China Doll Previews Thread- Page 2

[BroadMagTech]

Posted: 10/22/15 at 12:12am

Deleted

Updated On: 10/22/15 at 12:12 AM

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 10/22/15 at 12:14am

Hey After, you are the only one who had anything relatively good to say about it. What gives?

[haterobics]

Posted: 10/22/15 at 12:52am

Mr Roxy said: "Hey After, you are the only one who had anything relatively good to say about it. What gives?"

 

He enjoys being a contrarian.

 

[RippedMan]

Posted: 10/22/15 at 1:25am

I noticed people leaving tonight and saw they had black and white Playbills? Could the producers know they have a turkey and are trying to cut costs? 

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 10/22/15 at 1:36am

"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."

 

That sounds relatable.

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 10/22/15 at 1:40am

Oh boy. The reviews of this sound like what I said about The Anarchist...not even entertainingly bad, just awful and boring and repetitive for no reason. And this is double the length of that play?! The Anarchist was about 65 minutes when I saw it in previews and felt interminable.

[After Eight]

Posted: 10/22/15 at 7:00am

"What gives?"

 

Mr. Roxy,

 

Nothing gives. Just a report  on what happened on stage.

 

 

[After Eight]

Posted: 10/22/15 at 7:20am

"You could literally feel the energy of the audience fading as each minute dragged on."

 

Supersam,

 

In these environs, you've got to be very careful when you comment on an audience's (obvious) distaste for a show. Because as we have seen before, some people will hurl themselves at you like a bat out of hell demanding polls, charts, and graphs to substantiate your observation. Ridiculous? Of course. But that's how  it works around here. Or more precisely, that's how it works when you're commenting on such rank audience-displeasers as Passion, Sunday in the Park With George, Pacific Overtures, the stinkers by La Chiusa, Brown, Stoppard, Baker..... --- in other words, the critics' darlings and the snob set's pets.

 

So in this case, maybe you'll be spared.

 

But you can never be sure!

 

Updated On: 10/22/15 at 07:20 AM

[bfreak]

Posted: 10/22/15 at 7:24am

This is really screaming disaster. I don't know what to do. If I see it I could hate it and be upset that I went, and then if I don't go I will feel that I may have missed something from listening to only other people's perspectives. I'm so confused whether to buy a ticket.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 10/22/15 at 7:55am

After Eight, It never ceases to amaze how you can turn any thread into an excuse to bash Baker, Sondheim and LaChiusa. 

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 10/22/15 at 8:11am

Right? What is the connective tissue here?

[EllenRonnie]

Posted: 10/22/15 at 8:43am

supersam,

You got it exactly right. I was also sitting in the last row of the mezzanine last night and struggling to hear Al, too. I won't rehash what you already said, but at intermission a woman sitting next to us, asked us to explain the play to her. She was half-kidding, because she understand the plane/taxes plot, but we were all kind of gobsmacked at how awful the play was.

Another thing that kind of floored me, was that towards the end during a (finally) dramatic moment, people were laughing. That wasn't good.

After seeing "The Anarchist" and "China Doll" and being incredibly disappointed in both, I'll be hesitant to jump into Mamet World again.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 10/22/15 at 8:50am

The question is how bad the reviews will be 

 

Will they be Dr Zhivago bad , some good ones, or in the middle? This seems to be another star driven vehicle to extract a quick buck. It is sort of like a guerilla raid - in and out. The River was like that. Hugh J comes in and we sell a lot of tickets no matter how bad or trivial the play is. People are gullible as they will pay anything to see someone basically read a phonebook on stage. At least with Misery you have a proven pro like Metcalf.

Updated On: 10/22/15 at 08:50 AM

[GreasedLightning]

Posted: 10/22/15 at 8:54am

RippedMan said: "I noticed people leaving tonight and saw they had black and white Playbills? Could the producers know they have a turkey and are trying to cut costs? 

 

"

The last two or three Mamet plays, including GGGR with Pacino, had black and white Playbills. I'm sure it's just a preference by now, not a pre-conceived assumption of a "turkey." 

