Happy Holidays!

Happy Christmachanukwanzadon! I wish all of you a wonderful holiday filled with family laughter and peace.

**The website will be undergoing code repairs for more apt browser compatibility. When this problem is fixed the site will be viewable on most supported browsers, specifically internet explorer, which seems to have the most problems.

**Z in the Middle is hosting a bevy of events for this coming January to include Improv classes and Poetry readings. Stay tuned for dates and pricing.

Newton's Forge Audition 10/27/2006

The audition hall was everything we expected. The seating and acoustics were fabulous. Robin Manley and Brandon Adkins were a great help. Unfortunately, the promotion of the audition was not handled as well as it could have been. A lot of people seemed to find out after the audition was over. This will be corrected for the next audition, coming this weekend, November 10-11, 2006. Z in the Middle will continue to host auditions until the right people are found for Newton's Forge Theater Company. This is a new style of theater and requires a lot of effort on the actor's part to be a convincing improvisational performer. Thank you to everyone involved, we appreciate your effort.

Audition Day Pictures

Steve Perez, guitarist for Members of the Bored


Audition Hall at Godeke Library


Helpers and Performers


Fountain outside Godeke


Stage fright

Lubbock Events Newsletter *** UPDATED

***After research, I discovered there are a lot of great event letters in Lubbock. So I will leave it to the pros to do what they do best and go on to tackle other projects more closely related to my field of expertise, making stories come to life.

Z in the Middle is proud to announce a new publication due out in November. We will be publishing an events newsletter for Lubbock and the surrounding area. We are working hard to make the information as complete as possible regarding local theater, music, shows and other cultural events. Any information you can provide is appreciated. This project will feature times tables for local events, fundraising, movies and special programs and classes. We will include featurettes about local talent and organizations along with a special spotlighting an outstanding person or project in our community. Our pledge is to make this newsletter the definitive source for local entertainment.

Website Updates Complete

All of the secondary pages are updated and complete. Please check out all of our events, services and opportunities. We have many posibilities to make your play, film, or e-zine the best that it can be.

Auditions October 27, 2006 at Noon

The Newton's Forge auditions are coming up soon. We need to be notified of all special requirements for your act by October 12, 2006. The auditions will be held at Godeke Library Community Room. Please email us with any questions or comments.

Sponsor Proposal

After much debate and research Newton's Forge Sponsor Proposal is finished. We made a good effort to provide enough information and sponsor flexibility. If there are any questions or suggestions, email us and we will address them. We welcome any interest in our sponsorship packages. Thank you.

The time involved in updating the webpages was sorely misjudged. I have finished updating the majority of the secondary pages, by Friday they will all be complete. A contact section was added to all pages for clarity and easy accessibility.

Website Updates

There are many new additions to Z in the Middle. The site formatting is coming along very well. Blogger is more versatile than I thought at first. By this time next week all secondary pages will have content and a contact section will be added for public convenience. If there are any suggestions for better navigation or if there is any information that I have not included, post to us and I'll take care of it. Thanks for your responses, so far. They have helped tremendously.

Link Exchange Program

Good for you and good for us. If you place a permenant link to this site on yours I will place a permenant link to your site under Z pages. Email your link to zinthemiddle@yahoo.com, or leave your email as a comment. This information will not be posted, all comments go directly to our email. Thank you for participating.

Expanding Production Services

Please be patient with the site, as I am rewriting the code a bit to make it more user friendly, thank you.

Z in the Middle is proud to annouce we have added a number of new offices to our production services. These include a writing/editing department, new capabilities with theater production, party and event planning and additional smaller departments.

A note about the Additional Operations: These offices may seem slightly off topic for a theater and film production company, however, Z in the Middle is dedicated to making a difference in our community and hopefully around the world. We have taken on those services to fill a basic need in our community. We intentionally charge a much smaller rate than the market value because we believe that lack of funds should not exclude people from proper loving care for the most precious things in thier lives. People throughout our company help with these operations and maybe we can help someone who needs it.

New Logo by Brandon Adkins

The logo concept did not transfer as well as expected to pixels. Still, it's a great logo for our company. I'm sure the professional printing will not be so choppy. Another valued assistant to Z in the Middle Productions, thank you Brandon. If you are intersted in more of his designs, visit his blog here.

Open Auditions, Friday October 27, 2006

Open Acting and Talent Auditions for Newton's Forge Theater Company.
Friday, October 27, 2006
12-4pm

Godeke Library Community Room
6601 Quaker Ave.
Lubbock, Texas 79413

Expect to spend at least an hour. You will have 15 minutes stage time and an interview afterwards. Please bring your id and resume, along with a prepared monologue or talent act. Please print and complete the questionnaire on the Audition Standards and Reqirements page and bring it with you. Copies will be provided at the audition if you do not have printer capabilities.

Concerning talent acts: If you require any services for your act notify us by October 12, 2006 for accommodation possibilities. This includes wall plugs, speakers, microphones, rigging, sets, space for preparation, lighting, anything else you would require to perform your act. If we are not notified then it is assumed you will be able to walk in and perform with no set up or preparation.

