Windy City Media Group Frontpage News

THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

home search facebook twitter join
Gay News Sponsor Windy City Times 2023-12-13
DOWNLOAD ISSUE
Donate

Sponsor
Sponsor
Sponsor

  WINDY CITY TIMES

Theater: The Adding Machine
2007-02-14

This article shared 4064 times since Wed Feb 14, 2007
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email


The Adding Machine. Pic by Michael Brosilow.

_________

Playwrights: Jason Loewith and Joshua Schmidt; Composer: Joshua Schmidt

At: Next Theatre at Noyes Cultural Arts Center, 927 Noyes, Evanston

Phone: 847-475-1875; $20-$31

Through March 4

BY SCOTT C. MORGAN

'Wow!'

That's what the guy next to me kept on saying throughout Next Theatre Company's world-premiere musical adaptation of The Adding Machine. For all I know he could have been a plant to influence critical opinion, but I found myself constantly echoing his sentiments ( albeit silently ) .

Simply put, Next Theatre's The Adding Machine is a theatrical revelation. The fact that it comes in such a compact and chamber-sized package is also a stunner.

Elmer Rice's 1923 drama of a culpable drone worker crushed by the cogs of capitalism and advancing technology is heralded as a hallmark of American expressionistic drama. It's not a work to move you emotionally, but a thought-provoker that remains as relevant today with the accelerating threat of jobs becoming outmoded or outsourced.

A major drawback of Rice's original is its three-hour running time, prohibitively trying for today's short-attention-span audiences. Thank heavens for Next artistic director Jason Loewith's obsession with The Adding Machine and his desire to downsize it into a manageable 95-minute musical.

To flesh out his vision, Loewith found a marvelous compatriot in composer and co-librettist in Joshua Schmidt. His score straddles the line between opera and musical theater, shifting from jagged atonal outbursts and ramblings to sentimental period love ballads that masterfully reflect the shifting moods, inner thoughts and situations of the characters. His orchestral economy is also noteworthy, since there are just three musicians ( including musical director Jeremy Ramey ) responsible for producing the expansive-sounding score.

This incisive reduction of Rice's original play paired with Schmidt's eclectic score actually proves the case of when less truly is more. The same can be said of the stark cinematic staging of director David Cromer and lighting designer Keith Parham. Their created shadowy film noir world is articulated by the moody lighting that pierces through the play's emotionally involving bleakness.

The Adding Machine is also stuffed with startling images and set pieces by designer Matthew J. York, ranging from the overhead bed shot that opens with Mr. Zero's nattering wife to a moldering wall that claustrophobically encloses the characters. Kristine Knanishu's color-sapped costumes are also spot on to the period.

The entire ensemble puts the final touches on bringing The Adding Machine to life, with plenty of remarkable work from Joel Hatch as the dull-headed everyman Mr. Zero, Cyrilla Baer as his wife and Amy Warren as his unrequited love interest in life Miss Devore. There are times when they sound a bit strained with Schmidt's rangy score, but they all act the hell out of the material.

The Adding Machine is definitely one of those homegrown Chicago-area shows that will make you proud to boast, 'I saw it here first.' See it to secure your boasting rights now before future productions of The Adding Machine start replicating 'Wows!' all over.


This article shared 4064 times since Wed Feb 14, 2007
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email

Out and Aging
Presented By

  ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Gay News

THEATER 'Mamma Mia!' returns to Chicago with 'Daddyhunt' star Jim Newman 2024-04-24
- "Who's your daddy?" That's the key plot question driving the global hit Mamma Mia! The global smash jukebox musical famously features the song hits of Swedish pop group ABBA, and it returns for a three-week run ...


Gay News

Local queer opera composer premiering her first show, a coming-of-age tale with LGBTQ+ themes 2024-04-23
- A Lake View woman is debuting her first opera as a composer, a coming-of-age story with LGBTQ+ themes. Gillian Rae Perry, a fellow with the Chicago Opera Theater's Vanguard program for emerging artists, composed The Weight ...


Gay News

The importance of becoming Ernest: Out actor Christopher Sieber dishes about the Death Becomes Her musical 2024-04-20
- Out and proud actor Christopher Sieber is part of the team bringing Death Becomes Her to life as a stage musical in the Windy City this spring. Sieber plays Ernest Menville, who was originally portrayed by ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Celine Dion, 'The People's Joker,' Billy Porter, Patti LuPone, 'Strange Way' 2024-04-19
- I Am: Celine Dion will stream on Prime Video starting June 25, according to a press release. The film is described as follows: "Directed by Academy Award nominee Irene Taylor, I Am: Celine Dion gives us ...


Gay News

Kokandy Productions now accepting submissions for Chicago Musical Theater Fest returning Aug. 8-11 2024-04-18
--From a press release - CHICAGO (April 18, 2024) — Kokandy Productions is pleased to open submissions for the 2024 Chicago Musical Theatre Festival, returning this summer following a four-year hiatus. Kokandy is thrilled to ...


