Voodoo Macbeth, the University of Southern California film on the making of the landmark Orson Welles stage production, is now available digitally On Demand with a DVD and Blu-ray release set for later this month.
The film is now available from Amazon, Apple TV, iTunes and Vudu. It will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on January 17, according to Lightyear Entertainment.
While not historically accurate at several points, the student- written and directed movie is quite enjoyable.
The movie recalls how a 20-year-old Welles adapted and directed a Federal Theatre Project of Macbeth. He moved the Shakespearean play’s setting from Scotland to a Caribbean island. Before the play opened, Welles was criticized by those who feared he was creating a demeaning, burlesque production and not hiring enough Black crew. After its opening, he was hailed for championing African-American theater.
Jewell Wilson Bridges stars as Welles with Inger Tudor as Rose McClendon, the Broadway actress who supervised the Negro Theatre Unit of the Federal Theatre Project. June Schreiner co-stars as Virginia Nicolson Welles.
John Watson, who holds the Broccoli Endowed Chair for Producing at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, was project supervisor for the film. Watson has produced 12 feature films, including Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Backdraft and Blown Away, and served as executive producer of more than 300 hours of television.
Cast and crew (full credits at voodoomacbethfilm.com)
Inger Tudor — Rose McClendon
Jewell Wilson Bridges — Orson Welles
June Schreiner — Virginia Welles
Jeremy Tardy — Maurice
Daniel Kuhlman — John Houseman
Wrekless Watson — Cuba Johnson
Ashli Haynes — Edna Thomas
Gary McDonald — Jack Carter
Hunter Bodine — Martin Dies
Ephraim López — Juano Hernandez
Directors: Dagmawi Abebe, Victor Alonso-Berbel, Roy Arwas, Hannah Bang, Christopher Beaton, Agazi Desta, Tiffany Kontoyiannis Guillen, Zoe Salnave, Ernesto Sandoval and Sabina Vajraca
Writers: Agazi Desta, Jennifer Frazin, Morgan Milender, Molly Miller, Amri Rigby, Joel David Santner, Erica Sutherlin, and Chris Tarricone
Cinematography: Bash Achkar
Editing: Takashi Uchida
Casting: Tracy ‘Twinkie’ Byrd
Executive producers: Tracy ‘Twinkie’ Byrd, Jenna Cavelle, and John Watson
Producers: Miles Alva, Jason Phillips and Xiaoyuan Xiao
Co-producers: John Somers Fairchild, Matt Michienzie and Reef Oldberg
Associate producers: Karla Luna Cantu
Music: Jongnic Bontemps
Production design: Maren H. Jensen
Art direction: Emma Bradford
Set decoration: Alexah Acuña
Costume design: Naomi Wolff Lachter
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