Viola Davis leads the way in a different kind of battle scene when she teams up with director Lee Daniels for the “Practical Magic,” a period production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical “The Sound of Music” that opened at the Lyric Opera of Chicago last November.
Davis has long been on the radar of many film directors, who have tried to bring her into their projects. And after the recent box-office success of “Precious” and its Oscar win, her role as Julie Powell in “Mud” could be the film that will send her straight to the top of the awards race.
A scene from the film
Davis said she was attracted to the film because it was “such a beautiful story of two women who fight for everything in their lives.” The film opens on what could be called “the first day of school” for Julie (played by Kristin Chenoweth) and Maria (Emma Stone), who live together at home in Kansas.
Like the lead in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical “The Sound of Music,” Maria (who is played by Broadway-trained soprano Chenoweth) has been told by her mother to be a proper lady, which makes it difficult to work with her husband, Dan (Kurt Egyiawan).
Julie’s father (played by actor Matt Damon) is a tough-as-nails businessman with the heart of a lion, and when he’s not busy with business, he does a lot of traveling and fishing.
The film has been well received by critics and audiences alike, and while it earned a rare five-time Golden Globe win for best musical, neither the film nor its lead actress has done any particularly well at the box office.
The film earned $19 million, while Davis appeared in a handful of big movies, including “Monster’s Ball,” “Cats” and “The Help,” but her biggest role so far has been in “Precious.” She won an Academy Award for best supporting actress for her performance as Gloria Vanderbilt, and its $56 million gross in U.S. theaters is the largest for
