The venerable Skylight Opera Theater closes its 51st season (2010-'11) with the Wisconsin premiere of Adding Machine: A Musical, composed by former local resident Joshua Schmidt. He also contributes to the musical's libretto, along with collaborator Jason Loewith.
Schmidt, who lives in Brooklyn, has created considerable "buzz" with his adaptation of a 1923 play, The Adding Machine. The musical premiered in Chicago and went on to have a successful 2008 run at Off-Broadway's Minetta Lane Theater. It should be noted that Schmidt's second musical, A Minister's Wife, plays through June 12, 2011 at New York's Lincoln Center.
Adding Machine, set in 1923, is a grim, bitter, all-too-realistic tale of a loyal worker who is replaced with an adding machine. The man, aptly named Mr. Zero, toils in a department store's accounting department. His work is numbingly mundane, but Zero doesn't seem to mind. He "never missed a day," he proudly tells a co-worker.
On the eve of his 25th anniversary, he expects a promotion for his loyalty. But when the boss comes around, things take an unexpectedly darker turn. The boss admits he doesn't even know Zero's name, at which point Zero goes berserk and kills him.
Shades of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman seem similar to Adding Machine's downward spiral. (One must note, however, that Adding Machineprecedes Miller's play). As Mr. Zero defends his actions in court, the show also suggests similarities to another musical set in the 1920s, Chicago. Musically, Adding Machine draws distinct parallels to the dissonant score of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd.
However, Adding Machine makes its own mark in the evolution of musical theater. It weaves elements of expressionist and absurdist drama with a pounding, powerful score. The music often expresses emotions the characters cannot. Schmidt knows his way around a ballad, too, as he demonstrates in "I'd Rather Watch You." Zero's longtime secretary, Daisy, sings this song of unrequited love. The score also veers into gospel, blues and ragtime. One of Zero's death-row cellmates, Shrdlu, integrates some of these musical styles (with considerable help from a talented chorus).
On the eve of his execution, Zero also sings a nostalgic love song with Mrs. Zero ("Didn't We?"). However, the tender memories quickly dissipate in the wake of Mrs. Zero's explosive temper and the verbal jibes she often flings at her husband.
For all its strengths, Adding Machine is so far removed from the cheerful, sweet and funny musicals of the past that not all audiences are going to appreciate it. On Skylight's opening night, some audience members left shaking their heads and undoubtedly wondered what they had just witnessed.
Skylight has assembled a terrific cast, starring longtime local actor and assistant associate director, Ray Jivoff. Known mostly for his comic roles (including a spot-on reincarnation of Harpo Marx), Jivoff displays a whole new side in this show. As Mr. Zero, he shuffles through life, head down. His grayish pallor nearly matches the color of his gray suit. The first time Zero stands up straight is in court, when he proudly proclaims his "manly" act of revenge. He berates his lawyers and the media for failing to "get the facts straight." "I killed 'em," he shouts, triumphantly.
Also stellar is Liz Pazik as Mrs. Zero. She brings to mind Sweeney Todd's Mrs. Lovett, with her loud-mouthed, crass, demeaning and uncharitable ways. Even her nightcap is reminiscent of the headpiece worn by Mrs. Lovett. <
At the other end of the emotional spectrum is Niffer Clarke, who plays the pretty and delicate Daisy. This character's life is so bland that it's almost possible she could fall for Mr. Zero, the only man she has ever had close contact with. Also notable is relative newcomer Rick Pendzich. As Shrdlu, he must walk a difficult emotional tightrope between insanity and the "normal" side effects of his upbringing. He's a murderer, too. Unlike Zero, Shrdlu looks forward to the "freedom" that the hellfires of damnation will bring. Pendzich brings a welcome animation and zest to his character which makes Zero look all the more dejected by comparison. Zero's charcoal-colored suit is just the tip of the iceberg regarding the shades of gray that dominate the musical.
The production team of Adding Machine concludes that Zero's entire life is lived in a prison, whether real or imagined. Sets and costumes are perfectly matched in myriad shades of muted green, cream, gray and black. For all the darkness and pessimism conveyed in Adding Machine, it also makes the audience think in a way that sweet, breezy musicals rarely do.
