A ton of news to report since 2014 has begun.  Zero Untitled will be reviving “The Rape of Lucrece” in St Louis as part of the Shake38 Festival (the largest Shakespeare festival in the country) in April.  The show has already been cast and the first read-thru begins next week.

Likewise, ZU’s 5th Dark Tour, “The Factory” begins rehearsals this week and will be staged sometime in early March.  More info on these shows respective pages will be posted soon! 

As the end of our ten-year anniversary season draws to a close, we ended 2013 in two venues new to us. Our latest project, “Another Rated-R Christmas Show” opened at Pinky’s Sports Bar in Corpus Christi and had a second performance at the Innovation Lab in downtown Kingsville.

Here is a link to the page and an exclusive pic of what doing theatre during the Christmas season can do to one. Enjoy!

https://www.zerountitled.com/productions/another-rated-r-christmas-show/

 (pictured: Julio Martinez backstage at the end of rehearsal.)

 We have plenty of energy in us left!  We are currently booking Premature Punchline at various venues as well as mounting our next two Mainstage productions: the fifth Dark Tour called “The Factory” and our revival of Shakespeare’s  “The Rape of Lucrece” for the Shake38 Festival in St. Louis.

 In the meantime, have a happy holiday season from all of us in the Zero Untitled family!

Our collaborative effort with Texas A&M Univ – Kingsville’s Department of Language & Literature was a success! We had a packed house on both performance nights (Nov 22 and Nov 26).  The page is up with some pictures, but here are a few that aren’t on the page:

(Top image: A. Salinas, A. Medina, J. Cavazos in “Coach of the Year”

Middle: C. Lillie, M. Ramos, J. McCaulley in “Shrink”

Bottom: M. Verderber and E. Fernandez in “The Brothers Complex”)

 (pictured “Stretch” the Mime goofing around with ZU crew member Joshua “Beta” McCaulley.)

Despite the 40 degree temperature, our resident mime troupe “Forward MIMEntum” performed in semi-cowboy regalia as part of the Kingsville Ranchhand Festival on November 23 in downtown Kingsville. 

The show name, “MIME-nificent Seven” spoofs the classic western film of similar name.  The troupe performed in two-hour shifts from noon until 4:30.  More pictures coming soon!

  (pictured mimes: Harvey, Archie, Tawd, Katy without makeup, Jean, and Stretch (below))

Last year’s production, “From Passion to Page”, was a short two-day festival of plays written by novice playwrights in collaboration with Texas A&M University – Kingsville’s ENGL 3300 Playwriting course.  Due to the connection to the university, the college has requested that this year’s festival, “From Passion 2013”  be under the helm of the Department of Language and Literature.

Respecting their request, ZU will not lead this project.  However, our actors, directors, and crew will still be assisting in any way possible.  The eleven short, ten-minute plays have already begun rehearsal. ZU will still help advertise and promote the production, premiering November 22nd and 26th.  Pictures coming soon.

 (pictured: Director C.J. Lillie offering insight to actor Mario Ramos for the play “Shrink”)

Zero Untitled celebrates its 10th Anniversary and the publication of the [nonspace] book with a series of plays from the text and a party on Thursday, October 24th at 7:00.

The event will feature three plays and a live performance from Corpus Christi rockers The Blind Owls.  Join us for the food, friends, plays, and live music!

Anyone who has EVER performed or worked with ZU is invited!

Plenty in store: First up is Textual Overture on Thursday night at the Kingsville Visitors Center on Corral Street.  For those unfamiliar, Textual Overture is an open-mic variety show of poetry, plays, live music, and other oddities.  This event FREE to the public.  The show begins at 7:00 on the 19th, so bring your work or instruments!

Keeping with the messy “ransom note” theme of previous Textual Overture flyers, here is the latest flyer:

And also: For those who could not make it to Corpus Christi for the CC 7-Day Film Festival screening of “Eighty-Six Thousand Four Hundred Seconds“, you will get a chance to see the screening of the multi-nominated and award-winning film, now is your chance.  On Friday, September 20th at 8:00pm, the film will be screened at the Blue Room in Fore Hall along with a “Live Commentary” with the cast and crew.  Click “Read More” to see the latest trailer after the break.  Read more

Zero Untitled’s latest endeavor, an educational program, gets launched this week.  ZU Education is an 8-class series of workshops that assist in various aspects of theatre, film, writing, and editing.  Classes will be taught be local educators and ZU crew that have extensive experience in their respective fields. 

The workshops are designed to introduce both new and veteran actors to new exercises, techniques, and abilities to further strengthen the community within ZU.  Additionally, all workshops are absolutely free and will be held in various rooms in Sam Fore Hall at the TAMUK campus.

Here is the list of forthcoming workshops.

Sept 12 – “Acting 101 & Meisner Technique” with James Taylor Maupin IV, M.A. (UT Pan American), B.A. (TAMUK) @ 8:00 in the Blue Room.

 (pictured Mr. Maupin)

Oct 10 – “Voice and Facial Expression” with Aaron Salinas (Best Supporting Actor Nominee, CC7D) and Luis Zaragosa.

Oct 25 – “Improvisational Basics” with Heraclio Gonzalez, Jr., B.A. (TAMUK), H.M. King HS Theatre teacher

Nov 20 – “Mime Basics” with Michael Verderber, M.A. (TAMUK), Lecturer at TAMUK

Dec 4 – “Poetic Writing” with Julio Martinez, B.A. (TAMUK)

 (pictured, Mr. Verderber’s Mime Class first held in the summer)

SPRING

February – “Movement” with Katherine Orozco, B.A. (Best Actress Nominee, San Antonio Horrific Film Festival)

March – “Proper Presentation” with Nicholas Zaragosa

TBA – “Flyer Design and Production” with Anissa Medina, Photography for play anthologies

Zero Untitled had a successful run at the Corpus Christi 7-Day Film Festival at the Harbor Playhouse on Saturday, September 31.  At the award ceremony held at the House of Rock a few hours after the close of the screenings, ZU brought in several nominations and a win at the festival:

Caleb Bonitz – Best Original Song (WINNER)

Megan Saenz – Best Supporting Actress (nominee)

Aaron Salinas – Best Supporting Actor (nominee)

Heraclio Gonzalez, Jr – Best First-Time Leader Award (nominee)

Full Cast – Best Ensemble (nominee)

The Kingsville premiere of the extended version will be held soon, but for now you can watch the trailer on YouTube and hear an excerpt from the award-winning song. Read more to see the video right here!

Read more