Jason Loewith News

Strawdog Theatre Company kicks off their 21st season with Karel Čapek's science fiction drama 'R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots),' directed by Strawdog Artistic Associate Shade Murray. Set in the 1920s at the island factory of Rossum's Universal Robots, 'R.U.R.' follows a team of scientists who have created the model to factory-produce the world's first robotic workforce.

Southeastern Premiere NOVEMBER by David Mamet. Set in the Oval Office just days before a presidential election, this funny new play by Pulitzer Prize winner David Mamet, which just closed on Broadway, involves civil marriages, gambling casinos, lesbians, American Indians, presidential libraries, questionable pardons and campaign contributions.

The critically acclaimed Off Broadway hit 'Adding Machine' will play its final performance on Sunday, July 20 at the Minetta Lane Theatre.

This Thursday, July 17, Barnes & Noble Lincoln Triangle (1972 Broadway at 66th Street, 3rd Floor) will host an afternoon with the critically acclaimed Off Broadway musical Adding Machine. The event will begin at 5:30 p.m. with a special 30 minute suite from the show, featuring the entire cast and band, followed by a cast CD signing. The performance will be hosted by special guest Austin Pendleton. Customers will have the opportunity to purchase the World Premiere PS Classics recording onsite. In addition, the recording is available wherever CD's are sold, and online at www.psclassics.com. Adding Machine will play its final performance this Sunday, July 20 at the Minetta Lane Theatre (18 Minetta Lane). After having received some of the best reviews of any musical this season (on or Off Broadway), Adding Machine was awarded 2 Outer Critics Circle Awards (Outstanding New Off Broadway Musical, Outstanding New Score), 4 Lucille Lortel Awards (including Outstanding Musical, Outstanding Director, Outstanding Lead Actor, Outstanding Lighting Design), 4 Obie Awards (plus 10 total nominations from the Drama Desk Awards and Drama League Awards, including Best Musical). Adding Machine also presented to New York to the extraordinary debut of Joshua Schmidt whose award-winning score will soon be heard in European productions, regional theaters and in opera houses around the world. Direct from a smash World Premiere at Chicago's Next Theatre Company (winning the Joseph Jefferson Award for Best New Musical), Adding Machine features a score by Joshua Schmidt and a libretto by Jason Loewith and Mr. Schmidt. Under the direction of David Cromer, Adding Machine stars Cyrilla Baer as 'Mrs. Zero,' Joel Hatch as 'Mr. Zero' and Amy Warren as 'Daisy.' The featured cast includes Joe Farrell as 'Shrdlu,' Jeff Still as the 'Boss,' Adinah Alexander as 'Mrs. Two,' Niffer Clarke as 'Mrs. One,' Roger E. DeWitt as 'Mr. Two' and Daniel Marcus as 'Mr. One.' 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 production, 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 is produced Off Broadway by Scott Morfee, Tom Wirtshafter and Margaret Cotter, and features scenic design by Takeshi Kata, lighting design by Keith Parham, costume design by Kristine Knanishu, sound design by Tony Smolenski, projection design by Peter Flaherty, properties design by Michele Spadaro and musical direction by J. Oconer Navarro. The album is produced by Tommy Krasker, co-founder of PS Classics. Founded in 2000 by Krasker and Philip Chaffin, and a four-time Grammy nominee (for its cast albums of Assassins, Nine: The Musical, Grey Gardens and Company), PS Classics has made significant contributions to the heritage of American popular song through its critically acclaimed cast recordings (including the current Broadway productions of Xanadu, Sunday in the Park With George and A Catered Affair); solo albums by such Broadway luminaries as Christine Andreas, Rebecca Luker, Victoria Clark, Jason Danieley and Marin Mazzie, and Jessica Molaskey; and recordings drawn from rare sound archives, including Sondheim Sings. PS Classics is distributed exclusively by Image Entertainment. For more information, visit www.psclassics.com. Situated one block south of West 3rd Street and East of 6th Avenue, the Minetta Lane Theatre is located at 18 Minetta Lane in Greenwich Village just steps away from the West 4th subway station (A, C, E, B, D, F and V lines). The performance schedule for Adding Machine is Tuesday - Friday at 8:00 p.m., Saturday at 3:00 & 8:00 p.m. and Sunday at 3:00 p.m. Tickets are $45 - $69.50 and are available by calling the Minetta Lane Theatre box office at 212-420-8000 or through Ticketmaster at 212-307-4100 or by visiting www.ticketmaster.com. A limited number of $25 student rush tickets are available in person at the box office on the day of the performance, subject to availability. For more information, visit www.addingmachineamusical.com.

