Chicago – One of the greatest challenges of any actor is the portrayal of a person in history that is familiar to most of the culture. Orson Welles is such a man, and Jewell Wilson Bridges took on his persona in the new film “Voodoo MacBeth.” He plays Welles as the “Boy Genius” stage director, age 21 in 1936.
Rating: 3.5/5.0
Before the radio notoriety of “War of the Worlds” and the film “Citizen Kane,” there was the stage rendering of “Voodoo MacBeth.” Produced by John Houseman (Daniel Kuhlman) for the Federal Theatre Project as part of a Depression-era “New Deal” government program, it featured an all-black cast in Harlem performing Shakespeare’s MacBeth, including leading Broadway actor Rose McClendon (Inger Tudor). Houseman turned to 21-year-old Orson Welles (Bridges) to bring the production to life, and as director he creates a radical version set in a fictional Caribbean island, using voodoo instead of witchery to drive the famous narrative.
Rating: 3.5/5.0
Before the radio notoriety of “War of the Worlds” and the film “Citizen Kane,” there was the stage rendering of “Voodoo MacBeth.” Produced by John Houseman (Daniel Kuhlman) for the Federal Theatre Project as part of a Depression-era “New Deal” government program, it featured an all-black cast in Harlem performing Shakespeare’s MacBeth, including leading Broadway actor Rose McClendon (Inger Tudor). Houseman turned to 21-year-old Orson Welles (Bridges) to bring the production to life, and as director he creates a radical version set in a fictional Caribbean island, using voodoo instead of witchery to drive the famous narrative.
- 10/25/2022
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
For some theater fans, the 1936 production of the “Voodoo Macbeth” (as it became commonly known) is the stuff of legend. Funded by the Federal Theater Project, which gave financial aid to the struggling theater community during the Great Depression, the “Voodoo Macbeth” starred a cast of black performers in an imaginative new staging of William Shakespeare’s so-called “Scottish Play,” set in Haiti in the early 1800s.
The show was a mammoth success, critically acclaimed and financially successful, and not for nothing, it was one of the more noteworthy early accomplishments of a 20-year-old thespian and director named Orson Welles.
While Welles’s theater days have been the subject of biopics before, with films like “Cradle Will Rock” and “Me and Orson Welles” dramatizing his imaginative stagings, the new film “Voodoo Macbeth” may be the first to properly depict this particular landmark production. It’s attractively filmed and, mostly, solidly performed,...
The show was a mammoth success, critically acclaimed and financially successful, and not for nothing, it was one of the more noteworthy early accomplishments of a 20-year-old thespian and director named Orson Welles.
While Welles’s theater days have been the subject of biopics before, with films like “Cradle Will Rock” and “Me and Orson Welles” dramatizing his imaginative stagings, the new film “Voodoo Macbeth” may be the first to properly depict this particular landmark production. It’s attractively filmed and, mostly, solidly performed,...
- 10/22/2022
- by William Bibbiani
- The Wrap
“Voodoo Macbeth” credits no fewer than 10 directors and eight screenwriters, all of them students of or recent graduates from the USC School of the Cinematic Arts. And arguably the most impressive thing about the USC-produced movie — a fanciful dramatization of Orson Welles’ historic 1936 New York production of “Macbeth” with an all-Black cast — is how smoothly it plays as all of one piece. To be sure, you might quibble about certain dramatic liberties the creatives have taken to embellish real-life events — or, in some cases, to completely rewrite history covered in Orson Welles biographies and documentaries. And yes, the film overall is more diverting than stirring. Still, there is a good deal more than novelty value going for this group effort.
Set during the Depression Era, “Voodoo Macbeth” begins with an introduction to the Negro Theatre Unit, an innovative federally funded offshoot of the Works Project Administration, and its two...
Set during the Depression Era, “Voodoo Macbeth” begins with an introduction to the Negro Theatre Unit, an innovative federally funded offshoot of the Works Project Administration, and its two...
- 10/21/2022
- by Joe Leydon
- Variety Film + TV
Fox’s The Resident season six episode three charted the course of one gunshot victim’s impact on the hospital staff and resources. Plus, there were a few heartstopping moments when Padma nearly lost her twins but, fortunately, she ultimately gave birth to two beautiful babies. Up next, episode four – “It Won’t Be Like This For Long” – airing on Tuesday, October 11, 2022 at 8pm Et/Pt.
