Al Pacino to Play Tennessee Williams in New Play?

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 6/24/16 at 2:49pm

Will Pacino actually learn his lines this time instead of cheating by using teleprompters/earpiece?
https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Al-Pacino-to-Return-to-Broadway-as-Tennessee-Williams-in-New-Play-WHEN-GOD-LOOKED-AWAY-20160624

Updated On: 6/24/16 at 02:49 PM

[Kad]

Posted: 6/24/16 at 2:50pm

I'd love to see a work about Williams.

...Just not starring Pacino.

[PianoMann]

Posted: 6/24/16 at 3:04pm

Count me in for Judith Light!

[HogansHero]

Posted: 6/24/16 at 3:05pm

off the top of my head, I can think of few casting choices more wrong than this. 

Equally wrong? Sure. 

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 6/24/16 at 3:08pm

This is aggressively terrible casting. I can't wait to see it. 

[Felm_heart]

Posted: 6/24/16 at 3:08pm

Pacino must be stopped!

[Sunny11]

Posted: 6/24/16 at 3:45pm

Bless his passion for theater!  He could make far more money for a lot less work doing screen work  but he has been consistently working on Broadway since the 60s. Hopefully this works out better than China Doll. 

Updated On: 6/24/16 at 03:45 PM

[bfreak]

Posted: 6/24/16 at 3:51pm

I believe that the negative press he received during China Doll will cause Al to be more committed to his performance (hopefully) this time. I saw China doll in January (nearing the end of the run) and he seemed much more invested and he remembered all of his lines.

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 6/24/16 at 4:03pm

Tennessee Williams? Judith Light?!



 

Al Pacino?

Updated On: 6/24/16 at 04:03 PM

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 6/24/16 at 4:24pm

Sunny11 said: "Bless his passion for theater!  He could make far more money for a lot less work doing screen work  but he has been consistently working on Broadway since the 60s. Hopefully this works out better than China Doll. 

 

"

 

While I don't disagree, $40k / week, which is what he was making for CHINA DOLL, ain't nothing to sneeze at.... 

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 6/24/16 at 4:45pm

Get right on the horse after you fall off.

[evic]

Posted: 6/24/16 at 4:58pm

I want to see the set design so i can be able to see where he will plant his crip sheets.  Horrible casting.

[Kad]

Posted: 6/24/16 at 5:21pm

I have less issue with him knowing his lines than it just being poor casting.

[10086sunset]

Posted: 6/24/16 at 6:20pm

I'm going to think positive and believe that Pacino has something to prove. 

The casting is, shall we say inspired?

That said, the man can act when he wants to act.

[Phantom of London]

Posted: 6/24/16 at 6:43pm

No crib sheets.

whatndo you think those couple of Mac Books were planted on the set of Chima Doll, they weren't there for decoration.

[JBroadway]

Posted: 6/24/16 at 6:47pm

Is all this dislike for Al Pacino based solely on China Doll? Before China Doll, I always got the sense that he is generally a pretty well-respected stage actor. 

Updated On: 6/24/16 at 06:47 PM

[PianoMann]

Posted: 6/24/16 at 6:55pm

JBroadway said: "Is all this dislike for Al Pacino based solely on China Doll? Before China Doll, I always got the sense that he is generally a pretty well-respected stage actor."

 

I suspect some it comes from the production of Glengarry Glen Ross a few years ago, too. Consensus was that production was too cartoony, due in part because of Pacino and his usual shtick.

[smidge]

Posted: 12/17/16 at 4:33pm

So this will be produced in Pasadena this Spring. Guess we'll see then if Al has still got it or if it will ever make it to Broadway.https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Al-Pacino-and-Judith-Light-Star-in-GOD-LOOKED-AWAY-at-Pasadena-Playhouse-20161216

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 12/17/16 at 5:32pm

I wish him well but how I wish it were Tim Curry or Roger Allam or Kevin Spacey or Johnny Depp or Ciaran Hinds or Stacy Keach... wow, there are so many possibilities.

Updated On: 12/17/16 at 05:32 PM

[10086sunset]

Posted: 12/18/16 at 12:50am

If this is going to Pasadena, I think it's a safe bet it comes to Broadway...

[Comden Green]

Posted: 12/18/16 at 7:51am

The source material was disappointing. Gossipy. Anecdotes that are factually suspect. Well, at least unverifiable. I'm thinking the play could quickly turn campy. Updated On: 12/18/16 at 07:51 AM

[lynnetoomey]

Posted: 12/18/16 at 8:39am

M

[newintown]

Posted: 12/19/16 at 8:50am

Hilariously bad idea on many levels, but not hilarious enough to buy a ticket. Pacino can only do 1 accent - Bronx. He could never capture Williams' southern drawl convincingly. He also can't learn lines anymore, which means his acting has become a shadow of what it once was.

And last, Dotson Rader is a no-talent crypto-hooker, who has a sort of vague fame only as a hanger-on to and kept-boy/user of a few actual achievers (like Williams and the actress Ruth Ford). An interesting but brutal play could be written about this American tragedy of mediocrity, but not by himself. His book "Cry of the Heart" has been pretty universally excoriated by better minds and by people who were closer to Williams than he was.

Updated On: 12/19/16 at 08:50 AM