Manuel here with some big Denzel Washington news. While talking at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, Washington revealed he has signed a deal with HBO to bring all ten of August Wilson’s plays to the screen. Yes, all ten!
We knew he had been trying to get Fences off the ground (he’s attached to produce, direct and star) and now this deal means he’s producing the other nine as well. That’s great news for advocates for more diverse stories as Wilson’s plays, also known as the Pittsburgh Cycle, trace the history of an African-American neighborhood in that city through an entire century. Add to that HBO's pedigree and I am in love with the potential for greatness both in front and behind the camera.
And speaking of Viola Davis...
Oh, we weren’t? Well, we should be because both of Davis’s Tonys come courtesy of Wilson plays: she won in 2001 as Best Featured Actress in a Play for her work on King Hedley II (the eighth in Wilson’s saga) and again in 2010 as Best Actress in a Play working opposite Denzel in Fences. She already confirmed she’ll be joining Washington on screen and while we wait on baited breath to see whether she’ll nab an Emmy this weekend to join her Tonys and her SAG awards, we can enjoy her in this clip from the upcoming Muppets series which… well, just watch:
They’re really pushing the whole “Muppets but for adults” angle, aren’t they? It’s not that I feel I can’t enjoy "Rainbow Connection" now that I know Kermit day drinks, but doesn’t this all seem rather like an unfortunate use of a well-established brand? (And that’s before I got around to reading this Miss Piggy relationship advice column!)