Our twelfth Textual Overture production went over swimmingly last night in the last TO show at the current Café 5 location. Café 5 will be moving locations in late June.  Fear not, we will be there for their reopening and have another show as well! Here are some pics from the show:

(TOP to BOTTOM: Ramcharan performing “Story of a Mirror Girl”; Beth Cantu reading a poem; the group during preshow; and a view from outside of Café 5. LEFT: Rebekah Ramos, Julio Martinez, and Robert Trujillo (outside) in “Seeing is Misbelieving: The Rorschach Test.” 

Guerra with Trujillo in “From Inside”, their first production with ZU.

How long have you been involved with Zero Untitled and what was your first production?

I started Zero Untitled in the fall semester of 2014. I have currently been in ZU for about six months.

What is your best memory of any ZU production?

I would say my best memory of ZU would be the auditions for the One Acts during the fall semester. I sat there alone quietly, not saying anything or volunteering for any auditions. I remember mostly looking at the people and seeing how honestly weird they were. However, I would have never predicted how accepting ZU and its crew are of people.  I would have never assumed how close I would become to these people. Although, my favorite “production” memory would have to be [playing] the White Rabbit for the Dark Tour [in] “The Wonderland Massacre” written by the wonderful Katherine Orozco.

Trujillo as the White Rabbit.

What project or projects are you currently working on with the company?

I am currently working on rehearsing for an Improv group known as Premature Punchline. I am also currently working on a couple of productions for our next event Causa Mortis.

What kind of future project would you like to dabble in?

I would love to do miming and also do a short film of some sort. I would love to also perform in what is known as a Happening.

If you can play any role in any show for ZU, what would it be?

I would love to play some sort of creepy psychotic part. People in ZU see me as such a nice, lovable person, but I want to play a human role that would creep them out in a cringe-worthy type of way. I would also like to be given a chance at a romantic role. Finally, I would also like to be given the opportunity to direct some production for experience.

How do you prepare for a role once you are cast?

My main and most entertaining method for me to prepare for a role is to go out late at night and rehearse my lines out loud in a secluded place.

Trujillo being punished by audience members in “Penalty Hat” in a recent Premature Punchline performance.

What do you expect from the audiences of ZU shows?

Well first I expect them to show up. Although, what I truly expect from the audiences is for them to let us entertain with our creative, original ideas for plays, immersive theatre, poems, and events. I hope that they realize that not all theatrical productions have to be comedic or “happy” to be entertaining. Also, for them to like us on Facebook!

Trujillo (center) after being penalized in the Christmas Textual Overture.

There are a lot of new people in the productions.  What would you tell people that are new to ZU?

Do not be afraid to be yourself. ZU is filled with weird people that have a variety of personalities and interests. I am positive you will find someone to talk to since we are such a diverse group.

Any final statements?

Zero Untitled is the best college-based decision I have made so far. I am truly honored to be a member and I cannot wait to produce my own ideas for ZU. My advice to anyone that is reading this is to give us a try. We may be different when it comes to entertainment, but we entertain to please in our own original ways. And I promise you will make many friends here in this giant family. BE YOU WITH ZU!!

Here are a few pics taken by performers and by the audience at yesterday’s Premature Punchline performance at GatoCon 2015!

More photos will be taken at this afternoon’s performance.

Zero Untitled’s 2014 was full of firsts and visits from the recent past. From travelling to St. Louis to performing at the largest Shakespeare festival in the country to reopening the Wonderland Ward, Zero Untitled had a busy year:

January to February – The beginning of the year was the season of Premature Punchline, with performances ranging from Kingsville to Corpus Christi. February brought the annual gaming and otaku convention GATO-Con, where Premature Punchline fills the house. February also introduced the first Textual Overture of 2014, including Zero Untitled’s first ever jazz musician.

March to April – Premature Punchline was still going strong in March, performing multiple times at the comedy club Chuckles in downtown Corpus Christi. Zero Untitled’s fifth Dark Tour, “The Factory,” sent sickeningly sweet shivers down the spines of many while certain members of Zero were preparing feverishly for the performance of “The Rape of Lucrece” in April at Shake38, the largest Shakespeare festival in the United States. But before the crew could race off to Missouri, Textual Overture had one more performance.

May to June – May was the month of the Happenings, where Creative Director Michael Verderber introduced a class to teach the members of Zero Untitled exactly what a Happening was and how to perform one. After planning the rest of the 2014 year, Zero Untitled embarked on the journey of the Happening, beginning first with an online show where the virtual audience called the shots, called “Mindless Men,” and wrapping up June with another Textual Overture performance.

