Every once in a while, a play comes to Broadway that makes fans rethink if one moment can change everything. China Doll, starring the all-powerful Oscar-, Emmy- and Tony-winner Al Pacino, tells the story about a man who is ready to walk away from it all to start a new life with his young and gorgeous fiancée. Then, he gets a phone call that changes everything. The 15-week limited engagement play has been getting a lot of buzz in the Broadway community, and ticket prices are approaching record levels. Mainly, because Pacino's name is all over the thing. Unsurprisingly, Pacino is successful in every theatrical medium, be it film, television, the Great White Way. So, will China Doll be the highest priced show on Broadway?
China Doll has very high demand on the secondary ticket market, according to TicketNetwork. The average ticket price as of Tuesday morning is $411, which is similar to what Hamilton saw earlier in the summer. If China Doll stays at that high price-point, it will be the highest priced play on Broadway this season, prior to opening. This current title is held by Therese Raquin, starring Keira Knightley, which has an average resale ticket price of $232.
There could be a variety of reasons for a production's high early price tag. The usual culprits are the time of year it premieres, the actors starring in it and the popularity of the show, itself. In this case, the reason is most likely the allure of Pacino in the lead. But that is not to say that show isn't partly behind the hefty early price tag. Regardless, the top five shows on the secondary market in terms of average price will have a newcomer breaking into the ranks; China Doll will be the first play to break the top five threshold all season.
David Mamet's China Doll -- directed, this run at least, by Tony-winner Pam MacKinnon -- began previews on October 21. The production opens mid-November at the Schoenfeld Theater.
