Artsy, but moving, musical meditation on meaning of life
In many species of animal kingdom, parents evict their young from the nest once they're ready to live on their own. The Chicago theatre community seems like that sometimes - giving birth to a new play or musical that goes on to acclaim in NYC and is never again - or barely - seen back here where it began. Perhaps the most egregious example of this is August: Osage County, which premiered in 2007 in a quickly sold-out Steppenwolf run but since its Tony-Award-winning 20-month run on Broadway has been back here only in a two-week touring company run. And there's David Cromer's Our Town, first produced by The Hypocrites in 2008, which after a short remount, moved to New York the next year where it played for seven months and attracted the likes of Helen Hunt, Michael McKean and Michael Shannon among its replacement cast members. Cromer had a similar hit earlier with Adding Machine: A Musical , which had a month-long world premiere at Evanston's Next Theatre in the winter of 2007 and moved to New
This adaptation of 's 1923 expressionist play, though re-dubbed "A Musical," could just as easily be called a chamber opera. Much of it - one half- to three quarters, I'd guess - is sung-through, and the music by Joshua Schmidtcan be termed modern classical as opposed to Broadway pop. Schmidt's compositions are complex and frequently dissonant. They're completely appropriate for Rice's nightmarish tale of a man, Mr. Zero, who is so inconsequential and generic that he doesn't even warrant a number. He has a routine job adding numbers which he performs in rote fashion - exactly as he lives his life in his loveless marriage. When the "Boss" of the factory where Mr. Zero works discharges him after bringing in the new adding machines that can do his job, Mr. Zero kills the boss, is convicted of murder and executed. The story follows him to the afterlife, where he is briefly happy before his soul is refreshed and recycled to be used in another living being. It's a thoughtful and a funny meditation on the meaning of life and death - and the most logical prediction of the afterlife that I, for one, have ever heard.
Director Geoff Button stages the musical at breakneck speed with props and set pieces - like Zero's dinner table and workplace desks - flying on and off to suggest the monotonous routine of Mr. Zero's life. There is a risk in presenting a story about monotony - the first 15 minutes or so of the musical are indeed monotonous. The first minute or two are literally so - as we hear just a single note played over and over. After these early establishing scenes, though, the piece becomes varied and entertaining. While it's the sort of thing that I guess can still be called "avant-garde," it's challenging but mostly accessible. The characters - though broadly drawn and symbolic - connect on a human level thanks to the performances of Button's cast. Patrick du Laney's Zero, as he should be, is initially mechanical and seemingly in a stupor, but as circumstances progress we see his sadness and regret for his wasted life. Same with his wife (Kelli Harrington), who though she is cold to him in the early scenes, shows genuine grief upon losing him to his death sentence. Neala Barron touchingly plays a co-worker with a secret crush on Zero that is not expressed until they meet up in the afterlife.
This symbolic world (and other-world) is presented simply but starkly through the stunning work of scenic designer Lauren Nigri, lighting designer and costume designer Izumi Inaba. A three-piece band, under the musical direction of Matt Deitchman, is all that's needed to accompany the marvelous voices of this cast in singing Schmidt's challenging music.
Entertaining it is - light entertainment it's not. Going into it with expectations of a piece that will challenge audiences, one will have a rewarding experience at this philosophical and humanistic look at our lives in this industrialized society. Thanks to The Hypocrites for bringing it back to Chicago.
Adding Machine: The Musical continues through May 15th at The Den Theatre, 1333 N. Milwaukee (map), with performances Thursdays-Saturdays at 7:30pm, Sundays 3pm. Tickets are $28-$36, and are available by phone (872-205-6525) or online through Tix.com (Half-price tickets available at ). More information at The-Hypocrites.com. (Running time: 95 minutes, no intermission)
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), Jonah D. Winston (Mr. One).
behind the scenes
Geoff Button (director), Katie Spelman (choreographer), Matt Deitchman (music director), Lauren Nigri (scenic design), Izumi Inaba (costume design), (lighting design), , Brandon Reed (sound design), Eleanor Kahn (properties design), Ellen Morris (associate music director), Amanda Kroiss (associate choreographer), Evan Cope (production manager), Pat Fries (Hypocrites production manager), Jacob Palmer (technical director), Justine B. Palmisano (stage manager), Tristan Chiruvolu (asst. stage manager), Matthew Gregory Hollis (photos)
Tags: 16-0355, Amanda Kroiss, Andres Enriquez, Bear Bellinger, Brandon Reed, Chicago musical theater, Chicago Theater, David Cromer, Eleanor Kahn, Ellen Morris, Elmer Rice, Evan Cope, Geoff Button, Izumi Inaba, Jacob Palmer, Jason Loewith, Joe Court, John Olson, John Taflan, Jonah D. Winston, Joshua Schmidt, Justine B. Palmisano, Katie Spelman, Kelli Harrington, Laura McClain, Lauren Nigri, Matt Deitchman, Matthew Gregory Hollis, Mike Durst, Neala Barron, Pat Fries, Patrick Du Laney, post, The Den Theatre, The Hypocrites, Tristan Chiruvolu, Tyler Brown
Category: 2016 Reviews, Den Theatre, Hypocrites Theatre, John Olson, Musical
