The Hypocrites’ ADDING MACHINE: A Musical – March 18 – May 15, 2016 at The Den Theatre’s Heath Main Stage
This spring, The Hypocrites are pleased to bring the award winning, Off-Broadway musical hit ADDING MACHINE: A Musical back to Chicago where it first premiered. Directed by Geoff Button, with music direction by Matt Deitchman and choreography by Katie Spelman, this heartbreaking musical adaptation of Elmer Rice’s play The Adding Machine features music by Joshua Schmidt and book and lyrics by Jason Loewith and Schmidt. ADDING MACHINE: A Musical will play March 18 – May 15, 2016 at The Den Theatre’s Heath Main Stage, 1329 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood. Tickets are current available at www.the-hypocrites.com.
ADDING MACHINE: A Musical will feature Neala Barron, Bear Bellinger, Tyler Brown, Patrick Du Laney, Andres Enriquez, Kelli Harrington, Laura McClain, John Taflan and Jonah D. Winston.
ADDING MACHINE: A Musical tells the story of Mr. Zero, a modern-day everyman. He hates his wife, he hates his job, he hates his lot in life. After a lifetime spent adding figures for the same company, he comes to work one day only to find he’s been replaced by a machine. ADDING MACHINE: A Musical is an expressionistic story of murder, salvation, and internalized oppression.
ADDING MACHINE: A Musical received its world premiere in 2007 at Next Theatre in Evanston, where co-writer Jason Loewith served as Artistic Director, under the direction of David Cromer. The musical opened Off-Broadway in 2008, where it received numerous nominations and awards including the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Musical and the Outer Critics Circle Awards for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical and Outstanding New Score.
The production team for ADDING MACHINE: A Musical includes: Lauren Nigiri (scenic design), Izumi Inaba (costume design), Mike Durst (lighting design), Joe Court and Brandon Reed (sound design), Eleanor Kahn (properties design), Ellen Morris (associate music director), Amanda Kroiss (associate choreographer), Pat Fries (production manager), Jacob Palmer (technical director), Justine Palmisano (stage manager) and Tristan Chiruvolu (asst. stage manager).
PRODUCTION DETAILS:
Title: ADDING MACHINE: A Musical
Music by: Joshua Schmidt
Book and Lyrics by: Jason Loewith & Joshua Schmidt
Director: Geoff Button
Music Director: Matt Deitchman
Choreographer: Katie Spelman
Cast: Neala Barron (Daisy), Bear Bellinger (Shrdlu), Tyler Brown (Mrs. Two), Patrick Du Laney (Mr. Zero), Andres Enriquez (Boss/Charles/Fixer), Kelli Harrington (Mrs. Zero), Laura McClain (Mrs. One), John Taflan (Mr. Two) and Jonah D. Winston (Mr. One).
Location: The Den Theatre’s Heath Main Stage, 1329 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago
Dates: Previews: Friday, March 18 at 8 pm, Saturday, March 19 at 8 pm, Sunday, March 20 at 3 pm, Wednesday, March 23 at 8 pm, Thursday, March 24 at 8 pm, Friday, March 25 at 8 pm and Saturday, March 26 at 8 pm
Press Performance: Monday, March 28 at 7 pm
Regular Run: Friday, April 1 – Sunday, May 15, 2016
Curtain Times: Fridays at 8 pm; Saturdays at 3 pm & 8 pm; Sundays at 3 pm.
Tickets Prices: Previews: $28. Regular run: $36. Students: $15. Groups of 8 or more: $18 per person. Tickets are currently available at www.the-hypocrites.com.
About the Creative Team
Geoff Button (Director) is a member of The Hypocrites’ Artistic Council, and directed their productions of Into the Woods, Coriolanus, Desire Under the Elms, True West (Non-Equity Jeff Nominations – Best Play, Best Director), and his own original adaptation of Three Sisters. He received his MFA in Theater Directing from Northwestern University, where he directed Angels in America: Millennium Approaches, The Who’s Tommy and Spring Awakening. Around Chicago he’s directed at Mary Arrchie (Harold Pinter’s The Homecoming), Strawdog (State of the Union), Depaul University (I Am Bradley Manning by Sarah Gubbins), North Park University (Urinetown) and the Side Project (Sean Graney’s Sugarward). Also an actor, he has performed in several Hypocrites’ productions, including All Our Tragic (Equity Jeff Awards – Best Midsize Play, Best Ensemble), Sophocles: Seven Sicknesses, Woyzeck, Mud, Balm in Gilead and Equus (Non-Equity Jeff – Best Actor). He is currently teaching at the Chicago Academy for the Arts, and assistant directing Barbara Gaines’ upcoming history cycle, Tug of War, for Chicago Shakespeare Theater.
