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A CONCORD THEATRICALS TITLE
Full-Length Musical, Drama / 4w, 5m
Composed by Joshua Schmidt Libretto by Jason Loewith and Joshua Schmidt
Based on the play The Adding Machine by Elmer Rice
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.
Image: 2011 Odyssey Theatre Production (Enci Box)
Winner! 2008 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Musical Winner! Two 2008 Outer Critics Circle Awards, for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical and Outstanding New Score
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 show, 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: A Musical was developed and received its world premiere at the Next Theatre Company, Artistic Director Jason Loewith. The musical was produced in New York by Scott Morfee, Tom Wirtshafter and Margaret Cotter, opening at the Minetta Lane Theatre on 25 February 2008.
MR. ZERO (Tenor/Baritone) – Male, 40s-50s. “Antihero” who murders his boss after being replaced by an adding machine after 25 years on the job. MRS. ZERO (Soprano) – Female, 45. Mr. Zero's wife of 25 years. Chronic complainer and gossipy unkempt housewife. DAISY DOROTHEA DEVORE (Mezzo Soprano) – Female, middle-aged. Mr. Zero’s assistant bookkeeper, who is infatuated with him. SHRDLU (Tenor) – Male. Jailmate who bears a great amount of guilt and confides in Mr. Zero. THE BOSS (Same actor plays FIXER & CHARLES; does not sing) – Male, middle-aged.
CHORUS SOPRANO (MRS. ONE/MAE/PRISONER’S WIFE) ALTO (MRS. TWO/BETTY/MATRON) TENOR (MR. ONE/PRISONER) BASS (MR. TWO/PRISON GUARD)
Plus SATB chorus
Here and the afterlife. An American city in the 1920s.
CRITICS PICK! “A brilliant musical... gets under your skin and stays there.” – The New York Times
“Exciting and adventurous.” – New York Post
“The best new musical of 2008!” – Time Out New York
CRITICS PICK! “A brilliant musical... A superb libretto by Loewith and Schmidt and music that gets under your skin and stays there.” – The New York Times
“A marvel! Joshua Schmidt's music sneaks up on us until we are begging for more... Adding Machine dazzles!” – Bloomberg.com
“A masterpiece of expressionism... brave and bold.” – Variety
ON BREAKING CHARACTER
Mr. Zero's Journey: ADDING MACHINE, A MUSICAL by Ben Coleman November 25, 2014
Mr. Zero at Work
Freedom
Clifford Morts as Mr. Zero
Prologue: “In Numbers”
Scene 1: “Something to Be Proud Of”
Scene 2: “Harmony, Not Discord” “You Thought Wrong” “Reverie” “Movin’ Up” “In Numbers” “In Numbers (Reprise)” Scene 3: “I’d Rather Watch You” “Nice a’ You to Come Home” “The Party”
Scene 4: “Zero's Confession” “Transition to Jail”
Scene 5: “In the Jail” “Ham ’n’ Eggs” “Didn't We?” “Miss Devore” “I Was a Fool” “Shrdlu’s Gospel” “Death March”
Scene 6: “A Pleasant Place Transition” “Shrdlu's Blues” “Daisy and Zero Underscore” “Daisy's Confession” “Feel Like Dancin’” “The Flinch”
Scene 7: “In Numbers (Reprise)” “Freedom!” “The Music of the Machine” “Coda”
9 Vocal Books1 Piano-Vocal1 Full Score1 Synthesizer1 PercussionDigital Rental Items: Sound Effects and Keyboard Programming for a Juno G.
1 Piano-Vocal 9 Vocal Books
Elmer Rice (born Sept. 28, 1892, New York City—died May 8, 1967, Southampton, Hampshire, Eng.) was an American playwright, director, and novelist noted for his innovative and polemical plays. Rice graduated from the New York Law School in 1912 but soon turned to writing plays ...