Chicago Tribune - Highly Recommended
"...And Button's highly creative production compensates well for the relative inaccessibility of the piece, as evidenced Sunday by the intensely enthusiastic audience. This may well be the best work Button has done. He puts his stamp on this remarkable piece of made-in-Chicago art and, with the help of some subtle choreography from Katie Spelman and, of particular note, searing lighting by Mike Durst, forges what feels very much like a Wicker Park tale of alienation and existential sorrow."
Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended
"...Now, under the entirely fresh, emotionally heated direction of Geoff Button – with outstanding musical direction by Matt Deitchman, rhythmically stylized choreography by Katie Spelman, and a cast totally at one with its warped intensity – The Hypocrites have grabbed hold of this show and made it their own. In many ways it is darker and more unrelenting than I recall the original being, and it grabs hold of you every second of the way with its mixture of pounding pessimism and surprising twists and turns."
Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...Well cast, and featuring near-perfect musical direction by Matt Deitchman, Geoff Button's staging uses comic repetition to get at the abject horror of Zero's life. What's more—and I mean this in the nicest possible way--Patrick Du Laney is a perfect Zero."
Time Out Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...The ensemble cast is full of remarkable performances: Kelli Harrington’s harsh Mrs. Zero is equally excellent, and Bear Bellinger makes an eerie impression as a fellow traveler all too at ease with his fate. Neala Barron, who’s been drawing my admiration at the edges of a number of musical-theater casts over the past few years, achieves a remarkable poignancy as Daisy, Zero’s doggedly devoted assistant who’s willing to follow him to hell and back. The parts of the Hypocrites’ Adding Machine are individually striking; together, they make a hell of a sum."
Theatre By Numbers - Recommended
"...The play does occasionally suffer from pacing issues. There is a point at about the 70-minute mark wherein the show feels like it could be done, only to keep going for another 20 minutes or so. That being said, it does ramp up and get going again with improved energy, but the lag in the middle there throws things off for a few minutes. Yet, that’s only about 3 minutes out of a 90-minute performance that is otherwise elevated to a high level."
ChicagoCritic - Recommended
"...Matt Deitchman’s musical direction is what makes this production so effective and distinctive. The orchestra consists only of two keyboards and percussion, which are scattered throughout the edges of the playing space. The singers, who are often in their head-voices, are deliberately distorted through the microphone echo. While this sacrifices some of the lyrics, it greatly enhances the show’s unsettling, otherworldly atmosphere."
Chicago Stage and Screen - Highly Recommended
"...The direction from Geoff Button and the choreography from Katie Spelmen were so incredibly specific and worked beautifully together to tell this story through every movement of this talented ensemble. The opening sequence was one of the most beautiful things I've seen on stage: a human time-lapse that effortlessly established the monotony of Zero's life. Mike Durst's lighting design was exquisite, Lauren Nigiri's scenic design was inventive, and the sound design of Joe Court and Brandon Reed with musical direction by Matt Deitchman gave this intricate score the support it needed."
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...This strongly emotional musical drama may not be for every taste. This isn’t a fluffy Lerner and Loewe or Rodgers and Hammerstein piece. But for those theatergoers who like their entertainment dark and provocative, laden with a myriad of motifs and morals and with more bite than balm, this musical takes the mundane and makes it miraculous."
The Fourth Walsh - Somewhat Recommended
"...The ensemble is superb. The singing top notch. It's just a sad musical. And on a Friday night, I was in the mood for vibrant and fun. Instead, I got shades of dark work and relationship gloom. ADDING MACHINE: A MUSICAL sounds like a cute little diddie. It's not. It's heavy-duty woe-is-me. Adjust your expectation accordingly."
Chicago Theater Beat - Highly Recommended
"...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."
Third Coast Review - Highly Recommended
"...Although this musical is a story concerned with murder, oppression and numbers, Button and his cast find much humor (albeit dark) in the proceedings. While some of this comes from characters’ dry observations about their lots in life, there are also several winning moments of physical comedy, as well. The actors’ caricaturesque portrayal of “angels” in the afterlife is a particularly humorous moment, as Du Laney’s Mr. Zero slowly realizes that even the afterlife can be as stifling as his previous experiences on earth. These touches, along with the episodic nature of the musical’s structure, help to keep viewers unfamiliar with the source material on the edge of their seat, up until the final moments. Adding Machine represents another triumph in The Hypocrites’ ever-growing canon of visually and artistically stimulating productions."
NewCity Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...At this juncture in human history it shouldn’t be difficult to ascertain why certain works remain vibrant documents of the human condition. Rice’s play was more observant than prescient. The conclusion of “Adding Machine” is the existential equivalent of GIF: a gesture made hypnotizingly irrelevant through infinite repetition. The lens of history can show us many things. Then again, so can a well-placed mirror."
