MovieWeb can exclusively premiere the official trailer for Lightyear Entertainment's Voodoo Macbeth ahead of its theatrical release on Oct. 21, 2022. The film is based on the true story of Orson Welles' legendary production of Macbeth which made African-American theater history in 1936. Voodoo Macbeth captures the process of putting the production together as you can see by checking out the new trailer below.
As the story goes, Welles was chosen to reimagine Macbeth with an all-Black cast for the Harlem community at the Lafayette Theater, long before Citizen Kane and War of the Worlds. The production was considered to be highly controversial, sparking protests from Harlemites who had considered the show to be exploitative while politicians had said it was subversive. Even so, it was a big success, debuting to packed audiences and playing the Lafayette Theater for 10 weeks before hitting the road and touring across America. It was also the project that put Welles on the map, though Voodoo Macbeth also focuses on Rose McClendon, a strong Black woman who served as a major player in the Harlem Renaissance and was an essential mentor to Welles on the production.
"By all odds, my great success in my life was that play, because the opening night there were five blocks in which all traffic was stopped," Welles later recalled in a 1982 interview. "You couldn't get near the theater in Harlem. Everybody who was anybody in the black or white world was there. And when the play ended there were so many curtain calls that finally they left the curtain open, and the audience came up on the stage to congratulate the actors. And that was magical."
Voodoo Macbeth Has Garnered Great Acclaim on the Festival Circuit
Voodoo Macbeth has been screening at film festivals with more than 20 so far. During that time, the movie has racked up 14 wins with an additional three nominations, including Best Film, Best Production, and Best Actress at the Harlem International Film Festival; and Best Feature Film at Dances with Films.
This movie also marks the first theatrical release from USC Originals in association with Warner Bros., and was overseen by USC professor and executive producer John Watson (Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Backdraft, The Outer Limits). Voodoo Macbeth was also very much a group effort creatively, with ten different directors, eight writers, and three producers.
The Voodoo Macbeth directors are Dagmawi Abebe, Victor Alonso-Berbel, Hannah Bang, Christopher Beaton, Agazi Desta, Zoë Salnave, Roy Arwas, Tiffany K. Guillen, Ernesto Sandoval, and Sabina Vajrača. Writers include Erica Sutherlin, Agazi Desta, Morgan Milender, Jennifer Frazin, Molly Miller, Amri Rigby, Joel David Santner, and Chris Tarricone. The producers are Jason Phillips, Miles Alva, and Xiaoyuan Xiao, and the executive producers are Tracy 'Twinkie' Byrd and Jenna Cavelle.
Inger Tudor (Goliath, On Time, The Social Network) stars as Rose McClendon while Jewell Wilson Bridges (known for the national tours of Trevor Nunn & Matthew Bourne’s revival of My Fair Lady and Terry Johnson’s revival of La Cage Aux Folles) co-stars as Orson Welles, making his feature film debut. The film also stars June Schreiner, Jeremy Tardy, Ashli Haynes, Daniel Kuhlman, Wrekless Watson, Gary McDonald, and Hunter Bodine.
Voodoo Macbeth is set to premiere in theaters on Oct. 21, 2022. You can find out more about the film at its official website.