Can someone explain the final moments in a spoiler tagged post or a PM? I won't be seeing this and am curious to hear how it ends! 

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 10/22/15 at 9:34am

bfreak, first of all, calm down. If you want to see Al Pacino that badly, then see it. Otherwise, don't.

"thought it would be a "sure thing" in a Mamet play"

Have you heard of The Anarchist?

[PianoMann]

Posted: 10/22/15 at 9:43am

Ouch... I'm so disappointed that this sounds like such a mess!  I wasn't a big fan of the Pacino revival of Glengarry Glen Ross, but at least that production had one of Mamet's best texts at its core.  How has he become so lackluster as a playwright? I think fault lies in immediately bringing these works to the Broadway stage without any smaller scale productions where he could meaningfully revise the works. Does Mamet think he's above out of town, or even Off-Broadway, try-outs? And why would Pacino and MacKinnon sign on for this?  I know it must be a huge payday, but if it's as bad as these early reports suggest I'd think they'd want to avoid the embarrassment.

 

Are their any changes that they can make during previews that could turn this thing around?  

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 10/22/15 at 9:47am

Do not think Pacino would be forced to sell pencils on the street for money to live if he did not do this show. I understand he wants to occasionally come back to Broadway but at least do it in a credible piece.

[frogs_fan85]

Posted: 10/22/15 at 10:25am

As much as we all want to bash THE ANARCHIST, I think it would have turned out to be a decent play if Mamet had written a second act... but I guess he got busy or distracted or something.

That last revival of GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS approached laughable several times.  I had hoped with Pam McKinnon on board that CHINA DOLL would be light years better, but there's not much you can do directorially (is that a word?) if the script is a guy on his cell phone.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 10/22/15 at 10:38am

"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."

AfterEight, is this, from you, the equivalent of a rave?

[Tom5]

Posted: 10/22/15 at 10:47am

As described here the characters (1-2), structure and heavy reliance on one way phone monologues would seem to make this an exact duplicate of Craig Wright's very funny MISTAKES WERE MADE (sans fish). I would have loved to see Pacino doing Michael Shannon's part. It would seem to be a perfect fit.  Having read a bit of The Anarchist (all I could manage)  it would seem to me that the long great Mamet is still great but has stopped caring about the audience.

[Keiichi2]

Posted: 10/22/15 at 2:25pm

After reading these 1st night reports, I went on the show's website, and they have a short little video trailer.  I had to laugh when the video started out by saying "fasten your seat belts", as if the play is some kind of intense thrill ride. (The full quote is "Fasten your seat belts...Al Pacino on Broadway".)

 

From the sound of Pacino's performance last night, a more appropriate airline reference would be "May we offer you a pillow, sir?...Pacino's back on Broadway!"

Updated On: 10/22/15 at 02:25 PM

[TerrenceIsTheMann]

Posted: 10/22/15 at 2:33pm

Sadly, Pacino was not as crazy as usual in this, which would make any play he is in way more boring to watch. It truly was a snooze fest. The Audience, Therese Raquin, and other plays that would be considering boring to some were thrill rides compared to this show. It's like Pacino talking to this guy on the phone, then this guy, then his girlfriend, yadda yadda yadda. I was hoping for more conversation between him and the assistant, making for a Scent of A Woman kind of vibe. Nope. Mamet strikes again. If you are borderline, dont see it. 

[Kad]

Posted: 10/22/15 at 2:36pm

Mamet has produced nothing new of note in years. Even Race, his last successful endeavor, was a pale imitation of the writing of his prime. He has been coasting on name recognition and the fervid desire he has another Glengarry left in him. He doesn't.

[PianoMann]

Posted: 10/22/15 at 2:38pm

If this show manages to sell out - even with this horrible word of mouth and the likely negative reviews - I would definitely still try to do standing room if they offer it and if it's under $40.  I know I definitely won't be buying the cheapest balcony seats, which would be over $100 with fees...  

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 10/22/15 at 2:39pm

Sounds really wonderful - not