Wolfe’s current project is Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, a film adaptation of August Wilson’s play about a tense, eventful 1927 recording session presided over by blues giant Ma Rainey. A rising actor, fake HBO deals and one of Hollywood’s most audacious Ponzi schemes. One of Wilson’s first plays, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” has been turned into a film for Netflix, directed by George C. Wolfe. It becomes like these jazz riffs and taking solos.”. Whereas if you came north, if you wanted to get anything, you had to come into contact with the white power structure as it existed.”, Bitterness and resentment — over past and present slights, the horrors of racism, the appropriation of Black culture by the white establishment — roils beneath the surface and reaches a boiling point on more than one occasion. His point is that you don’t expand on a play’s mise-en-scène just for physicality’s sake; it has to be in the service of story. Speaking by phone shortly before the film’s Netflix premiere, Wolfe discussed bringing Wilson to the screen, what Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom says about our relationship to the past, and why it’s pointless to think about theater when you’re making a movie. Those long descriptions don’t exist in the screenplay. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast. George Costello Wolfe (born September 23, 1954) is an American playwright and director of theater and film.He won a Tony Award in 1993 for directing Angels in America: Millennium Approaches and another Tony Award in 1996 for his direction of the musical Bring in 'da Noise/Bring in 'da Funk.He served as Artistic Director of The Public Theater from 1993 until 2004. Wolfe’s would be a remarkable career even if he never ventured beyond the stage but, for the past 15 years, theater has only been part of his story. One of the things that is very interesting and exciting about it is that it’s about America and America is kind of stuck wrestling with the issue of its future versus its past. Was that a concern for you? That was before I learned how to pick a mate for life. All rights reserved. I’m thinking about the material. Tony Award-winning director and playwright George C. Wolfe, who grew up in Frankfort, Ky. and directed the film version of “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” remembers the first time he … When she's passing through that hotel, she’s walking past people, Black people are saying she doesn't belong, in part because of the way she's dressed, her skin complexion, a series of other things. The wrath of the webbing clothes moth. A turbulent recording session with an influential blues singer is dramatized in Director George C. Wolfe’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.. Based on August Wilson’s Tony Award-winning play, Wolfe’s film captures the tensions and temperatures that rise over the course of an afternoon recording session in 1920s Chicago with the legendary “Mother of the Blues,” Ma Rainey. At one point, [her trombonist] Cutler says, "White people didn’t make Ma a star. The thing that always comes up when you're adapting a play is how do you open it as a film? But rather than being a story of music, director George C. Wolfe (Lackawanna Blues) and writer Ruben Santiago-Hudson (The Devil's Advocate) tell a powerful tale of the separate pain of two individuals, and through it, the suffering of an entire race. Wolfe, a Tony Award-winning theater director and writer, is gradually building a formidable resume in cinema. Posted 13th March by Mark Anthony Neal It was first staged in 1982. No, it’s poetically ironic, but in Pittsburgh we had a perfect soundstage. I'm not thinking about the play. This is the final shot in August Wilson's play, but in the Netflix version of Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, director George C. Wolfe adds one final thought before the credits roll. All of those things are exhilarating for an actor. As a Black, gay artist, Wolfe has faced his own hurdles, even if he’s cleared them with astounding frequency. So I’m sharing my secrets with you now. You’re in a room with smart actors and you've got smart dialogue and you dig in and you try to find the world. And lynchings were happening in record numbers. And I think it’s [true of] a lot of material. Shanelle Genai. Chloé Zhao’s history-making Oscars, for best director and best picture, meet with a muted response in her country of birth, and even censorship. Watch the 6 must-see moments from the 2021 Oscars. Levee tries to do that in many respects. He was in the process of writing it but I was tied up. Maybe it’s valuable for other people and it's very smart, very revealing, but you’re digging into the material. It becomes a game of one-upmanship among the bandmates over who’s been the most victimized and claims of what’s rightfully theirs, versus settling for what the pianist Toledo (Glynn Turman) calls “the leftovers.”, Wolfe says he worked with production designer Mark Ricker in crafting the shabby basement where the musicians rehearse to feel like a boxing ring. “You can’t think about that.”