Gay News

THEATER Blue in the Right Way's 'Women Beware Women' offers feminist, trans take on a troubling Jacobean tragedy 2024-04-18
- "Problematic" is a great go-to adjective to describe Women Beware Women. This 1621 Jacobean tragedy is by English playwright Thomas Middleton, who is probably best remembered as a collaborator with William Shakespeare on their pessimistic tragedy ...


Gay News

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago announces programs for May 17-19 season finale 2024-04-17
--From a press release - CHICAGO — Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (HSDC) announced program selections for Spring Series: Of Joy, the final installment of Season 46, Abundance. The engagement will include four unique works, once ...


Gay News

LGBTQ+ film fest Queer Expression to feature Alexandra Billings in 'Queen Tut' 2024-04-12
--From a press release - CHICAGO — Pride Film Fest celebrates its second decade with a new name—QUEER EXPRESSION—and has announced its slate of LGBTQ+-themed feature, mid-length and short films for in-person and virtual events in April and May. QUEER EXPRESSI ...


Gay News

Open Space Arts's COCK offers a complex but compelling take on relationships 2024-04-08
By Brian Kirst - Premiering in 2009, Mike Bartlett's COCK was a comic revelation, exploring notions about fluidity and sexual labelling long before they became commonplace discussions. Granted, conversations about these issues will always ...


Gay News

Jeff Awards launches submission period for Impact Awards 2024-04-06
- The Jeff Awards announced the opening period for applications submissions for its 2024 honors to help inspire early career artists of color in the Greater Chicagoland area. Two recipients will be selected for awards of $10,000 ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Outfest, Chita Rivera, figure skaters, letter, playwright dies 2024-04-05
- For more than four decades, Outfest has been telling LGBTQ+ stories through the thousands of films screened during its annual Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ+ Film Festival—but that event may have a different look this year because ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Dionne Warwick, OUTshine, Ariana DeBose, 'Showgirls,' 'Harlem' 2024-03-29
Video below - Iconic singer Dionne Warwick was honored for her decades-long advocacy work for people living with HIV/AIDS at a star-studded amfAR fundraising gala in Palm Beach, per the Palm Beach Daily News. Warwick received the "Award of ...


Gay News

WORLD Israel court, conversion therapy, death sentences, Georgia bill, fashion items 2024-03-29
- Israel's Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the Population Authority must register female couples as mothers on the birth certificates of their children they have together, The Washington Blade reported. The decision was made following a petition ...


Gay News

City Lit Executive Artistic Director Brian Pastor talks theater, comics, queerness 2024-03-26
- City Lit Theater has announced its programming for the 2024-25 season—which will be the company's 44th. It will also be the first season to be programmed under the leadership of Brian Pastor (they/them), who will assume ...


Gay News

The Jeff Awards announces the 50th anniversary awards for non-equity theater 2024-03-26
--From a press release - A complete list of recipients can also be found online in the Non-Equity and News and Events sections at www.jeffawards.org. (March 25, 2024 - Chicago) — Celebrating its 50th anniversary awarding recognition for Non-Equity theater, the ...


 


Copyright © 2024 Windy City Media Group. All rights reserved.
Reprint by permission only. PDFs for back issues are downloadable from
our online archives.

Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, drawings, and
photographs submitted if they are to be returned, and no
responsibility may be assumed for unsolicited materials.

All rights to letters, art and photos sent to Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago
Gay and Lesbian News and Feature Publication) will be treated
as unconditionally assigned for publication purposes and as such,
subject to editing and comment. The opinions expressed by the
columnists, cartoonists, letter writers, and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature Publication).

The appearance of a name, image or photo of a person or group in
Nightspots (Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times
(a Chicago Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature
Publication) does not indicate the sexual orientation of such
individuals or groups. While we encourage readers to support the
advertisers who make this newspaper possible, Nightspots (Chicago
GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay, Lesbian
News and Feature Publication) cannot accept responsibility for
any advertising claims or promotions.

 
 

TRENDINGBREAKINGPHOTOS







Sponsor
Sponsor


 



Donate


About WCMG      Contact Us      Online Front  Page      Windy City  Times      Nightspots
Identity      BLACKlines      En La Vida      Archives      Advanced Search     
Windy City Queercast      Queercast Archives     
Press  Releases      Join WCMG  Email List      Email Blast      Blogs     
Upcoming Events      Todays Events      Ongoing Events      Bar Guide      Community Groups      In Memoriam     
Privacy Policy     

Windy City Media Group publishes Windy City Times,
The Bi-Weekly Voice of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Community.
5315 N. Clark St. #192, Chicago, IL 60640-2113 • PH (773) 871-7610 • FAX (773) 871-7609.