For any questions please leave a comment with your contact information and we will get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you for your interest and good luck.

What is "From the Fire to the Family"?

"From the Fire to the Family" is an original script by Z in the Middle productions. This will be our fifth stage play, and the best idea so far. This is a story based on the Comedia del Arte style of improvisational acting and playing toward each different audience. This story needs actors that are able to gauge audience reaction and alter their actions accordingly with the ability to stay within the parameters of the script. The script is constantly evolving and becoming more adept to audience interaction and suspension of disbelief. The core plot of our story is about an aging criminal hoping to name his son as successor to the crime family, unfortunately his son has just proposed to a woman that will have nothing to do with him if he agrees to a life of crime. Along side this major plot theme there are a variety of other entertaining subplots that will flesh out the characters and bring in new ideas for future performances.

Newton's Forge is focused on improving the theater experience by creating a running dialogue with the audience and involving them in the show by giving them a character to play from their seat. This character will be a simple organization of plot points that the actors will respond to and may lead to other small side plots for the audience member to be involved in. With this audience/character interaction, we give them the power over the plot by deciding the fate of our story heroine. The audience members, based on their experience, will be the tipping point for her life or death in the third act. Some nights she will live and most nights she will die. Point being, the play will be different every night and encourage people to attend again and again to see the unexpected changes. Along with the audience changing the play, our script writers will be rewriting the show often to improve story concept and integration into the theater medium. As an actor you will be required to rehearse before every show to inform yourself of the night's changes.

It is our goal to make this style a respectable and flourishing idea mill for future stage plays and new media concepts.

Business Overhaul

Z in the Middle is currently under a business operations overhaul. A stratiegic invertory has been in the works for the past week and will continue as long as it takes. Our bookeeping is changing to a new system, along with new business management software and website capabilities. We are also revamping our business and marketing strategies to create a better awareness of our business identity.

This is in a positive effort to reduce production costs and define trouble areas for a better assesment of future financial capabilities. We are also expanding our productions to include sound craft and filmmaking. This requires more man hours and better facilities which we are working towards.

"From the Fire to the Family"

Newton's Forge current project, "From the Fire to the Family", is an educational theater experiment. It is our goal to perfect a new kind of theater play and take it on tour for America to experience. In order to reach our production goal we have to practice and to practice this kind of theater we need an audience. We will hold plays the first year to educate our troupe with the audience experience. Our shows will improve from day to day, with experience and trouble shooting we will perfect this theater environment to be most effective with audience interaction and suspension of disbelief.

This project is an innovative style of theater production that will require many hours of work and creative intelligence. Newton's Forge is currently recruiting the proper staff to engage our audience and this new improvisational style will be perfected to the point of optimal performance and story quality.

We appreciate any support or constructive feedback to help take this troupe on tour with our improv stories.

Z in the Middle Background History

Z in the Middle started out as Emerald Coast Live Action West in March of 1999. As Emerald Coast we ran four shows a month for over two years at various Lubbock locations including Texas Tech and Mad Hatter's House of Games. Thanks again for the space. In 2000, our co-founders returned to Florida and I took over full management responsibility. Soon after the name was changed to Z in the Middle. I hired new people and we shortened the shows to twice a month in 2001, for another year and a half. June of 2002, we began our first screenplay, "Sight". After almost a year in research for proper formatting and distribution, the story began to take form and in November of 2004 the pre-production draft was finished. Due to school, time and money constraints the script has yet to leave it's notebook. As part of our business plan, we will make "Sight" a reality by year end of 2008. Presently we are organizing a new acting troupe, Newton's Forge. This company is slated for an original play in the modern form of Comedia del Arte, "From the Fire into the Family".

Along side these major projects Z in the Middle is producing and coordinating other works, an anthology of original short stories and poems, “Minute Shorts", screenplays "Birthday Box" and "Documentary: William the Bastard", and a one woman play, "One Day".

We have created two newsletters, designed numerous flyers and business cards. We have designed advertising promotions, letterheads, office documents, set blueprints, lighting arrangements, and costumes for other independent businesses. We ran a soda fountain, set up private party performances and organized many private group activities. We also plan parties and events for private households, including casino nights and interactive theater. With our production company we provide a myriad of different services for events, plays, films, and private parties.


In an effort to expand our production capabilities we are currently working on a sound team and composing original soundtracks for our plays and movies. Also, we will be adding an advertising department for greater media expansion.

Newton's Forge Project Notice

Z in the Middle Productions
is proud to present the
Newton's Forge Theater Company
in
"From the Fire into the Family"

Introduction:
Our troupe will enlighten even the most jaded theatre aficionado to a new kind of improvisational audience interaction. Armed with our organized and well established arsenal of plot progressing scenes, we will entice the audience to put on the fabled actor robe and become part of the story. Each ticket holder will be provided with a card stating their role in the performers actions and bound by duty and sheer excitement the audience will now decide the fate of our mischievous heroine. From their actions and the guided reactions of our troupe the story progresses in two hours time to reveal a paradigm shift that will promise to awe our active guests. Thus resulting in a powerful conclusion of improvised mediation and admonition.