Archive for the ‘Etc.’ Category
PrePunch’s next performance has been officially posted on the GATOcon website. The performance of PrePunch is free ONLY if you paid to get in to GATOcon or if you are a GATOcon volunteer.
Come watch us from 2-4 on Saturday and Sunday! There will be two different PrePunch casts and two different sets of games.
A Decade of Theatre – A Brief Review of ZU
Cast photo of “The Rape of Lucrece” (2011)
Well, 2013 becomes the milestone year; marks the 10th year of Zero Untitled’s existence. In that span, ZU which is primarily a Texas-based company, has managed to get theatre done in several major cities across the United States and even two recent shows in the heart of theatre – London.
First, let us begin this brief journey at the very beginning. In Kingsville, TX in 2003, Zero Untitled began as Zero Untitled Films, a strictly filmmaking organization that was lead by Michael Verderber, Gabriel Ruiz, and Paco Rosales-Moreno. Rosales-Moreno’s tenure with the organization was short-lived, so Ruiz and Verderber took up the helm. The entire purpose behind ZU was an outlet for film projects, as both Ruiz and Verderber were swamped with stage productions in college.
The very first project was a collaboration with Corpus Christi’s Dreamchaser Productions’ creator Bobby Curbow. ZU and Dreamchaser had their mutually shared debut film The Man Who Walks Alone at Harbor Playhouse in November 7, 2003 as part of the Edgeworks Short Film Festival. Mere months later, Verderber and Ruiz met Jesse Shaw, a trained carnival performer who helped develop the first legitimate theatrical production – Freakshow Theatre and a collaboration with SIR, Inc. During the rehearsal process, it became clear that keeping theatre out of ZU would be pointless as both Ruiz and Verderber were stage-trained actors. FT marked the first outdoor stage production on the campus of Texas A&M Univ – Kingsville since the 1970s. ZU’s goal began to focus on performing plays in non-traditional spaces (see below).
So that is how it began ten years ago. What has happened since then? Check out every page of the website and see for yourself! But to save you some time, here are a few bullet points:
Promotional still for “A Life with No Joy In It” (2011)
– 67 productions (at the start of 2013)
– 2 carnival-esque freakshows: Freakshow Theatre and Freakshow Theatre II
– 3 film festivals featuring local filmmakers
– Multiple play performances in non-traditional spaces such as: art galleries, coffee shops, bars, meeting rooms, student centers, schools, and city streets
– Performances and film shooting in Boston, Sacramento, Las Vegas, South Padre Island, and London.
– 4 Dark Tours: Into Hell, Madness in Wonderland, Relapse in Wonderland, and Nightmare of Oz
– Multiple mime performances: When Mimes Invade!, Gamblin’ Mime: A Las Vegas Happening, Forward MIMEntum, and London’s Mime the Gap.
– Multiple firebreathing performances (not including the Freakshows): Surprise Flash Bang!, Our Gift from Prometheus, Prometheus [redux], Ignis Duo, Flight of the Fireflies, pts I & II, Amber & Ashes, Fate of Eights, and the shortlived X: a Firebreathing Showcase.
– Approximately 50 world premiere plays
– 1 Traveling comedy troupe, Premature Punchline, w/ performances in Austin, Corpus Christi, and Kingsville
– 2 Shakespearean works: original adaptations of The Rape of Lucrece and The Phoenix and the Turtle, and various monologue performances – All The World’s a Stage (London)
– Productions of David Mamet (A Life with No Joy In It), Clement Clark Moore (A Visit from St. Nicholas), and Don Nigro (Barefoot in Nightgown by Candlelight)
– 4 music videos: DJ Oringe’s “In Regards”, “Saltie”, and “Floormatted” and Verderber’s “Slipping”.
– Various traditional Happenings: The Telegration Experiment, A Trance of Death, and 13°
– 5 traditional short films: The Man Who Walks Alone, The Suicide Note, Mimeumentary, Over White Wine,and Pilo the Never Ending.
– And more!
Here’s what happened in JUST 2012:
– Textual Overture, a coffee-shop based workshop/reading series for poems and plays performed 4 times at two locales: Café 5 and Blue Ribbon Café.
