Mr. Zero may be a hen-pecked schlub who smacks around his wife and peeps in on the prostitute across the street, but after 25 years of working as an “Add” man he deserves a promotion. So when he learns that he is being replaced by a mechanical adding machine, is it any wonder that Mr. Zero snaps?

When ADDING MACHINE: A MUSICAL hit Off-Broadway, it won both the Outer Critic's  and Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding New Musical and was nominated for Outstanding Musical, Lyrics, Music, and Book of a Musical, at the Drama Desk Awards.  It just opened in LA, where the LA Times called it "A radiant re-imagining of Rice's masterwork."  Time Out New York wrote "Adding Machine does what Zero literally cannot imagine: It alchemizes mediocrity into excellence."  Writing for the New York Times, Isherwood loved the "grimly comic vision of life on the lower rungs of American society" and named it a play of "uncompromising artistry and imaginative scope".

In this hauntingly beautiful and darkly comic adaptation of Elmer Rice’s bleak 1923 Expressionist play, Adding Machine follows Zero’s journey from the working world to the afterlife in the Elysian Fields where he is offered one last chance for romance and redemption. An eclectic score by Jason Loewith and Joshua Schmidt elevates Rice’s story of the dehumanized Everyman into a strikingly beautiful and complex exploration of the American Dream and the beleaguered drones who strive to achieve it.

Why are WE doing it?  It's gutsy, it's dark, it's true.

MR. ZERO—Jonathan Cobb
MRS. ZERO—Amy Anderson
DAISY DOROTHEA DEVORE—Marija Reiff
SHRDLU—Chris Estey
THE BOSS, THE FIXER, CHARLES—Matthew Minnicino
MRS. ONE, MAE, PRISONERS WIFE —Alli Villines
MRS. TWO, BETTY, MATRON—Michelle Staller
MR. ONE, PRISONER—Josh Handal
MR. TWO, PRISON GUARD—Noah Grabeel

Director—Bree Luck
Assistant Director—Kate Monaghan
Music Director—Matt Jones
Accompanist—Kip McCharen
Movement / Choreographer—Edna-Jakki Miller
Production Stage Manager—Tyler Forrest
Assistant Stage Manager—Natalie Dieter
Scenic Design—Will Slusher
Lighting Design—Tracie Steger Skipper
Costume Design—Anna Stockdale
Costume Mentor—Tricia Emlet
Props Design—Ann Driskill, Chuck Cheeseman
Sound Design—Wren Curtis
Hair & Makeup Design—Claibourne Reppert
Producer—Kristina Dobrovic-Beard

Trailer coming soon! Subscribe to our YouTube Channel to be the first to know when new videos arrive!

There are always opportunities to help build sets, work on costumes, locate and fabricate props, and all the other sundry things that go into making each show spectacular. Drop by Tuesdays from 6pm – 10pm or Saturday from 10am – 2pm and we’ll put you to work! Can’t make it those days? Contact Scott at 434-977-4177x107 or email scottdunn@livearts.org for specific volunteer opportunities.