The season six cast includes Matt Czuchry as Dr. Conrad Hawkins, Jessica Lucas as Dr. Billie Sutton, Bruce Greenwood as Dr. Randolph Bell, and Jane Leeves as Dr. Kit Voss. Manish Dayal stars as Dr. Devon Pravesh, Malcolm-Jamal Warner is Dr. Aj Austin, Anuja Joshi is Dr. Leela Devi, Andrew McCarthy plays Dr. Ian Sullivan, and Kaley Ronayne is Dr. Cade Sullivan.
“It Won’t Be Like This For Long” Plot: Ian is faced with performing a surgery on a Jane Doe Nicu patient...
The season six cast includes Matt Czuchry as Dr. Conrad Hawkins, Jessica Lucas as Dr. Billie Sutton, Bruce Greenwood as Dr. Randolph Bell, and Jane Leeves as Dr. Kit Voss. Manish Dayal stars as Dr. Devon Pravesh, Malcolm-Jamal Warner is Dr. Aj Austin, Anuja Joshi is Dr. Leela Devi, Andrew McCarthy plays Dr. Ian Sullivan, and Kaley Ronayne is Dr. Cade Sullivan.
“It Won’t Be Like This For Long” Plot: Ian is faced with performing a surgery on a Jane Doe Nicu patient...
- 10/5/2022
- by Rebecca Murray
- Showbiz Junkies
Exclusive: Film Bridge International and 19th Hole Productions have shot and are ready to shop the end-of-the-world YA romance When I’m Ready, starring up and comers Andrew Ortenberg and June Schreiner along with Thalia Besson, Dermot Mulroney and Lauren Cohan.
Written by Ortenberg and directed by Andrew Johnson, When I’m Ready tells the story of Rose and Michael, a young couple falling in love while on the run from their past as a devastating asteroid threatens to wipe out life on Earth. Seeking meaning and thrills in their last days alive, they embark on a cross-country road trip. Along the way they encounter other lost souls, each with their own unique perspective on the impending doom. It will be shopped shortly and readied for early 2023 festivals.
Pic is produced by Jordan Dykstra, Ortenberg, Robert Ballo and Eli Samek. Executive producers include James Masciello, Matt Sidari, Clay Pecorin, Russell Geyser and Tom Ortenberg.
Written by Ortenberg and directed by Andrew Johnson, When I’m Ready tells the story of Rose and Michael, a young couple falling in love while on the run from their past as a devastating asteroid threatens to wipe out life on Earth. Seeking meaning and thrills in their last days alive, they embark on a cross-country road trip. Along the way they encounter other lost souls, each with their own unique perspective on the impending doom. It will be shopped shortly and readied for early 2023 festivals.
Pic is produced by Jordan Dykstra, Ortenberg, Robert Ballo and Eli Samek. Executive producers include James Masciello, Matt Sidari, Clay Pecorin, Russell Geyser and Tom Ortenberg.
- 8/15/2022
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: USC Originals has scored its first theatrical release, in association with Warner Bros., following Lightyear Entertainment’s acquisition of its film, Voodoo Macbeth. The company behind the Oscar-nominated Australian feature Tanna has slated the pic for release across the U.S. and Canada in October.
Based on a true story, Voodoo Macbeth follows a young Orson Welles (Jewell Wilson Bridges) and a group of committed artists as they set out to create what is now considered a landmark event in African-American theater history—the Negro Theatre Unit’s revolutionary 1936 production of Macbeth.
With Fdr’s New Deal providing funding for the Federal Theatre Project, director Rose McClendon (Inger Tudor) convinces co-director John Houseman (Daniel Kuhlman) to help her bring Shakespeare’s Macbeth to the Harlem community at the Lafayette Theater — with an all-Black cast. Well before Citizen Kane and War of the Worlds, they choose for their groundbreaking production...
Based on a true story, Voodoo Macbeth follows a young Orson Welles (Jewell Wilson Bridges) and a group of committed artists as they set out to create what is now considered a landmark event in African-American theater history—the Negro Theatre Unit’s revolutionary 1936 production of Macbeth.
With Fdr’s New Deal providing funding for the Federal Theatre Project, director Rose McClendon (Inger Tudor) convinces co-director John Houseman (Daniel Kuhlman) to help her bring Shakespeare’s Macbeth to the Harlem community at the Lafayette Theater — with an all-Black cast. Well before Citizen Kane and War of the Worlds, they choose for their groundbreaking production...
- 8/9/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
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