Talk:China Doll (play)

Observer review

Another review which might be quoted in the overleaf article:

• Reed, Rex (December 8, 2015). "David Mamet's China Doll Is the Worst Play Since Moose Murders". The New York Observer..

(The play referenced is Moose Murders.) -- Michael Bednarek (talk) 21:45, 9 December 2015 (UTC)

New York Post ran a two page article in the issue of December 13, 2015. It alleges Pacino used teleprompters to deliver his lines, and he was choppy and had no rythym in his delivery. Also alleged was his contempt towards the director. When she tried to make one suggestion in rehearsal, he snapped "Im not your f--king puppet, Pam!" Marc S. 206.192.35.125 (talk) 14:31, 17 December 2015 (UTC)

Plot Needs to be Corrected - Mamet Changed the Ending from the Previews to the Official Opening

My wife and I saw the play China Doll both in previews and after the official opening because my wife is a big Al Pacino fan. The playright changed the ending of the play during previews. In the previews, the play ends with the marshals knocking on the door and Pacino is presumably captured. Audiences apparently didn't like that ending so when the play officially opened, David Mamet rewrote the ending and Pacino changed into an anti-hero and in the newly rewritten ending he manages to make his escape. Whoever wrote up the plot summary must have seen it in previews because his plot summary does not reflect the play we saw after the official opening. I'll just put this information out there and leave it to someone else to incorporate this information into the main article.

I will also confirm what one of the reviewers of the play wrote when he said that that Pacino was having trouble with his lines during the previews. Pacino was wearing an earphone from a telephone and apparently getting some of his lines from the earphone. We were sitting on the front row about ten feet from Pacino and could see him struggling. By the time we saw the play again a month later (after the official opening) Pacino had his lines down pat.

Not one of Mamet's best, but it was entertaining.

2600:1700:DC50:5560:B82D:1A63:7552:6BD2 (talk) 18:50, 13 July 2020 (UTC)

I can find only 1 review that mentions the changed ending: Michael Riedel (December 13, 2015). "Tantrums, terror, B12 shots: Inside Al Pacino's Broadway bomb". New York Post. – it's the last paragraph, but not very detailed. All the big reviews appeared on December 3 and 4, and presumably no reviewer wanted to go again. -- Michael Bednarek (talk) 01:33, 14 July 2020 (UTC)