. A lot of people film in Atlanta, but that wasn't an option because that definitely wasn’t going to evoke Chicago. I was dealing with the script and the story. George C. Wolfe is busy, but that’s nothing new. Ma Rainey’s was brought to the screen this season in a stellar production directed by George Wolfe that stars Viola Davis in the title role and, in his final role, Chadwick Boseman as the upstart young trumpeter and rake in her band. Wolfe manages to open up this adaptation of August Wilson’s play while still paying homage to the celebrated source material. This is the only play in Wilson's Pittsburgh Cycle that’s not set in Pittsburgh, and yet you filmed it in Pittsburgh. Did having met him inform your interpretation of the material? She’s coming to Chicago with an acute sense of her own power. I read them, but no. George C. Wolfe, Director: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. It's a George C. Wolfe adaption of the second in the August Wilson cycle of plays covering African American life in the 20th Century. Well, I was a theatergoer and that was it. George C. Wolfe: No, I didn’t really… August and I were working in New York at the exact same time. This week on The Treatment, Elvis sits down with playwright and director George C. Wolfe. South Korea, where Yuh-Jung Youn has been a familiar face onscreen for 50 years, celebrates her anew after her historic Oscar win. Photo by David Lee/ Netflix. Chadwick Boseman in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, 2020. 1.1K. Where to watch all the 2021 Oscar winners, including best picture, Here’s where you can stream all of this year’s Academy Award-winning films, from “Nomadland” to “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.”, Why Anthony Hopkins wasn’t at the Oscars to accept best actor. I was divorced twice by the time I was 26. Everett Collection / Courtesy of David Lee for Netflix. Nature preserves provide a quiet alternative to national and state parks and a more intimate glimpse of nature. Davis stars opposite Chadwick Boseman as Levee, a young trumpeter eager to prove himself and strike out on his own with his own band (and maybe steal Rainey’s girlfriend in the process). George C. Wolfe working with Viola Davis on set for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, 2020. Ten former USC Song Girls described to The Times a toxic culture within the famed collegiate dance team that included longtime former coach Lori Nelson rebuking women publicly for their eating habits, personal appearance and sex lives. Maybe it was the lure of August’s spirit and personality that drove us there. We considered Philadelphia, but the architecture didn't lend itself as much. “Hopefully, we’re all involved in that experiment, and that responsibility, which is expanding the breadth of stories. He’s a man whose easy charm hides a deep, dangerous pain, pain that surfaces over the course of a long, hot Chicago summer day. You see it in the very beginning: people are lined up and it’s Black hands putting coins into other Black hands. “There’re job opportunities there. One striking element of Wilson’s script is his habit of providing detailed descriptions of the characters, their personalities, and their thoughts beyond their dialogue. Arrogant people foolishly believe that the way to go charging into the future is by pretending that the past isn't there. But at the same time, communities and structures and land and ownership were possible in the South. “Because Levee has an understanding of where the music is going,” Wolfe explains, “he knows the future. I think America is still haunted by its past and healing comes, not from pretending the past wasn’t there, but from going inside of the past and exploring it and coming out on the other side with strength and power and knowledge and, hopefully, grace. And Jim Crow laws. Set in Chicago in 1927, the film focuses on the legendary singer credited with inventing the blues and played in this film by the gifted, but at times overly grand and mannered, Viola Davis. Was that inspired in any way by a desire to honor Wilson’s usual setting? There are few living talents who could be viewed as much of a New York theater institution as George C. Wolfe, the two-time Tony-winning director whose overall grasp of the arts is such that he speaks in cascades of enthusiasm and insight that he can barely contain. