Joel Hatch News

February of 2008 has turned out to be a heck of a terrific month for non-traditional and daring Off-Broadway musicals. (Do we have any more opening by tomorrow night?) Following the exhilarating Next To Normal and the entrancingly Dadaist The Blue Flower we now have Joshua Schmidt (music and libretto) and Jason Loewith's (libretto) haunting chamber piece, Adding Machine, based on Elmer Rice's 1923 Expressionist drama. To call it 'old-fashioned' would be misleading, but one of the pleasures of Adding Machine is that it recalls a time when political and social protest musicals were not uncommon among Gotham's theatrical offerings.

The critically acclaimed Off Broadway hit 'Adding Machine' will play its final performance on Sunday, July 20 at the Minetta Lane Theatre.

This Thursday, July 17, Barnes & Noble Lincoln Triangle (1972 Broadway at 66th Street, 3rd Floor) will host an afternoon with the critically acclaimed Off Broadway musical Adding Machine. The event will begin at 5:30 p.m. with a special 30 minute suite from the show, featuring the entire cast and band, followed by a cast CD signing. The performance will be hosted by special guest Austin Pendleton. Customers will have the opportunity to purchase the World Premiere PS Classics recording onsite. In addition, the recording is available wherever CD's are sold, and online at www.psclassics.com. Adding Machine will play its final performance this Sunday, July 20 at the Minetta Lane Theatre (18 Minetta Lane). After having received some of the best reviews of any musical this season (on or Off Broadway), Adding Machine was awarded 2 Outer Critics Circle Awards (Outstanding New Off Broadway Musical, Outstanding New Score), 4 Lucille Lortel Awards (including Outstanding Musical, Outstanding Director, Outstanding Lead Actor, Outstanding Lighting Design), 4 Obie Awards (plus 10 total nominations from the Drama Desk Awards and Drama League Awards, including Best Musical). Adding Machine also presented to New York to the extraordinary debut of Joshua Schmidt whose award-winning score will soon be heard in European productions, regional theaters and in opera houses around the world. Direct from a smash World Premiere at Chicago's Next Theatre Company (winning the Joseph Jefferson Award for Best New Musical), Adding Machine features a score by Joshua Schmidt and a libretto by Jason Loewith and Mr. Schmidt. Under the direction of David Cromer, Adding Machine stars Cyrilla Baer as 'Mrs. Zero,' Joel Hatch as 'Mr. Zero' and Amy Warren as 'Daisy.' The featured cast includes Joe Farrell as 'Shrdlu,' Jeff Still as the 'Boss,' Adinah Alexander as 'Mrs. Two,' Niffer Clarke as 'Mrs. One,' Roger E. DeWitt as 'Mr. Two' and Daniel Marcus as 'Mr. One.' Darkly comic and heartbreakingly beautiful, Adding Machine, a musical adaptation of Elmer Rice's incendiary 1923 play, tells the story of Mr. Zero, who after 25 years of service to his company is replaced by a mechanical adding machine. In a vengeful rage, he murders his boss. An eclectic score gives passionate and memorable voice to this stylish and stylized production, which follows Zero's journey to the afterlife in the Elysian Fields where he is met with one last chance for romance and redemption. Adding Machine is produced Off Broadway by Scott Morfee, Tom Wirtshafter and Margaret Cotter, and features scenic design by Takeshi Kata, lighting design by Keith Parham, costume design by Kristine Knanishu, sound design by Tony Smolenski, projection design by Peter Flaherty, properties design by Michele Spadaro and musical direction by J. Oconer Navarro. The album is produced by Tommy Krasker, co-founder of PS Classics. Founded in 2000 by Krasker and Philip Chaffin, and a four-time Grammy nominee (for its cast albums of Assassins, Nine: The Musical, Grey Gardens and Company), PS Classics has made significant contributions to the heritage of American popular song through its critically acclaimed cast recordings (including the current Broadway productions of Xanadu, Sunday in the Park With George and A Catered Affair); solo albums by such Broadway luminaries as Christine Andreas, Rebecca Luker, Victoria Clark, Jason Danieley and Marin Mazzie, and Jessica Molaskey; and recordings drawn from rare sound archives, including Sondheim Sings. PS Classics is distributed exclusively by Image Entertainment. For more information, visit www.psclassics.com. Situated one block south of West 3rd Street and East of 6th Avenue, the Minetta Lane Theatre is located at 18 Minetta Lane in Greenwich Village just steps away from the West 4th subway station (A, C, E, B, D, F and V lines). The performance schedule for Adding Machine is Tuesday - Friday at 8:00 p.m., Saturday at 3:00 & 8:00 p.m. and Sunday at 3:00 p.m. Tickets are $45 - $69.50 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 are available in person at the box office on the day of the performance, subject to availability. For more information, visit www.addingmachineamusical.com.

