Voodoo Macbeth / Film School radio interview with Producer Jason Phillips, Actors Inger Tudor and Jewell Wilson Bridges

Before Citizen Kane and The War of the Worlds, leading Broadway actress Rose McClendon and producer John Houseman convince a gifted but untested 20-year-old Orson Welles to direct Shakespeare’s Macbeth with an all-Black cast in Harlem. Reimagined in a Haitian setting, this revolutionary 1936 production, which came to be known as “Voodoo Macbeth,” would change the world forever, but the road to opening night proves to be a difficult one. Orson and Rose – who is to play Lady Macbeth – clash over everything from scene blocking to crew hires, while Houseman contends with a congressman hell-bent on shutting down what he deems “communist propaganda.” Welles and McClendon must overcome political pressure, personal demons, and protests to realize their groundbreaking vision. Fresh of an award-winning film festival run Voodoo MacBeth is being released for a theatrical run through Lightyear Entertainment. Co-producer Jason Phillips, lead actors Inger Tudor and Jewell Wilson Bridges join us to talk about the story behind the story making a film in which ten directors, six producers and eight writers seamlessly collaborated, how the USC School of Cinematic Arts and USC Originals factor into the making of the film, re-discovering this little known chapter in the life of a filmmaking giant Orson Wells, and the importance of publicly support funding for the arts, including the Federal Theatre Project and its support for Harlem’s Negro Theatre Unit. For more go to: voodoomacbethfilm.com Screenings go to: voodoomacbethfilm.com/screenings