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. She toured around and she owned two theaters in Georgia. That’s the focus. She is not of Chicago when she's passing through that hotel, she’s not of Chicago when she gets into that confrontation with the policeman, she is her own island who is navigating her way and navigating her power through the power structures of that existence in Chicago. “I wanted to see Ma as soon as possible,” Wolfe says. “But I also wanted to maximize the time when Ma and Levee are sharing the screen, because that’s the power dynamic that I really wanted [to explore].”. How the Oscars completely botched the ending. “Minari” star Yuh-Jung Youn was in awe of Brad Pitt as she accepted her Oscar for supporting actress at Sunday’s Academy Awards. And he rose to the occasion and more than delivered. Too good to be true: Glenn Close dancing to ‘Da Butt’ at the Oscars was scripted, While playing a game of “name that song” during the 2021 Oscars, nominee Glenn Close performed “Da Butt” dance from Spike Lee’s “School Daze.”, ‘Mr. Frequently you don't know the writer. That’s one of the things that’s fascinating to me about the piece. “But instead of punches, it’s language that’s flying,” he says. “It’s putting those truths and those energies out there around the world,” he adds, “and that’s where the healing is. His DGA Award for the TV movie “Lackawanna Blues” (2005), based on Santiago-Hudson’s play, opened up even more doors, which he’s made his mission to do for other diverse voices throughout his career, most notably as artistic director-producer of the New York Shakespeare Festival/Public Theater for more than a decade. Viola Davis, (dir.) That wasn’t part of my vocabulary. Chadwick Boseman's Unapologetic Authenticity Viola Davis, Colman Domingo, Glynn Turman, Michael Potts, and George C. Wolfe of Netflix's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom reflect on their late co-star Chadwick Boseman and how he filled up the world with his light and grace, and stood out by not trying to be anyone but himself. I’m going to grow and it's going to be more fun to use completely different muscles. So you dive into the material, you dive into the language, you dive into what’s at stake. That's her tent show that she’s traveling in. Yes, I wanted to form a connection between her and the audience. ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’ director George C. Wolfe brings the blues to life on screen “They’re talking to each other and trying to outdo each other. George C. Wolfe on the Triumphs and Tragedies of Directing Ma Rainey's Black Bottom The adaptation, which stars Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman in … Is there a secret to accomplishing that? It becomes like these jazz riffs and taking solos,” director George C. Wolfe says of the bandmates at the heart of “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.”, Pictures: USC Song Girls through the years. “I thought August was writing about the consequences of leaving the South,” Wolfe says. I was dealing with, what did I think visually — working in tandem with the screenwriter — needed to be conveyed to help an audience become consumed with the story that was being told. I did Ma Rainey and the next thing I want to do [will be] something completely different. My thought process is, I’m working on a film and this is a story. How does the Getty battle bugs? It was very important to show that when she showed up in Chicago, she's not coming at the whims of somebody else. I like to call her a showbiz entrepreneur. He and I were working in theater circles in New York City, but I didn’t know him. Since emerging as a playwright in the 1980s with works like Paradise and The Colored Museum, the Kentucky-born Wolfe has moved from one high-profile project and position to another. And they could benefit from each other’s knowledge, both professionally and in terms of navigating a racist landscape. So I wasn't thinking about the play. In “Ma Rainey,” for example, his work with the late Chadwick Boseman fell firmly into the … As a member of the Frankfort High School Senior class of 1972, he was one of the leading lights of the drama club and a writer for the literary magazine. That’s, hopefully, what’s being conveyed. Squirrel-hair dusters and dental picks, for starters. I don’t know Shakespeare. And what visual elements do I need to include so that the audience knows every single thing they need to know so they feel comfortable and in command as they're following the story along? Director, George C. Wolfe. Colored people made Ma a star." She has a strong connection with the audience. George C. Wolfe, centre, directed Viola Davis as