Mamet's 'China Doll' Pushes Back Official Opening

The producers of CHINA DOLL, the new play by David Mamet starring Tony, Emmy and Academy Award-winner Al Pacino, announce that the production’s press opening will be moved back two weeks.  Directed by Tony Award-winner Pam MacKinnon (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf) and co-starring Christopher Denham (“Master Harold”… and the Boys, Argo, “Manhattan”), CHINA DOLL, originally scheduled to open on Thursday, November 19th, will now open after the Thanksgiving holiday on Friday, December 4th.  The move allows the creative team additional time to work on the play before its world premiere. Presented by Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel, and Steve Traxler, CHINA DOLL is currently in previews at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre (236 West 45th Street).  CHINA DOLL marks the tenth presentation of a David Mamet work by Messrs Richards, Frankel and Treaxler on Broadway and in the West End. CHINA DOLL tells the story of Mickey Ross, a man of means who is ready to walk away from it all to start a new life with his young fiancée. Then one phone call changes everything . . . Al Pacino (Mickey Ross) was last seen on Broadway portraying the role of Shelly Levene in Mamet’s acclaimed Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Glengarry Glen Ross and was also recently seen as Phil Spector in the HBO film written by David Mamet. Mr. Pacino is a two-time Tony Award winner who also starred in the 1983 revival of American Buffalo. He is also an Academy Award winner, four-time Golden Globe winner, and two-time Emmy Award winner. CHINA DOLL marks his twelfth time appearing on Broadway, including The Merchant of Venice, Salomé, Hughie, The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel, Camino Real, and Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie, among others. Christopher Denham (Carson) made his Broadway debut opposite Danny Glover in “Master Harold”... and the boys, as was also seen on Broadway in The Lieutenant of Inishmore. Other New York stage credits include The Unavoidable Disappearance of Tom Durin (Roundabout Theater Company), Kindness (Playwright’s Horizons), and Red Light Winter (Barrow Street/Steppenwolf), for which he won the Lucille Lortel Award for Best Actor.  Denham also appeared on screen in films such as Argo (2013 Academy Award for Best Picture and Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast), Shutter Island starring Leonardo DiCaprio, The Bay, Sound of My Voice, Duplicity, Charlie Wilson’s War, and the upcoming Money Monster opposite George Clooney and Julia Roberts, directed by Jodie Foster.  He is a series regular on WGN’s Emmy-nominated “Manhattan.” David Mamet (Playwright) is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Glengarry Glen Ross. His other plays include Race, Oleanna, American Buffalo, Speed-the-Plow, November and Sexual Perversity in Chicago, among others. Earlier this year, Mr. Mamet was represented on the West End by a production of American Buffalo starring Damian Lewis, John Goodman, and Tom Sturridge, at the Wyndham Theatre. Pam MacKinnon (Director).  Recent credits include Wendy Wasserstein’s The Heidi Chronicles (Broadway); Bruce Norris’ The Qualms (Playwrights Horizons, Steppenwolf); Edward Albee’s A Delicate Balance (Broadway); Bruce Norris’ Clybourne Park (Broadway, Playwrights Horizons, and Mark Taper; Tony and Lortel nominations, Obie Award); Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Broadway, Steppenwolf, and Arena Stage; Tony and Drama Desk Awards, Outer Critics Circle nomination); and Sarah Teem’s When We Were Young and Unafraid (Manhattan Theatre Club). Pam is an alumna of the Drama League, the Women’s Project and Lincoln Center Theater Directors Labs; an associate artist of the Roundabout Theater Company; executive board member of Stage Directors and Choreographers; and board chair of the New York City downtown company Clubbed Thumb, dedicated to new American plays. CHINA DOLL has scenic design by Tony Award-winner Derek McLane (33 Variations, Beautiful The Carol King Musical), costume design by Tony Award-winner Jess Goldstein (The Rivals, Jersey Boys), and lighting design by Russell H. Champa (In the Next Room (or the vibrator play)). The show was cast by Telsey & Company and Bialy/Thomas Associates. Tickets for CHINA DOLL are available for purchase online at www.telecharge.com, or by calling (212) 239-6200. The running time of CHINA DOLL is 1:55 with an intermission. For performance schedule and other information visit: www.ChinaDollBroadway.com. Visit CHINA DOLL online at: Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaDollBway Twitter: @ChinaDollBway