FLASH FRIDAY: CHINA DOLL's Al Pacino Wins a 1969 Tony For DOES A TIGER WEAR A NECKTIE?

Al Pacino was a 29-year-old member of The Actors Studio, when Patty Duke presented him with a 1969 Best Supporting Actor Tony Award for his Broadway debut performance in Don Petersen's DOES A TIGER WEAR A NECKTIE, a play about juvenile narcotics addicts.

Three years later he was Michael Corleone in THE GODFATHER and he received his first Oscar nomination for SERPICO in 1973. While Pacino is regarded as one of the film industries greatest actors, he's always been a stellar presence on Broadway, taking the 1977 Best Actor Tony for THE BASIC TRAINING OF PAVLO HUMMEL and appearing in such varied productions as AMERICAN BUFFALO, SALOME and THE MERCHANT OF VENICE, where he gave gut-wrenching portrayal of Shakespeare's Shylock.

Pacino's latest venture is CHINA DOLL, the new play by David Mamet. 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 is currently in previews at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre (236 West 45th Street). The press opening is scheduled for December 4th.

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 . . .

CHINA DOLL has scenic design by Tony Award-winner Derek McLane (33 Variations, Beautiful TheCarol 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.

CHINA DOLL is presented by Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel, and Steve Traxler (this marks the tenth presentation of a David Mamet work by Messrs Richards, Frankel and Treaxler on Broadway and in the West End).