Our family has changed and grown. Here’s an update to all of the behind-the-scenes work that’s going on as we prepare to bring you G2: our new book, live show, and music.
Who and What has Changed?
New Co-lead singers
Photography | Dave Lamarand
Illustration | Ana Cruz
We’ve been fortunate to meet our two new co-lead singers: Lauren Zoeller will be playing the part of “Gertrude” and Evanne Whitten will be playing the part of “Grace.” They have wonderful voices as well as acting experience.
Director
We pretty much decided that I can’t be in two places at the same time, so Terie Spencer has agreed to direct our new live show. She has a lot of experience, is always positive, and is really easy to work with.
Steampunk Wardrobe, Hair, and Makeup
After working with Andrew Jerome Martina (costume design) and Brandie Brancheau (hair and makeup) on our Steampunk Art Magazine photoshoot, we knew they were the ones to help us take our visual performance to the next level of steampunkness.
New Live Show
Three months after starting on our new script, it’s just about complete. The new show keeps and expands the interactive portion of our show and adds more acting parts for “Gertrude,” “Grace,” and “The Bully.” Also, “The Cranks” make their first appearance as part of our show.
We’re also introducing the characters of “Seth” and “Grace’s Crazy Uncle” as acting parts. Both had seemingly minor roles in our book Gertrude and Grace. But in G2, our upcoming second book, they’re very important to the story. So, we decided to add them to our live performances.
And with the new script comes new music to help tell the story. Ten songs at this point. Our new songs are generally heavier than on our first album. But there are surprises. If you vote for Grace (Love) during our live performances, it’s now a very different experience from Gertrude (Destiny), not only in the way in which we perform the songs: the songs are completely different.
And then there’s the new set, animation, illustrations, and lighting. I’ll write about these upgrades in a future article.
If you’d like to know the details even faster, you’re invited to join the Null Paradox mailing list.
Who is Returning?
Book Creation Team
Rachel Koontz (co-author), Ana Cruz (illustrator), and Carol Stein (editor) are all back with me for another adventure writing our second book: G2 (working title).
Artists
Chris Mick and Dave Ziozios return respectively on guitars and drums. We’ve been working together on new songs and have recorded music demo tracks to 4 songs. Two more songs need some arrangement work. And the remaining 4 songs need to be completed.
Eric Scott Baker returns in an expanded acting role as “The Bully.” He’s also taken on the job of choreographer as part of the three person live production team comprised of Eric, Terie, and myself.
Ana Cruz is developing new illustrated backdrops for our live performances.
Owen Pritchard-Smith is pulling all of the illustrations and animations together into a seamless new live look with a lot more lights.
Sam Walton and is audio team are back to make sure that we sound great live.