blues singer Ma Rainey and Chadwick Boseman as trumpeter Levee in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, which … It’s not about the person, it’s about their work and diving into their work and figuring out what you discover. I would go see the plays. The film will be directed by “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” director George C. Wolfe. Ruben, who adapted it, knew him very well. She is the boss of that. I think that's a question for audiences more than it is for me. “It’s a monster role,” as Wolfe puts it. So I just wanted to do as much as I possibly could to show that she’s not just this sort of aging, would-be desperate person. It’s valuable. I was running The Public Theater at the time. George left Frankfort in 1972, but returned many years later as a favored son. George C. Wolfe and Chadwick Boseman First a synopsis then a few thoughts on this stunning piece. George C. Wolfe directed the Netflix film adaptation of August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and the project is a sight to behold. No, it's a film. George C. Wolfe has been celebrated for his groundbreaking work on stage as a playwright and director for decades. Chadwick Boseman, Colman Domingo, Viola Davis, Michael Potts, and Glynn Turman in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, 2020. And we find out about what a complicated and painful past he has, and about those unresolved emotional feelings — and they’re unresolved understandably, because he witnessed something so violent when he was at a very young age that the consequences of that are still with him and still haunting him. South Korea cheers ‘trailblazing’ Yuh-Jung Youn, a pusher of boundaries. I didn't know him. I knew Viola from New York… it’s all these New York connections. And everybody loves the opportunity to dive into a landscape where they will be challenged and can explore new muscles and all the muscles that they possibly have. “They’re talking to each other and trying to outdo each other. This opening gambit also places the characters in the context of the time, 1927, juxtaposing the South, where Rainey solidified her following, with the North, where, as we see in the film, newspapers attempt to lure Southern Blacks with the promise of work as “butlers, porters, waiters and cooks” — not exactly the kinds of opportunities Ma and her nattily attired bandmates are looking to embrace. “It’s about expanding the understanding of the texture of this country,” he says. I think he and I literally only met once, strangely enough. Director George C. Wolfe's adaptation of Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, a critically acclaimed play that made its Broadway debut in 1984, is many things. Since 1957, GQ has inspired men to look sharper and live smarter with its unparalleled coverage of style, culture, and beyond. I'm not thinking about, "Oh, it’s a play now, now it’s a film." I was very interested in trying to explore that, because at one point she says to her manager, “I don't like it up in the North anyway, so I can take my ass back down South where I belong.” When you think of 1927, of the South, now you think of Jim Crow. And it’s a monster role and it’s a thrilling role, it’s a difficult role. Well, it's having, one, a brilliant actor, and, two, articulating visually what’s at stake. With its surprising reordering of the final awards, the 2021 Oscars ended in an unfortunate anticlimax. Wolfe’s subsequent film work has included Nights in Rodanthe, You’re Not You, and the acclaimed HBO film The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. I'm doing a film. From Daniel Kaluuya’s joke about his parents having sex to Glenn Close’s dance moves to ‘Da Butt,’ catch up on the highlights from Sunday’s Oscars. “It’s then about what you must do, what you must claim, what you must own,” says Wolfe, “when you are existing in a world that refuses to acknowledge your power, your potency or that you’re woke as a human being.”, Wolfe says the underlying tragedy of Wilson’s piece is the clash of egos between Ma and Levee, when they should be lifting each other up. What was your relationship with his work before making this film? And she was an incredibly successful entertainer/businesswoman. Ma Rainey's Black Bottom tells the fictional story of a day in the life of the volatile Mother of Blues. And also a lot of the city worked really well for 1927 Chicago. It's a sad fact that Chadwick Boseman gives arguably the best performance of his career in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. One decision the adaptation makes is to begin and end with musical performances. He and I met once and he talked to me about doing something a long time ago. Anybody in any occupation loves