Local playwright Frank Tangredi Frank Tangredi sips his soda and bites into a fried macaroni and cheese square at the Terrace Diner in West Babylon. He speaks in a deep voice-a voice that has sung popular Broadway tunes on Long Island stages and grumbled lines as Mr. Bumble in Oliver or shrieked as Herod in Jesus Christ Superstar.

Tangredi, 55, grew up in Deer Park and now lives in West Babylon. The experienced Long Island actor wrote a play called Useless Information, appearing in this year’s Festival of One-act plays at Theatre Three in Port Jefferson, an annual forum for new works.

Theatre Three’s 13th Annual Festival of One-Act Plays continues on March 20 at 3 pm, March 26 and 27 at 8pm at 412 Main Street, Port Jefferson. Call the box office for tickets: 631-928-9100.

The funny yet touching play follows the character Wally Hruska, a young man who seemingly has one skill: memorizing “useless information.” The geeky supermarket employee believes he can earn respect and acceptance by winning a TV game show.

More than 600 plays were submitted for consideration for this year’s festival, only six were chosen.

“I chose Frank's play because it speaks to our humanity at the deepest and most honest level: the need to be validated, to succeed, to prove ourselves,” said Jeffrey Sanzel, artistic director at Theatre Three. “Frank writes in beautiful shades of gray. No one is all good or all bad. He has brought dimension to these people and we connect with them each in a different way.”

ThePlay also has a lot of funny moments. “People enjoy the play because of the characters,” agreed Tangredi.

“You understand what the game means to him. The audience roots for him even though you might not even like him if you met him in real life.”

Tangredi gleans material for his plays from his reality. Although Wally is not based on Tangredi, the playwright happens to be obsessed with game shows. In 1991, Tangredi flew to California to meet Alex Trebek and lost Jeopardy by only $1. In 2000, he sat in the hot seat of Who Wants to Be A Millionaire and even serenaded Regis Philbin with The Sound of Music tune, “No Way to Stop It” while earning $32,000.

As a competitive Scrabble player for years, he admits he meets lonely people in the circuit, some of whom inspired the character of Wally.

“For some people, Scrabble validates their life,” he said. “Theydon’t have much else. Theyhave a hard time in real life. But I respect and see how they are. And I respect their quest.”

In his plays, he aims to entertain, make people think and feel— but feeling is the most important, he said. “At the end of the play, if I hear a sigh of sympathy, that means more to me than the biggest laugh,” Tangredi said.

Tangredi has written nine full-length plays. Although his plays are also being produced outside New York, “I’m still a Long Island theatre person,” he said. “Thisis where I come from and I will always – if I can -submit a play to the One Act Festival.”

He has performed in almost a hundred plays on Long Island at Broadhollow Theatre Company, Mohawk Players in Babylon and the Presbythespians at the Community United Presbyterian Church in Deer Park, to name a few. He’s also active in that church as a choir member and helps direct the youth group there. When he’s not writing plays, he works as a social studies editor for Prentice Hall in Saddleriver, New Jersey.

He writes in the evenings and on weekends. “I write in the cracks,” he said. He usually carries around a notebook that he can write down inspiration as it strikes. “If I had an idea right now, I would grab a napkin to write notes,” he said with a smile.