The truth about Santa and puppets

Well, one show ends and another begins. Thanks to everyone who came out and made Giving Thanks to the Music such a fun show to play. All the musicians played great sets and it was good to see everyone coming out and having a good time. As always, sign up on the mailing list to get notified about upcoming shows.

The show that’s just begun is a night of new plays called The Feats of Strength. The theme is surviving the holidays and the shows are all a really good time. (If you want to know how this relates to the title of this entry, you better just come and see...) We’re performing at Strawdog Theatre and the show is being put on by Dramatis Personae, a new(ish) Chicago theatre company led by my buddy Tim Bambara, who actually was my TA in Basic Acting class many moons ago back at JMU. Dramatis Personae is all about working with Chicago playwrights and giving this city a voice, hence all the new plays. It’s good to be doing comedy again after my last show, which was, well, pretty friggin serious. Anyways here’s the flyer for The Feats of Strength:




(PSSSSST. I know the code to get tickets for only 10 bucks! Ask me!)


Also on the horizon, I am doing a new play at Dream Theatre called Shiny Boxes, which will open early next year. Dream Theatre has a great rep for its otherworldy and sometimes unsettling plays, frequently written by company members and other Chicago playwrights. They’ve gotten a bunch of Jeff recommendations for their work and I’m excited to be doing a show with Anna Weiler and company.

And finally, I’ve recently gotten my headshots re-done and updated my resume. Bounce over to the acting page to check it out.

Happy Holidays!

Big show coming up November 22nd!

I’ve got a big show coming up!

Myself and four incredible musicians will be taking the stage at Studio BE here in Chicago, November 22nd, for a damn fine get-down before turkey day. Studio BE is a a multi-purpose theatre venue and it’s also BYOB!!! Located right around the corner from Belmont Red Line at 3110 N. Sheffield Ave, and almost across the street from the Vic Theatre. Featuring the talents of:

Sincerely, Iris - Singer-songwriter Todd Murray is going to start the evening with his seasoned folk-blues stylings, not to be missed.
Tiffany Strietelmeier - Tiff will be there with her band, playing some incredible stuff and promoting her new CD coming out in December!
Lauren Maul and her Songs for Children (which, uh, aren’t really for children - but they are friggin hilarious.)
Alive Day - Dan Arrecis, the force behind this local Chicago powerhouse will be doing a solo acoustic set!
And of course, me.

You can get tickets online at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/87256
or just click

HERE.

Oh, and my long rumored debut CD might just get released that night as well... stay tuned for details.

A little here, a little there

SO we just wrapped up the US premiere of Zero over at Oracle Theatre. What a great experience! I got to break back into the theatre scene with a great storefront theatre, a great play, a great cast and crew... the list goes on. If you missed it, no worries, I’ll be in something else soon.

And another case of right place, right time. Our fight choreographer for Zero was Rick Barrows. As the fight captain for the show, I happened to get into a discussion with him about my intent to study stage combat - it’s really the synthesis of my martial arts experience (two black belts and my time in Thailand) and my acting experience. I guess Rick saw that I was serious and shortly after working together he offered to be my stage combat instructor! Along with my good friend David Boren, I have been learning all manner of combat, both armed and unarmed, for about a month. We’re just getting started and always looking forward to the next session with Rick, who is incredibly experienced and highly skilled in performing and teaching the techniques of stage combat. Dave and I intend to stick with it and later this year we aim to take the Skills Proficiency Test administered by the Society of American Fight Directors. Needless to say, I feel incredibly blessed to have the opportunity to train with Rick and Dave!

Aside from all that, there’s news on the music side of things. A couple months ago I entered a contest to win free studio time at Gravity Studios, a professional studio here in Chicago. Well I didn’t come in first, but I was offered a GREAT DEAL on studio time, which I intend to take them up on as soon as I can. I’ve also finally got my myspace page up and running at myspace.com/zachlivingstonmusic. Take a look! I currently have five songs available - there’s plenty enough for an album waiting in the wings, and I’ll put more songs up in time. Also on myspace, I’ve entered a contest called Rock the Space - I submitted my best song, and the grand prize is a record contract with Myspace Records and 10,000 bucks worth of Fender gear! You can actually help me win this thing - hop over to the Songwriter page for more info on that.

Other than that I’ve been playing small shows and open mics here and there, always with great response. In particular, I played an open mic at Uncommon Ground on Clark a few weeks ago and wound up coming in first place! (Hilariously enough, I wasn’t even aware it was a competition before I showed up.) That got me a spot in the Open Mic Semi-Finals on Monday, July 6th, 7:30pm at Uncommon Ground on Clark. If I move on from there, I will be in the FINALE at Uncommon Ground on Devon on July 8th at 7:30pm, and if I win that, I walk away with a thousand bucks! Needless to say, I’m pretty friggin’ pumped. If you’d like to come cheer me on, please do! It’d be slick to call ahead and make a reservation for a table though, since both locations get PACKED. I have the phone numbers up on the main page.

That’s about it for now. Please take a look at the myspace page, listen to the songs, feel free to leave comments, friend me, all that sorta thing. I also have a fan page up on Facebook - both are great ways to hear about upcoming shows and more news.

I hope everybody is happy and healthy!

Back by (popular?) demand

Here we are folks. The site is reborn and the blog is back in action. After relocating to Chicago this past fall, I am pursuing my career in the arts in earnest. The website will still have this blog, but now-a-days it will also be a showcase for my creative endeavors and calling cards - headshots, demos and all that sort of thing. I’ll do a more general update on what’s going on at a later date. Watch this space!