Matt Deitchman (Music Director) returns to The Hypocrites where he previously music directed and orchestrated Into The Woods. Deitchman is an actor, composer, music director and multi-instrumentalist whose Chicago credits include: The Man Who Murdered Sherlock Holmes (Mercury Theater); La Révolution Française (FWD Theater Project); Road Show, Seussical, Shrek, Murder For Two (Chicago Shakespeare Theater); The Who’s Tommy (Paramount Theater); Wonderland (Chicago Children’s Theater); Spring Awakening, October Sky, The King and I, Hero (Marriott Theater); Spelling Bee (Drury Lane); Spelling Bee (Griffin Theater); She Kills Monsters, Ghost Bike (Buzz22 Chicago); Parade (BoHo Theater). He will be serving as the music director and bandleader of Chicago Shakespeare’s landmark history cycle Tug Of War, and is the composer of multiple new musicals in development.
Katie Spelman (Choreographer) returns to The Hypocrites where she has also choreographed American Idiot, Pirates of Penzance, The Mikado and Into the Woods. Other Chicago credits include James Joyce’s The Dead, The Secret Garden (Court Theatre); Oklahoma!, RENT, In the Heights, Hair (Paramount Theatre); JUNO (Timeline); Bellboys, Bears and Baggage (Redmoon); Idomeneus, Theories of the Sun (Sideshow Theatre Company); Fanny Brice (Asolo Repertory); Down and Derby (The New Colony); The Fly Honey Show (The Inconvenience); and Cabaret, Spelling Bee, The Who’s Tommy (Northwestern University). New York: What’s It All About? (New York Theatre Workshop, Associate Director); Brooklynite (Vineyard Theatre, Associate Choreographer); Once (Broadway, 1st National Tour – Associate Movement Director) Pulp Verite (NYU, Movement Director). London: What’s It All About? (Associate Director, Menier Chocolate Factory) and Close To You (Associate Director, West End).
About The Hypocrites
Artistic Director Sean Graney created The Hypocrites in 1997. The company is currently run by Graney and Executive Director Kelli Strickland. One of Chicago’s premier off-Loop theater companies, The Hypocrites specializes in mounting bold productions that challenge preconceptions and redefining the role of the audience. The company has a reputation in Chicago for creating exciting, surprising and deeply engaging theater as it re-interprets classics and tackles ambitious new works.
Their recent production of Graney’s All Our Tragic, a twelve-hour adaptation combining all 32 surviving Greek Tragedies, garnered the company six 2015 Equity Jeff Awards in its first year of eligibility. Graney’s musical adaptations of Gilbert & Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance, The Mikado and H.M.S. Pinafore have become audience and critic favorites, being remounted numerous times in Chicago as well as going on tour to American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.), Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville and Olney Theater Center. The company has grown significantly in the past few years, receiving acclaim for productions at the Steppenwolf Garage, Goodman Theatre, Museum of Contemporary Art, DCASE Storefront, Chopin Theater and nationally at American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.), Berkeley Repertory Theatre and Actors Theatre of Louisville.
The American Theatre Wing, best known as the creator of the Tony Awards, presented The Hypocrites with one of the 2013 National Theatre Company awards. The company’s smash-hit production of Our Town, directed by David Cromer, transferred in 2009 to Off-Broadway, Los Angeles and Boston. Since the company’s founding, The Hypocrites have produced over sixty mainstage productions and a dozen festival pieces, securing thirty-one Non-Equity Joseph Jefferson awards, six Equity Joseph Jefferson awards and two After Dark Awards.
The Hypocrites’ 19th season is supported by The Alphawood Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, The MacArthur Funds for Arts and Culture at The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, Brenda and James Grusecki Family Foundation, Dr. Scholl Foundation, The Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation, The Jordan and Jean Nerenberg Fund for the Future, The Ann Barzel and Patrick Henry Arts Fund, 3Arts, The Negaunee Foundation, Nixon Peabody, The Reva and David Logan Foundation.
This program partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.
For more information, please visit www.the-hypocrites.com