Tickets go on sale Dec. 22. The musical with a score by Joshua Schmidt and a libretto by Jason Loewith and Schmidt comes direct from a hit world premiere run by Evanston, Illinois' Next Theatre Company. That Chicago-area production won a 2007 Jeff Award in the category of Best New Work – Musical.
David Cromer (Orson's Shadow) directs. Opening at Greenwich Village's Minetta Lane Theatre (at 18 Minetta Lane) is Feb. 26.
Adding Machine will feature Joel Hatch as Mr. Zero, Cyrilla Baer as his wife Mrs. Zero, and Amy Warren as his devoted co-worker Miss Devore — all reprising their roles from the original production.
The Off-Broadway production is produced by Scott Morfee, Tom Wirtshafter and Margaret Cotter. Further casting of the nine-character chamber musical will be announced shortly.
According to the producers, "Grimly comic and heartbreakingly beautiful, Adding Machine tells the story of Mr. Zero, a nameless cog in American business, as he journeys through life, death, and an afterlife romance in the Elysian Fields. After 25 years of exemplary work, Mr. Zero finds that his pencil and paper efforts have been replaced by a mechanical adding machine. In a rage, Mr. Zero decides to exact revenge by murdering his boss. A modern and eclectic score gives passionate and memorable voice to this stylish and stylized production." Adding Machine premiered at the Next Theatre Company in February 2007 and quickly became a critical and audience hit, earning five Joseph Jefferson Award nominations.
Adding Machine will feature set design by Takeshi Kata, costume design by Kristine Knanishu, lighting design by Keith Parham, projections by Peter Flaherty and sound design by Tony Smolenski.
The performance schedule for Adding Machine is Tuesday-Friday at 8 PM, Saturday at 3 & 8 PM and Sunday at 3 PM.
Tickets are $65 and are available by calling the Minetta Lane Theatre box office at (212) 420-8000 or through Ticketmaster at (212) 307-4100 or by visiting www.ticketmaster.com.
A limited number of $25 student rush tickets will be available in person at the box office on the day of the performance, subject to availability. For more information visit www.addingmachinethemusical.com.
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Josh Schmidt (composer/co-librettist) is a Milwaukee-based composer/sound designer. His work has been featured at Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Writers Theatre In Glencoe, Next Theatre, Northlight Theatre and Seanachai Theatre Company (Chicago), Alley Theatre (Houston), Kennedy Center and Ford’s Theatre (Washington DC), Public Theatre (associate design), Builders Association (associate design), Jean Cocteau Rep and Genesius Theatre Guild (NYC), Bard College (NY), South Coast Repertory (CA), American Players Theatre (Spring Green), Madison Rep and UW-Madison (Madison), Milwaukee Rep, Milwaukee Ballet, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Milwaukee Shakespeare, Renaissance Theaterworks, Bialystock and Bloom, Next Act Theatre, Theatre X, In Tandem, Wild Space Dance Company and UW-Milwaukee Theatre and Dance (Milwaukee). He is a recipient of the 2003-2005 NEA/TCG Career Development Program Award and was named one of nine emerging designers in Entertainment/Design Magazine in 2004. He has received four Joseph Jefferson Award nominations and two Jeffs for his composition/sound design work in Chicago.
Jason Loewith (co-Librettist) is a Jeff and After Dark award-winning producer, director and writer. As artistic director of Chicago's Next Theatre Company since 2002, he has directed the area premieres of plays by John Patrick Shanley, Christopher Durang, Lynn Nottage, Paula Vogel and many others. Prior to the Next, he spent two years as artistic administrator at Chicago’s Court Theatre and five years as general manager/dramaturg at Off-Broadway's Classic Stage Company. He serves on advisory boards for New York’s Red Bull Theatre and Synapse Productions and Philadelphia’s Flashpoint Theater. Other directing credits include his own play Bert Brecht Before the House Un-American Activities Committee for HERE, the New York International Fringe Festival and workshops of his own adaptations at CSC.
Director David Cromer's credits include Orson's Shadow (Barrow Street Theatre, Steppenwolf, Williamstown, Alley, Westport), The Clean House (Alley), The Grapes of Wrath (Ford's Theatre) and more.