– World premieres for original short plays Broken Wheels and Shattered.
– Two firebreathing shows: Fate of Eights and X.
– An ArtWalk mime show: Forward MIMEntum
– Full length premiere of Acoustical, a romantic comedy.
– Two performances in London, England and ZU’s first international productions of All The World’s a Stage and Mime the Gap
– Multiple Premature Punchline shows including Fish and Giggles and The Rated R Christmas Show
– Full-length Dark Tour production of Nightmare of Oz.
– Eleven one-act premieres in collaboration with TAMUK
What will 2013 bring? Come to the shows and find out!
Chu instructing Luis
Seven members of Zero Untitled received acting training from the Globe Theatre (Shakespeare’s primary performance space) on May 21 in London, England. Under the teachings of Chu Owambala, the group received training in acting, mimesis, improvisational exercises, and script study.
ZU members who received training are the following (name following recent productions):
Samantha Garcia (Acoustical, Broken Wheels)
Rebecca Lopez (Relapse in Wonderland, Textual Overture)
Julio Martinez (Textual Overture, Premature Punchline writer)
Katherine Orozco (Acoustical, Forward MIMEntum)
David Sabrio (The Rape of Lucrece, All the World’s a Stage)
Michael Verderber (Fate of Eights, Shattered)
Luis Zaragosa (Welcome Freshmen, Fate of Eights)
˜˜”*°•.¸☆ ★ ☆¸.•°*”˜˜”*°•.¸☆
╔╗╔╦══╦═╦═╦╗╔╗ ★ ★ ★
║╚╝║══║═║═║╚╝║ ☆¸.•°*”˜˜”*°•.¸☆
║╔╗║╔╗║╔╣╔╩╗╔╝ ★ NEW YEAR ☆ 2012!!
╚╝╚╩╝╚╩╝╚╝═╚╝ ￥☆★☆★☆￥ ★☆
A heartfelt thank you and happy New Year to all of our family, friends, actors, directors, cast, and crew! Thanks to you, we had another record-setting attendance record year. Our biggest success attendance-wise was “Relapse in Wonderland” which had a nightly attendance of rough 270+ folks braving the 40-minute long wait in line. Similarly, Premature Punchline had over a dozen performances and had about 45 people attend each performance from July to December in Kingsville, Corpus Christi, South Padre Island, and Freer, TX.
But now is the time to look ahead to see what is up next!
[ ONGOING ]
TEXTUAL OVERTURE
“Textual Overture” will be a monthly series of play and monologue readings, poetry, experimental writing pieces, slam poetry, and even acoustic guitar jams at coffee shops in the Coastal Bend area. For the first time, ZU is putting the audience in the performance spotlight. Although much of “Textual…” will be scheduled, it will also contain an open-mic portion for any and all attendees to participate, read, or perform.
PREMATURE PUNCHLINE
The madcap chaos that is PrePunch will continue monthly shows in Kingsville and Corpus in 2012. Expect new games, more skits, and standup.
[ STAGED PRODUCTIONS ]
DOMESTIC INSANITY STANDUP SHOWCASE 2
The first DISS was back in 2004 when ZU was first starting. This year’s DISS will feature PrePunch’s Mark Pittman, Michael Mendez, Danny Cantu, and a slew of other standup comics. Coming mid-February.
REMNANT MEMORIES: ONE ACTS
“Remnant…” will be performance of 2-3 one act plays set for late March.
ACOUSTICAL
What happens when a depressed acoustic musician gets dumped by his girl (who leaves him for another girl)? Find out in April!
This is just a tentative list of what is in store. There might be another happening (we can’t announce those), fire-breathing shows, and international performances! Keep a close eye!