July to August – July was the season of Corpus Christi 7-Day Film Project, and “Catchweight” was born, production lasting into the middle of the month while “Dual Sex,” another Happening about rape culture, was performed twice. August brought two Los Angeles premieres of Zero Untitled shows, “From Inside,” and “GPS: Gender’s Problematic Situation.” Zero also went behind the camera for poetry videos, where “Café Triste,”  and “Mal de Ojo” were born. At the tail end of the month, “’Twas the Flop Before Christmas” (staged a few years ago) was published.

September to October – September brought a short film festival, where short films such as “Mal de Ojo,” “Café Triste,” and “Catchweight” premiered. In October, Zero Untitled produced its New Foundations Theatre Festival, a collection of one act plays that centered almost exclusively around new actors to the company. “Consequences,” previously performed at Textual Overture, was published online on Dialogual’s website, and another Textual Overture was performed.

November to December – November brought back that which was only temporarily gone: Wonderland Ward. First, “The Secrets of Wonderland Ward” reminded audiences exactly what the previous Wonderland shows brought: madness and bedlam, and the whole Dark Tour, “The Wonderland Massacre” premiered only shortly after that. December introduced a first for Textual Overture: the first holiday-themed performance. “Unconditional” and “Ghosts,” two previous Textual Overture pieces, were published and Zero wrapped the year with Octavio Quintanilla’s third poetry video, “Messages” going into production. See that video below in the previous post.

(Photos: TOP, ZU Christmas Party; MID, “The Mindless Men” performance in Corpus Christi; Bottom, back stage antics during the New Foundations Festival)  

 (Pictured: Audience member A. Guzman, R. Trujillo, and L. Guerra.)

Textual Overture’s first annual Holiday Show was a great success! As usual, there were a variety of events, readings, play performances, and Christmas tunes performed on both nights – Friday the 19th and Saturday the 20th.   Both nights had slightly different acts as some performers/readers only presented one of the two nights.

On top of the plays, a classic Premature Punchline game (Penalty Hat, pictured) was performed as well! As shown in the picture, ex-Zero Untitled member Allan Guzman dropped by and joined in on the fun on the second day’s performance. Mr. Trujillo was “punished” in the game by being turned into Frosty by the audience with toilet paper.
A full show recap will be posted soon!

Just to catch everyone up: we have had a few meetings here and there to discuss our happenings for the summer and, as it turns out, we will begin with a Happening series!

What’s a Happening? It is an avant-garde theatrical performance / performance art medium that has a high level of improvisation (but not comedic). The idea is that the show will be performed differently every night.  We have our series already up and starting rehearsals soon.

Additionally, Premature Punchline will have some appearances in the Corpus comedy scene as well, so be on the lookout for that. In addition, we will be entering the Corpus Christi 7-Day Film Festival again, starting in July.

Also, our season is just about solidified so be on the lookout for that post.  Next up on the ZU calendar will be a Happening and a Textual Overture.

 There was standing room only at GATO Con for Premature Punchline’s two performances.  Here is a picture of the audience from the first performance.

And here is a picture of the group performing on the second day.

Premature Punchline, along with several guest performers from Zero Untitled, will perform at GATO Con this weekend at the Memorial Student Union Building. GATO Con is a Gaming, Anime, Trade, and Otaku convention, hence the acronym. Catch both of our shows!

Performance Times:

Saturday, Feb 22 – 3:00

Sunday, Feb 23 – noon

GATO Con will feature several special guest artists and performers, such as Robert Axelrod, famous voice actor for “The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers”.  GATO con will also feature an Artist’s Alley, vendor boothing, celebrity signings, and several other events!

Zero Untitled has made some changes to our performance schedule: See below.

Zero Untitled’s resident comedy troupe, Premature Punchline, continues their Corpus Christi performances with a string of stops at Pinky’s Sports Bar (510 Chaparral St.) with performances on the dates listed below. Essentially, the troupe will perform every other Wednesday night at Pinky’s. 

In addition, the troupe will make a stop at Chuckles Comedy Club (615 Mesquite) for their open mic night on January 30 at 9:00.

Don’t miss these hilarious shows:

January 22 – 10:00 (Pinky’s)

January 30 – 9:00 (Chuckles)

January 31 – 9:00 (Chuckles)