 15 through 20 in Manhattan.

Fifty of the top submissions are selected to be performed over the one-week period. A panel of judges then nominates one or more of each night's plays to be presented again during the final day.

From the finalists, Samuel French will choose six for publication and licensing contracts.

Liebo is hoping at least one of his scripts is chosen for the festival competition, because if it is, he'll take a group of his drama students to Manhattan to perform the play.

“They're really excited about the possibility of performing in Manhattan, but it's not a kid thing; it's more of an adult thing,” he said about the festival, adding the competition to get in will be stiff. “But, you know, who knows?”

February 18, 2008