About

USA Today: “If you love rock music and live theater, this is the best of both worlds.”

Times Herald: “Audience decides how the show ends.”

Null Paradox has been described as Evanescence meets Cirque du Soleil–all with a Steampunk twist.

Null Paradox shows are appropriate for All Ages.

What is Null Paradox?

Interactive Rock Opera

If you had to choose:  Would you choose the Love of your life (Orange) or your Destiny (purple)?

The lives of our characters depend on your decision.

 

Our story is told through our

~Live interactive rock opera
~Music
~Books

 

History

Null Paradox music album Gertrude & Grace Illustration by Ana Cruz

Null Paradox | Gertrude & Grace
Illustration by Ana Cruz

During your life, you’ll live for 2 billion seconds.
You’ll make 35 million conscious decisions.
And this decision is the one that counts.

The book, songs and live show are written about keeping the childlike wonder in ourselves, regardless of our age.  They are also about understanding that difficult decisions must be made throughout our lives including what many consider to be the ultimate decision:  Love or Destiny.

The story behind the concept of Null Paradox and what was to originally be one book, “The Onion and the Ants,” started behind the wheel of an old jet-black mustang traveling through northern Michigan, USA on a sunny afternoon.  The road was less than well-traveled and the speed, well, some would call it reckless.  Commitments to the god of “bite-off-more-than-you-can-chew” are often made during these adventures.  This one was no different.

A gig as a freelance engineer was the reason for Tom Libertiny’s trip through northern Michigan–a job he needed to help pay for college.  Four hours with just the roar of the wind and the engine as company conspired to bring together the concept of growing up, the need to make critical life decisions and, strange to some, quantum physics.  It didn’t make sense to him either at the time.  But as the miles rolled by, the idea emerged about how to look at the former two issues, ones that he was facing, from the perspective of something small.  Perhaps not even a human perspective but one that could appreciate what it meant to be human.

Years went by with the outline of the book taking place in fits and starts.  His work with a variety of musical endeavors~string quartets, rock bands, musicals~as a song, lyrics writer and multi-instrumentalist helped the book along.  Songs and lyrics became analogous to chapters in a book~each chapter a song and vice versa.

Rachel Koontz, the original editor of the first book, became both a close friend and morphed into the book’s co-author.  Which meant that Carol Stein, a long-time friend, was recruited to be the new editor.  Ana Cruz, the gifted Portuguese illustrator, brought glimpses of Gertrude & Grace to light.  (Ana’s artwork is shown throughout our website and illustrates the cover and each chapter of our limited edition book.  Her artwork also includes the design and illustration of our music albums.)

The friends that he made along his journey~Chris Mick, Dave Ziozios, Jake Rye, Dave Buzzeo, Eric Prater, Rachel Matz and Robyn Christine~brought light to the music and live show of Null Paradox.

The books continued to morph and include a world-view built on his travels with his wife Susan, their adventures together, their community service, and a place called their secret garden.

What do the songs on the first album mean?  They fill in the details of chapters in the first book–chapter-by-chapter.  The songs are arranged in the same order as the chapters in the book.  Also, all of the songs are meant to stand on their own–to set a mood through lyrics and music that makes sense outside of the context of the book.  Your own personal interpretation is highly desirable and it’s always interesting to hear about the similarities and differences between people’s interpretations of the songs.