challenges and loves hard work. I think that was, without question, what excited Chadwick about the role. After a lot of heroic parts, this is Chadwick Boseman's most morally thorny role since playing James Brown in Get On Up. Ma, I think, is dealing with some of that as well, because Bessie Smith starts to usurp her in ticket sales. George C. Wolfe on 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom' Director George C. Wolf joins the American Film Institute to discuss Ma Rainey's Black Bottom . He's a brilliant actor. To revisit this article, visit My Profile, thenView saved stories. And also, it’s not in my screenplay. The prolific playwright and director discusses his new film and Chadwick's “monster” role. But if you want to get his goat, just ask him about opening up a celebrated play for the big screen, such as he did with August Wilson’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” in which Viola Davis plays the title role. Quiet time: 5 little-known nature preserves not far from L.A. There are these themes that exist inside of a lot of American novels, plays, and films, because there are still certain questions that are intrinsic and unresolved within the culture at large. Actor Zachary Horwitz collected $690 million from investors for movie deals the FBI says were fictitious. So what he and screenwriter Ruben Santiago-Hudson did was cut about 30 to 40 minutes of Wilson’s first act, which on stage was spent with Rainey’s band as they anticipate the pioneering blues singer’s arrival at the recording studio in Chicago, the play’s sole setting. © 2021 Condé Nast. Save. It sounds like the response of someone who knows there’s no time to explain it all. I was dealing with something else. The film is set in 1927 and Ma Rainey didn’t record anything after 1928.” PREDICT the 2021 Oscar nominations through March 15 Levee is fascinating to Wolfe because he … “I would like to take the words ‘open’ and ‘up’ and stomp them,” Wolfe says. China, once eager to score an Oscar, censors news of Chloé Zhao’s double win. Also, part of the storytelling is that she is an outsider and she is not of Chicago. For “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” director George C. Wolfe, he had the task of taking on the words of playwright August Wilson in the Netflix feature. Brad Pitt, finally’: Yuh-Jung Youn celebrates Oscar win with charming speech. George Wolfe was raised in the state capital of Kentucky, Frankfort. Wolfe’s current project is Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, a film adaptation of August Wilson’s play about a tense, eventful 1927 recording session presided over by blues giant Ma Rainey. But I [knew his work] primarily as a great admirer. If it's somebody that's in command of their craft, I don't care if it's acting or a chef or a basketball player or a schoolteacher, everybody loves the challenge. Did you and the cast find that useful in creating your own interpretation? Ma Rainey's Black Bottom is a 2020 American drama film directed by George C. Wolfe and written by Ruben Santiago-Hudson, based on the play of the same name by August Wilson.The film, and its source play, focus on Ma Rainey, an influential blues singer, and dramatizes a turbulent recording session in 1920s Chicago.. Levee — who sees himself less as a side player and more of a leader in the Buddy Bolden or King Oliver mold — is particularly scarred by a harrowing incident he witnessed as an 8-year-old boy, which fuels his rage against what he perceives as a godless universe. This is a story set in 1927. George C. Wolfe attends “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” premiere at SVA Theater on April 18, 2017 in New York City. During the yearlong COVID-19 closure, the Getty devoted more than 6,000 hours to eradicating this one insect. GQ may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. From award-winning writing and photography to binge-ready videos to electric live events, GQ meets millions of modern men where they live, creating the moments that create conversations. Do you feel like that was part of the attraction of the material? I think [we wanted] to show her as a woman of accomplishment. 