Extinction Fantasies is all done (Abbey Hoffman Festival was an insane closer!) but I just got a hold of the press photos and thought I'd post them here. Enjoy.



Standoff at the top of the show.


We're a cute couple...


... except when we're not.


Poptarts: official candle-warmed food of the apocalypse.


Images courtesy of Paul Martinez / Tympanic Theatre.

Sometime in the distant past, I think it was April, I told myself I was going to take a break for the summer. Well, that didn't end up happening. Here's a brief rundown of what I've been up to since my last big update:

In the spring I kept busy playing Sampson in Romeo and Juliet at Chase Park Theatre, and simultaneously playing Red Samurai in The Rise of Emperor Eric at Gorilla Tango. These two shows could not have possibly have been more different. One is, of course, Shakespeare, and the other was a brand spankin' new "kung fu absurdist comedy". Both shows did really well, with Romeo and Juliet packing the house for the duration of the run, and ...Eric getting reader recommended for the general hilarity and awesomeness of the show, as well as the comical fight choreography of yours truly.

All the while I started taking classes at The Green Room Studio, which has been an incredible experience. The Green Room is run and operated by current and former casting directors from the Chicago scene. The focus is on commercial technique and these guys really know their stuff. Having taken a couple levels of classes with them, I now feel equipped for any commercial audition.

After ...Eric ended I immediately started rehearsing for Extinction Fantasies with Tympanic Theatre Company. This was another big transition, as I went from an ensemble role in a comedy to a lead role in a more dramatic show. The show also had good reviews and was a great experience. I'm now rehearsing Apocalypso! with Point of Contention, which opens September 9th at the Boho theatre space in Rogers Park.

After that, I'll be performing in A Klingon Christmas Carol with Commedia Beauregard at the Greenhouse Theater Center here in Chicago. Nope, not a joke. AKCC is the only play written entirely in the Klingon language, with supertitles so the audience knows what's going on. And in the spring, I'm performing in Soul Samurai with Infusion Theatre Company at the newly renovated Theatre Wit space!

I'm getting tired just typing this - taking a break has definitely not happened, but I've been pretty productive. More updates to come as these shows get closer. Damn, wasn't I going to record an album this year? Not enough hours in the day...

Did some voice acting today with www.tipyourwaiter.org - big thanks to Bil, Lance, and Trevor! Had a really good time. The project was acting out hate mail written about various people and sent into tipyourwaiter.org. The audio will be edited in with music, video images, and other cool stuff. The finished product should be pretty interesting. Here's me and Bil at work:



In other news, just auditioning, auditioning, auditioning. Looks like I'm doing fight scenes in a production of Romeo and Juliet, but other than that I'm not sure yet. Oh and starting this month I'm taking an on-camera acting class at Green Room Studio here in Chicago, which has come highly recommended. Very exciting stuff, I really can't wait to get started.

Annnnnnnd still working on the album. Actually having thoughts about expanding from a solo act into a group, maybe a trio? More to come...

Oh yeah! St. Paddy's coming up soon! If it's as cool this year as it was back in 2008 in Seoul, then I'll be pretty excited about that. Somehow this past version of me doesn't seem convinced. We'll see!

This week I am opening two shows:

Aelita/Shiny Boxes

These are two brand new plays presented together, and I’m in the second one. Working with the folks at Dream has been a really good experience overall and I’m incredibly excited about this show. I can’t recommend it enough. Details:



Tonight being a dress rehearsal I got a chance to see Aelita and came away impressed. As for Shiny Boxes - I haven’t been this excited about a play in a long time. This is going to be an incredible night of theatre.

TGIF: Raw

“Dramatic and Dangerous interpretations of Vintage Sitcoms”




I’m also doing a show with my good friends Lauren Maul and Tom Bambara (as well as a great cast of brilliant improvisers.) This show is going to be friggin bananas. We’re doing improvised versions of Full House, Family Matters, Perfect Strangers, and other classic TGIF junk food TV of yesteryear - but with a sinister and hilarious edge. Details:

Saturdays at 11:30PM
February 6th, 13th, 20th and 27th
12 bucks
The Gorilla Tango Theatre
1919 N. Milwaukee (right next to the Western blue line stop)

Did I mention that I am doing live acoustic versions of all these TV theme songs as part of the show? You do NOT want to miss this...

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!

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!