Before guitarist Tom Morello became a member of era-defining bands Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave, he portrayed Oberon in suburban Libertyville High School’s production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
A new project with the Goodman Theatre is calling him back home. Morello is working with Chicago writer Zayd Ayers Dohrn on a new musical called “Revolution(s)” that will help kick off the Goodman’s Centennial 2025–2026 season.
He spoke with WBEZ anchor Clare Lane after the Goodman’s announcement.
Q. How did you end up back in theater?
A. Zayd Dohrn, who wrote the book for the show — I am friends with his parents, Bernardine Dohrn and Bill Ayers, the leaders of the Weather Underground in the ‘60s and ‘70s. And I’ve known him since he was a kid. He’s just a brilliant writer, a brilliant person. And he reached out to me about six years ago about the idea of doing something with my catalogs of songs.
You know, I’ve made 22 albums in my three-decade career. And so, we began mining those songs and my writing some more songs, while he conjured this multigenerational story of love and rebellion. And to be able to put on this show, which will be challenging some theatrical norms — we want it to be as much like an underground illegal rave as a theatrical performance — it’s really exciting to be doing it at the Goodman in my favorite city in the world.
Q. The storyline follows a young soldier who’s returning from Afghanistan and joins a South Side resistance movement. Tell us a little bit about this character.
A. He’s the child of parents who were radicals in a previous generation. His father’s in jail with a life sentence. His mom is a school teacher. So, the adventures of both our young veteran who comes home and the parents as young people and as adults are all taking place simultaneously. So, it’s like a time machine on stage. The idea is the revolving of generations and the fear that one has of raising their children in dangerous times — but also the notion that there’s nothing wrong with raising dragon-slayers in a time when there are real dragons.
Q. Why set it here in Chicago?
A. Zayd and I are both Chicagoans. It’s a city that he knows; he lives on the South Side. And you know, there really could be no other place for the two of us to make a show — no better place than in Chicago. I mean, especially now, when every act of art is an act of resistance, and every truth spoken is a beacon of light in the gathering darkness, and every song sung is a trumpet of hope to the future heroes who will hopefully undo this madness. One of the things that’s very attractive about doing it at the Goodman is that they’re going to provide matinees, daily matinees for local public schools. And that’s pretty great.
Q. How did your years at Libertyville High School prepare you to be someone who challenges authority?
A. On the one hand, the drama club kids in Libertyville were the radical left contingent as well, the intellectual left in the school. And there was a walkout during one of the plays. … So, some of my initial civil disobedience training was in the drama club at Libertyville High School.
Q. Before your play opens, you’ve got this other big project. You are the musical director for what you’ve called “the greatest heavy metal show ever.” That’s Ozzy Osbourne’s farewell show this July in Birmingham, England. Black Sabbath is going to reunite for the first time in 20 years. What has been like to work in the Osbourne universe?
A. Heavy metal is the music that made me love music, and Black Sabbath is the band that invented heavy metal. …
Right now, we have like, 14 bands. You know, it’s Metallica, Guns N’ Roses. It’s like, all the biggest bands in the history of heavy metal. The show is gonna be about 10 hours long, but it’s gonna be a salute to a genre that people all around the world love.
Q. Are you going to take the stage?
A. Oh, of course, I will be up there. Speaking of Northern Illinois, this may be a little bit of a spoiler alert, but Adam Jones, the guitarist of Tool, he and I went to Libertyville High School together and played in a band. Billy Corgan, the singer of Smashing Pumpkins, grew up a few suburbs over. The three of us are going to play together for the first time ever at the show. So, there’ll be an 847 connection.