China Doll
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Cititour.com Review
David Mamet has made it clear throughout his long writing career that he loves a good con, but since when did he decide that one of America’s greatest actors, one of our brightest stage directors, and, most importantly, the audience should be the victims? Sadly, that’s the case with “China Doll,” now at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, in which Al Pacino (for whom the play was written) struggles mightily to make sense of byzantine, virtually incomprehensible two-hour monologue; Pam MacKinnon struggles to have Pacino speak like a fast-talking Mamet character, rather than slipping into his idiosyncratic verbal rhythms, and the audience struggles to pay attention --or even stay awake.
To Mamet’s credit, there’s a germ of an interesting play here. Pacino plays Mickey Ross, a very wealthy elderly man with little use for other people or the laws of any state or country, who has decided to marry a much younger English woman (like everyone else he talks to incessantly, the character is never seen) in her native land, and use a new private plane to get there. But Mickey’s plan, such as it is, gets fouled up by an “emergency landing,” which somehow leads to issues of millions of dollars of sales taxes, a feud with his state’s young governor (whom he knows for years and who he appears to have serious dirt on), and eventually, the possibility of going to jail on federal corruption charges. Mind you, little of this actually adds up. (I’m pretty sure Mickey is supposed to be indicted under a Federal act that was repealed over 40 years ago). And even less of it interests anyone.
Pacino remains a fascinating, vital figure on stage, prancing about Derek McLane’s stunning apartment set, gesticulating widely, and trying (I think) to find a consistent character to play. Except Mickey is kind one minute, cruel the next; philosophical and wry, then deeply dense; vaguely moral then instantly capable of criminal action. There’s flashes of some Pacino’s greatest performances here and there -- a touch of Michael Corleone, a dash of Shylock – and too many moments where he’s just trying to recite his lines with even a bit of credulity. His co-star Christopher Denham, as Mickey’s eager assistant Carter, fares no better – especially after Mamet pulls a right-before-the-curtain character switcheroo.
Oh, what does the title mean? Trust me, that’s the least of anyone’s problems here!
By Brian Scott Lipton
Visit the Site
http://www.chinadollbroadway.com
Cast
Al Pacino, Christopher Denham
Open/Close Dates
Opening 12/4/2015
Closing 1/31/2016
Preview Open/ Preview Close Dates
Preview Opening 10/21/2015
Closing Open-ended
Box Office
212-239-6200
Theatre Info
Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre
236 West 45th Street
New York, NY 10036
Map
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