Today, Wednesday, July 9th, at 6 PM, acclaimed poet and author Nikki Giovanni will join vocalist Capathia Jenkins and songwriter Louis Rosen in a performance and signing celebrating the release of their acclaimed new CD, ONE OUNCE OF TRUTH: THE NIKKI GIOVANNI SONGS.

The full cast of the Broadway production of Billy Elliot the Musical has been announced by Universal Pictures Stage Productions, Working Title Films and Old Vic Productions in association with Weinstein Live Entertainment.

This Thursday, July 17, Barnes & Noble Lincoln Triangle (1972 Broadway at 66th Street, 3rd Floor) will host an afternoon with the critically acclaimed Off Broadway musical Adding Machine. The event will begin at 5:30 p.m. with a special 30 minute suite from the show, featuring the entire cast and band, followed by a cast CD signing.

Today, Wednesday, July 9th, at 6 PM, acclaimed poet and author Nikki Giovanni will join vocalist Capathia Jenkins and songwriter Louis Rosen in a performance and signing celebrating the release of their acclaimed new CD, ONE OUNCE OF TRUTH: THE NIKKI GIOVANNI SONGS.

The critically acclaimed Off Broadway hit 'Adding Machine' will play its final performance on Sunday, July 20 at the Minetta Lane Theatre.

The season's critically acclaimed and multi-awarded 'BEST MUSICAL'*, Adding Machine, will celebrate the release of the show's cast recording tomorrow (Tuesday, June 3) by giving everyone in the audience a free copy of the PS Classics recording of the show.

The 53rd annual Village Voice Obie Awards were presented last night at a ceremony at Webster Hall, an East Village landmark in Manhattan.

The League of Off-Broadway Theatres and Producers presented the 23rd Annual Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Achievement Off-Broadway on Monday night, May 5, 2008.

The League of Off-Broadway Theatres and Producers presented the 23rd Annual Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Achievement Off-Broadway on Monday night, May 5, 2008.

The League of Off-Broadway Theatres and Producers presented the 23rd Annual Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Achievement Off-Broadway on Monday night, May 5, 2008 at the Union Square Theatre.

The critically acclaimed Off Broadway hit Adding Machine will extend through August 31 at the Minetta Lane Theatre (18 Minetta Lane), it was announced today by the show's producers.

A cocktail reception to congratulate all of the nominees was held on April 21st at The Penthouse at American Airlines Theatre (227 West 42nd Street).

PS Classics, the label dedicated to the heritage of Broadway and American popular song, will record the original Off Broadway cast recording of Adding Machine on Monday, April 14, it was announced today by the show's producers, Scott Morfee, Tom Wirtshafter and Margaret Cotter, and Tommy Krasker, co-founder of PS Classics.

THE LEAGUE OF OFF-BROADWAY THEATRES AND PRODUCERS today announced the nominations for THE 23rd ANNUAL LUCILLE LORTEL AWARDS FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT OFF-BROADWAY, which will be presented on Monday, May 5th at the Union Square Theatre (100 East 17th Street).

An interview with Broadway star (and Maryland native) Barbara Walsh, soon to star in A Little Night Music at CENTERSTAGE.

The featured cast of the New York Premiere of Adding Machine has been announced. Adding Machine features a score by Joshua Schmidt and a libretto by Jason Loewith and Mr. Schmidt. David Cromer directs. Performances begin at the Minetta Lane Theatre on February 7, 2008, with an opening night set for Monday, February 25 (this is a change from the previously announced date of February 26).