Premature Punchline presents “Welcome Freshmen”
Zero Untitled’s improv comedy troupe continues its wreckless abandon with “Welcome Freshmen.” The troupe will perform a new show bringing in the new school year; the show will contain some of the best skits and improv games from the entire summer run. [ ZERO-052 ]
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Se7en: A Firebreathing Showcase
Verderber and Zaragosa will breathe fire for TAMUK’s annual Fall Carnival. Look out for them walking around the carnival, performance around 9 pm, for ZU’s seventh firebreathing showcase. [ ZERO-053 ]
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Relapse in Wonderland
On the tail of the interactive theatre pieces “Into Hell” and “Madness in Wonderland” comes “Relapse in Wonderland” – the sequel to the highly successful “Madness…”. This piece will continue the insanity laid forth by the first “Madness…”, this time, however, Alice is back at the Wonderland Ward. [ ZERO-054 ]
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The Tempest
A staged reading performance in honor of the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s staging of “The Tempest.” [ ZERO-055 ]
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10 Years Later…
Written by Michael Verderber, this short film is ten years in the making. And long overdue… [ ZERO-056 ]
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Michael Lee Mendez’s “Loud Smiley”
Standup comedy returns with “Loud Smiley”, Premature Punchline’s Mendez provides his full-length show. A mix of standup comedy, impersonations and audience-selected improv songs, this show is not to be missed. [ ZERO-057 ]
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Fate of Eights: A Firebreathing Showcase
Even more fire-breathing chaos in ZU’s eighth firebreathing showcase. [ ZERO-058 ]
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S h a t t e r e d Embers
A one man show currently in development. This drama explores America’s obsession with the superficial and weighs the penalty of such an infatuation. [ ZERO-059 ]
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Acoustical
Verderber’s romantic comedy about the acoustic musician who fails to strike a chord in the heart of his love interest. Sometimes nice guys finish last and the helpless romantics are just helpless… [ ZERO-060]
The first half of 2011 promises to be a busy one for Zero Untitled. The biggest news is that our 50th show is around the corner! So for such a large event, we wanted to go with the god of drama, William Shakespeare. The upcoming calender reads as follows:
ZERO-047 DJ Oringe “Floormatted”
(music video directed by Aaron Martwick)
ZERO-048 A Vague Absence: A Collection of One Acts
“Side Talk” by David Gutierrez, dir. Miguel “Cosmo” Venegas
“Three Hours” by Gabriel Ruiz, dir. Megan Saenz
“A Life with No Joy In It” by David Mamet, dir. Michael Verderber
ZERO-049 [untitled fire-breathing show]
ZERO-050 “The Taming of the Shrew” by William Shakespeare
dir. Michael Verderber
Zero Untitled’s 44th production, “The Unraveling” was performed October 20-21 in the Blue Room. The two performances were very different: the first night had a crowd of only 22 people and they remained generally quiet throughout the production. The second night’s crowd of 47 were laughing at practically everything – even things that weren’t supposed to be that funny. The actors decided to make some last minute changes to the “commercials” of the show, altering the “Vlasic Packles” and adding a “Real American Zeroes” commercial making fun of Verderber. For more info, see the show page.
Zero Untitled’s 42nd production, the murder mystery radio play “The Unraveling” has posted the cast list. Check out the forthcoming comedy’s cast! Click the show page (at the top of this page).
Production Details:
“The Unraveling”
Written by Michael Verderber
Directed by Luis Zaragosa
A very tentative schedule for the next few Zero Untitled shows is ready for posting. Please note that this schedule is VERY tentative in that production space has to be considered as well as scheduling conflicts. The 2010-2011 season shall continue as follows:
2010
zero-041 DJ Oringe – “Saltie” music video
zero-042 “The Unraveling” M. Verderber
zero-043 [untitled fire-breathing show]
zero-044 “Madness in Wonderland” Lewis Carroll/M. Verderber
2011
zero-045 “A Life with No Joy In It” David Mamet
“All the Beautiful Girls” David Gutierrez
zero-046 [untitled fire show #5]
zero-047 “The Taming of the Shrew” William Shakespeare
Last time we mentioned the tentative schedule of events for ZUFP. Here’s the latest update:
“Our Gift from Prometheus” – October 21, 2009 @ 9:00 pm (as part of TAMUK’s Fall Carnival). Our fire-breathing sequel to “Surprise Flash Bang!”. ZERO-033
“Epitaph by Moonlight” – November 1, 2009 @ 3:00 pm (as part of TAMUK’s Dia De Los Muertos). Short play with a theme of loss and death. ZERO-034
“The Run Around” – TBA. Short comedic farce about deception and blind dates. ZERO-035
Check out the pages for individual cast lists.