Today, Wednesday, July 9th, at 6 PM, acclaimed poet and author Nikki Giovanni will join vocalist Capathia Jenkins and songwriter Louis Rosen in a performance and signing celebrating the release of their acclaimed new CD, ONE OUNCE OF TRUTH: THE NIKKI GIOVANNI SONGS.

This Thursday, July 17, Barnes & Noble Lincoln Triangle (1972 Broadway at 66th Street, 3rd Floor) will host an afternoon with the critically acclaimed Off Broadway musical Adding Machine. The event will begin at 5:30 p.m. with a special 30 minute suite from the show, featuring the entire cast and band, followed by a cast CD signing.

Today, Wednesday, July 9th, at 6 PM, acclaimed poet and author Nikki Giovanni will join vocalist Capathia Jenkins and songwriter Louis Rosen in a performance and signing celebrating the release of their acclaimed new CD, ONE OUNCE OF TRUTH: THE NIKKI GIOVANNI SONGS.

The critically acclaimed Off Broadway hit 'Adding Machine' will play its final performance on Sunday, July 20 at the Minetta Lane Theatre.

Theater Oobleck's acclaimed production of Mickle Maher's The Strangerer will conclude an extended Chicago run on June 29 before taking the show to New York for performances at the Barrow Street Theatre in the West Village, beginning July 9, 2008. Produced by Theater Oobleck, in association with the Barrow Street Theatre, the production is slated for an initial six-week run and will feature original Chicago cast members Guy Massey, Mickle Maher, Colm O'Reilly, and Brian Shaw. Tickets will be on sale at the Barrow Street box office and via Telecharge beginning Tuesday, June 24.

It's finally here! The jam-packed end-of-season roundup of CDs from our very own Naomi Plume (so big, it had to be put into two parts)...The good, the bad, the ugly...or to quote from the ad for the upcoming musical A TALE OF A TWO CITIES... 'it was the best of times, it was the worst of times.' We're so glad that we got to use that line first! So enjoy this very special two-parter - happy reading, happy listening, happy buying (or not) and good luck to everyone at the TONY Awards on Sunday night from all of us at BroadwayWorld.com.

The season's critically acclaimed and multi-awarded 'BEST MUSICAL'*, Adding Machine, will celebrate the release of the show's cast recording tomorrow (Tuesday, June 3) by giving everyone in the audience a free copy of the PS Classics recording of the show.

The 53rd Annual Drama Desk Awards were held Sunday, May 18, 2008, in the LaGuardia Concert Hall at Lincoln Center. August: Osage County, Les Liasons, and South Pacific brought home big wins.

PS Classics, the label dedicated to the heritage of Broadway and American popular song, has begun websales for four of its spring releases: original cast recordings of A Catered Affair and ADDING MACHINE, and solo discs by Kerry Butler and Capathia Jenkins. None of these albums are available yet in stores (A Catered Affair and ADDING MACHINE hit stores on May 27 and June 3, respectively), but PS Classics has begun accepting orders and shipping from its website, www.psclassics.com.

The Drama League (Jano Herbosch, President; Roger T. Danforth and Gabriel Shanks, Executive Directors) proudly announces the roster of presenters scheduled to appear for the The 74th Annual Drama League Awards Ceremony and Luncheon on Friday, May 16, 2008 (noon) at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Times Square (1535 Broadway at 46th Street).

The League of Off-Broadway Theatres and Producers presented the 23rd Annual Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Achievement Off-Broadway on Monday night, May 5, 2008 at the Union Square Theatre.

Nominations for the 53rd Annual Drama Desk Awards were announced this morning at the New York Friars Club. 'A Catered Affair' led the way with 12 nominations.

The critically acclaimed Off Broadway hit Adding Machine will extend through August 31 at the Minetta Lane Theatre (18 Minetta Lane), it was announced today by the show's producers.

The Drama League (Jano Herbosch, President; Roger T. Danforth and Gabriel Shanks, Co-Managing Directors) proudly announces nominations for the 2007-08 Drama League Awards, to be awarded at The 74th Annual Drama League Awards Ceremony and Luncheon on Friday, May 16, 2008 (noon) at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Times Square (1535 Broadway at 46th Street).

PS Classics, the label dedicated to the heritage of Broadway and American popular song, will record the original Off Broadway cast recording of Adding Machine on Monday, April 14, it was announced today by the show's producers, Scott Morfee, Tom Wirtshafter and Margaret Cotter, and Tommy Krasker, co-founder of PS Classics.

THE LEAGUE OF OFF-BROADWAY THEATRES AND PRODUCERS today announced the nominations for THE 23rd ANNUAL LUCILLE LORTEL AWARDS FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT OFF-BROADWAY, which will be presented on Monday, May 5th at the Union Square Theatre (100 East 17th Street).