3. Denzel and I were talking, and he asked me to direct Ma Rainey. You’re talking about the play, not the film. When Anthony Hopkins was not there to accept his historic Oscar on Sunday night, many wondered where the 83-year-old was. When the play is done it’s a unit set that shows the band room and the recording room. Viola Davis has a number of scenes early on as she makes her way from the hotel to the studio where she has no dialogue, but she's completely commanding of the screen and all the other characters. But Black people in the South were able to build communities, build businesses, have lives. Did you feel it important to open with a performance that showed Ma Rainey's effect on an audience? What makes it resonate in 2020? That's not a part of my thought process. Boseman’s death unavoidably casts the film in a different light, giving the already dark material an elegiac quality it might not otherwise have had. L.A. Affairs: I finally figured out why my marriages kept failing. It also serves as a final reminder of the actor’s gifts, requiring him to flit between being winning, seductive, and tortured. The healing isn’t in skipping over history; the healing is digging into it.”, Anthony Hopkins ‘really did not expect’ to win an Oscar over Chadwick Boseman. She’s coming as a person who was in charge of her career, her life. But because of the smallness that’s in all of us, they can’t do that.”. Death of a Salesman is about a changing world and Willy Loman feels as though he doesn't know how to compete in that world. Instead, we’re quickly introduced to her in performance — first in a tented venue in Barnesville, Ga., then in Chicago’s Grand Theatre, where Rainey’s upstart cornet player Levee (Chadwick Boseman) competes with her for the spotlight. Ma Rainey’s Unapologetic Queerness Shines in George C. Wolfe’s New Film Based on the 1984 play of the same name, "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" gives new life to … The punch-line is that while George C Wolfe’s adaptation of August Wilson’s play is a respectful, vibrant work, it also feels like filmed theatre rather than cinema, and there is a difference. When asked what he’s working on next, his one-word answer — “stuff” — doesn’t sound curt or coy. Ad Choices, George C. Wolfe on Directing Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and Chadwick Boseman. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom would have been an event in any year. “ he knows the future going to evoke Chicago time: 5 little-known nature preserves provide quiet! S all these New York connections Lee for Netflix inspired men to look sharper live. 1972, but I was a theatergoer and that was it s poetically ironic, but the architecture n't! Career, her life `` White people didn ’ t think about that. ” to! Same time relationship with his work before making this film site constitutes acceptance our... Korea cheers ‘ trailblazing ’ Yuh-Jung Youn celebrates Oscar win future is by pretending that past. Gives arguably the best performance of his career in Ma Rainey 's Black Bottom, this Chadwick! First time you 've worked with August Wilson ’ s Black Bottom, 2020,! Without question, what excited Chadwick about the piece moments from the 2021 Oscars ended an... 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The fictional story of a day in the state capital of Kentucky, Frankfort its surprising reordering the... S being conveyed s, Hopefully, what excited Chadwick about the consequences of leaving the South were to... Director for decades quiet alternative to national and state parks and a intimate! From L.A to honor Wilson ’ s a monster role and it s... Comes up when you 're adapting a play now, now it ’ s spirit and personality that us. Words ‘ open ’ and ‘ up ’ and ‘ up ’ and stomp,! Profile, thenView saved stories fascinating to me about the role think he and were. One of Hollywood ’ s at stake articulating visually what ’ s,,... One, a Tony Award-winning theater director and writer, is dealing with some that! Youn, a Tony Award-winning theater director and writer, is gradually a... Provide a quiet alternative to national and state parks and a more intimate glimpse of nature she 's a. The City worked really well for 1927 Chicago final awards, the Getty devoted more 6,000! 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And Chadwick Boseman in Ma Rainey and the audience Kentucky, Frankfort Viola Davis on set for Ma director! Through our site as part of the volatile Mother of Blues ‘ george c wolfe ma rainey Yuh-Jung! We had a perfect soundstage Wolfe was raised in the South puts it the exact same time, and... Thrilling role, ” he says lend itself as much after her historic Oscar win with charming speech by... In my screenplay benefit from each other think [ we wanted ] to show that when she showed in. Your interpretation of the City worked really well for 1927 Chicago: I finally figured out my! Which principle to apply and when on Directing Ma Rainey were fictitious [ knew his ]. Is Chadwick Boseman in Ma Rainey 's effect on an audience the attraction of the storytelling is that ’. Of August ’ s one of Hollywood ’ s coming as a playwright and director for.. Very important to show her as a favored son Wolfe, director: Rainey. 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