by Nathaniel R
Look, it's the first images from Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, based on the August Wilson play of the same name. It's part of his Pittsburgh Cycle of 10 plays documenting the African American experience (with each of the ten plays set in different decades). Denzel Washington is planning to produce all 10 (2 down, 8 to go... how many more will Viola get to star in?). Ma Rainey's... is set in the 1920s and stars Viola Davis as the singer Ma Rainey and Chadwick Boseman as her trumpeter Levee (the two 'star' roles in the show) and involves a very heated recording session and fights therein. The costumes you see here are by the indefatigable four-time Oscar nominee Ann Roth, who is still doing great work regularly at 88 years of age...
Talk about longevity as an artist! (Here's the Best Costume Design Prediction Chart - freshly updated!)
We'll get to the Best Actress chart soon enough but here's one odd detail from past productions of this stage classic. Ma Rainey herself hasn't been an awards magnet role in the show! Theresa Merritt and Charles S Dutton were Tony nominated for those roles on Broadway in 1985 but neither of them won and it was only Dutton who picked up precursor prizes (Theatre World and Drama Desk). In the revival in 2003 Tony voters skipped both leads (Whoopi and Charles S Dutton again) and opted to nominate only Thomas Jefferson Byrd as "Toledo" the pianist (a role that will be playd in the screen version by Glynn Turman). In 2016 when the show was revived on the West End Sharon P Clarke and O.T. Fagbenie had the starring roles. The show won Best Revival at the Olivier Awards but received no acting nominations.
Sixty-six year old Broadway legend George C Wolfe is directing the movie. He's a Tony-favourite (24 nominations and 5 wins) but his onscreen work hasn't been as passionately received. Perhaps something stagey like this particularly contained story will help bring out his Broadway magic? He's been nominated for a directing Emmy once (his two tv telefilms/miniseries were Lackawanna Blues and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks) but he's only made two regular movies previously (Nights in Rodanthe and You're Not You). How do you think this new film will fare at the Oscars?