After months of anticipation and mounting Oscar buzz, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” just received a December 18 release date on Netflix . The film, an adaptation of Pulitzer Prize-winner August Wilson ’s play of the same name, reunites both producer Denzel Washington and actress Viola Davis Chadwick Boseman Kyle Buchanan (New York Times ) writes of Boseman’s performance, “Shot through with movie-star charisma and practically assured of Oscar recognition, it is Boseman’s finest screen performance.”
Davis steps into the shoes of real-life blues singer Ma Rainey in the film, which is set in Chicago in 1927 and chronicles a recording session beset with delays, generational tensions amongst the band, and pressure from white record executives. Boseman plays Ma Rainey’s trumpet player Levee, who hopes to modernize her style; Colman Domingo , Glynn Turman , and Michael Potts portray the other members of Ma Rainey’s band.
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Given its incredible source material and the talent in front of and behind the camera, we have high Oscar expectations for “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” based on our current combined odds . Sitting comfortably in 5th place for a Best Picture nomination, our savvy prognosticators also foresee bids for Best Actress (Davis), Best Supporting Actor (Boseman), and Adapted Screenplay (Wilson, Ruben Santiago-Hudson ).
One factor informing this early enthusiasm for the film’s Oscar prospects is the track record of the source material at the Tony Awards. The original production in 1984 scored three Tony nominations for Best Play, Best Featured Actor (Charles S. Dutton ) and Best Featured Actress (Theresa Merritt ). Dutton and Merritt earned those for the roles that Boseman and Davis portray in the film, respectively, which speaks to the awards appeal of the characters themselves. A revival followed less than two decades later in 2003, though to less awards celebration. Charles S. Dutton reprised the role of Levee and Whoopi Goldberg tackled the role of Ma Rainey; the production landed just a single Tony nomination for Thomas Jefferson Byrd , who played the part that Turman takes on in the film.
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The theatrical roots of the film extend beyond its stage origins, as much of the creative team has a Broadway background. Director George C. Wolfe has over 20 Broadway credits to his name as a director, book writer, and producer; he has five Tony Awards including two for Best Direction (“Angels in America: Millennium Approaches,” 1993; “Bring in ‘Da Noise, Bring in ‘Da Funk,” 1996). Screenwriter Ruben Santiago-Hudson won a Tony Award for his performance in Wilson’s “Seven Guitars” in 1996, and earned a Tony nomination for directing the Broadway debut of Wilson’s “Jitney” in 2017. Costume Designer Ann Roth , meanwhile, has over 100 Broadway credits, an Oscar (“The English Patient,” 1997), and a Tony (“The Nance,” 2013).
Washington and Wolfe have stacked the film’s cast with theater thespians, too. Michael Potts has seven Broadway credits, including one for Wilson’s play “Jitney,” and Turman has appeared on Broadway twice. Domingo earned a Tony nomination for “The Scottsboro Boys” in 2011 and Jeremy Shamos , who plays Ma Rainey’s manager in the movie, earned a Tony bid for “Clybourne Park” in 2012. Washington and Davis won Tony Awards for their performances in Wilson’s “Fences” in 2010; Davis had previously won for Wilson’s “King Hedley II” in 2001, earned a nomination for Wilson’s “Seven Guitars” in 1996, and successfully parlayed her stage performance in “Fences” to an Oscar win in 2017.
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