China Doll Previews Thread

[PianoMann]

David Mamet's new play China Doll begins previews tonight! Is anyone planning on attending?

 

I'm very excited to hear feedback on this one. I was underwhelmed by the latest revival of Glengarry Glen Ross, one of my favorite American plays, so I hope this will be a better pairing of Mamet's material and Al Pacino's talents.

 

If anyone is going in the next few weeks before it opens, can someone inquire at the box office about standing room?

 

 

[bfreak]

I'm really interested to hear how things turn out for this too! It sounds exciting but we still don't really fully understand what this is about.

[Dave13]

I have tickets for it in December. So hopefully it turns out great. Plenty of time to resell if not. 

[Sam2]

Has a rush policy been announced? 

[LightsOut90]

No rush but Standing Room will be offered after opening. 

[cjmclaughlin10]

Where did you hear/read that????

[Luv2goToShows]

I stopped at the Box Office, no rush policy. Also, for those who were wondering I was told the run time is 2 hours 10 minutes including one intermission. 

[supersam1026]

If you want to live in a world where a brand new play by David Mamet starring Al Pacino is amazing, then please stop reading here and certainly do not see China Doll!

I was so looking forward to this and it just fell flat on it's face. You could literally feel the energy of the audience fading as each minute dragged on.

This is essentially a one man play that includes spending 2 hours watching Al Pacino talk on the phone about airline taxes. Its about as thrilling as it sounds.

I was in the last row of the mezz where I struggled greatly to hear half of Pacino's lines. At intermission I moved up to the front row of the orchestra after spotting someone leave a half hour into the first act. Didn't help, still tough to hear.

The last 15-20 minutes start to maybe become a little bit interesting before taking a turn towards the ridiculous.

The only word that comes to my head is disappointing. I so wish I was writing a more positive post right now!

Play is 2 hours 10 minutes with an intermission. Many did leave at the intermission after a tedious 55 minute first act... They were the lucky ones.

[Mr Roxy]

If true, this is his second stinker in a row. Who can forget that gobbler"The Anarchist".

[Jabere]

thanks not seeing this

[cjmclaughlin10]

Glad I waited to buy tickets...

[WhizzerMarvin]

supersam, you were far too kind! :) This play was, in a word, atrocious. I wasn't sure what to expect going into the theater tonight, but my friends and I kept telling ourselves, "If we know one thing it must be better than The Anarchist, right???" Well, to compare the two is like comparing two 1-15 football teams. They both stink, possibly for slightly different reasons, but the records are still the same. 

 

I don't know if it was a character choice or if Pacino just wasn't comfortable with the script, but there was a lot of mumbling and fumbling going on. I realize that he had about 95% of the dialogue and much of the first act consisted of him repeating the same story over and over again on the phone to different people, but the under-preparedness certainly didn't do the material any favors. 

 

A good 75% of the play is Pacino sitting on a couch or pacing his apartment and talking on the phone. He talks to his lawyer, his girlfriend, hotel staff, people in the political sphere, airplane company employees and he just drones on and on and on with each of them. No one really becomes a character as we listen to these one-sided phone conversations and the topics discussed get repeated and rehashed till you can't stand it anymore. 

 

Pacino's character is in the process of purchasing a $60 million private jet from a Swiss company. The tail number was supposed to be a Swiss code, but the company placed a US code on plane instead. The plane was supposed to fly directly from Europe to Toronto, but it had to make an emergency landing in the US and because it was registered with a US code he is being charged with a $5 million sales tax. I could go on with the "plot," but really why bother. 

 

The last 10 minutes did show some minor signs of life. Like there could be a play buried deep in the tangled mess, but the final moments were so absurd that I almost burst out laughing. 

 

I often think it a fool's errand to guess what others in the audience are thinking, but supersam is right- you could feel how excited the audience was welcome Pacino to the stage, and then like the air being slowly let out of a balloon you feel the excitement deflate and turn to befuddlement and/or hostility. 

 

I feel for Pam MacKinnon. How are you supposed to direct a play where a man talks on a phone for two hours? There is another character on the stage and they barely interact! 

 

After this production is over I assume this play, much like The Anarchist, will never be seen again. 

[evic]

Mamet to me is the American Tom Stoppard and Harold Pinter- over rated junk.

[Mr Roxy]

Was their at least cursing in it to somewhat save it?

 

Has Mamet lost his touch?  It should be interesting to see what the critics will do with it.

[WithoutATrace]

Unfortunately, I was in attendance tonight as well and felt compelled to chime in to this thread to warn people.  My advice to current ticket holders is to try and sell them now before the negative word of mouth starts to spread.  There is no saving this disaster.

[bfreak]

Oh my God, I can not believe how bad you guys are saying this is! I do not know what to do. I was just about to buy tickets for this this weekend and I honestly am so baffled by this negative response. I really wanted to see Al Pacino live but I just don't know if it's worth it. (I never saw him before, and I thought it would be a "sure thing" in a Mamet play. I guess I thought wrong.)

[Mr Roxy]

Without Pacino, would it ever have been produced?

 

Didn't Pacino see how bad it was and if so why do it?

[After Eight]

The play broaches some interesting ideas that the format fails to dramatize successfully. Al Pacino has some effective moments in a shtick-laden performance. His voice projection proved a problem this evening.

[bfreak]

Because he wanted his million dollar paycheck and for some reason opted to do a show where he has to deliver 95% of the dialogue. He must be going through a mental breakdown (the movie Birdman is coming to life!!!!)

[supersam1026]

Mr. Roxy, yes there was some cursing, but not enough to make any sort of impact. The only f word I would associate this with is failure. 

[Mr Roxy]

Maybe one is better off not hearing his lines.

 

Lately , we have noticed many of the shows we have seen have been undermiked

[Mr Roxy]

Does it play out the entire scheduled run or does it do a quick folderoo? 

 

[WhizzerMarvin]

I thought Pacino was excellent in The Merchant of Venice. He was alright in the Glengarry Glen Ross revival, but that production on the whole was limp and sluggish. China Doll ain't Shakespeare and is a faded photocopy a thousand times over of Mamet's greater works. 

[supersam1026]

My guess is that it will play similar to The River with Hugh Jackman from last year.

It will sell out in the beginning based on star power alone, but will start to dip a bit after the holidays and people realize the reviews. I could definitely see this have discounts and maybe even listed on TKTS come January.

The fact of the matter is that it is Al Pacino, it will play out it's run and make it's money back without too much of an issue.

[BroadMagTech]

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