Review Roundup: REVOLUTION(S) at the Goodman Theatre

Performances are underway for Revolution(s), the all-new punk/metal/hip-hop musical by Tom Morello and Zayd Ayers Dohrn, at The Goodman Theatre in Chicago. Directed by Steve H. Broadnax III, this world-premiere production kicked off the Centennial 25/26 Season in the Owen Theatre and recently extended for a second time, through November 22. Read the reviews below!

Broadnax’s leading cast features Jackie Burns (Broadway’s Wicked), Jakeim Hart (Broadway’s Almost Famous), Michael Earvin Martin (The Color Purple), Al’Jaleel McGhee (Steppenwolf’s Noises Off), Aaron James McKenzie (OBC’s A Beautiful Noise), Billy Rude (Matchbox Magic Flute) and Alysia Velez (Broadway’s Into the Woods). Revolution(s) runs through November 9 (opening night is October 13) in the 350-seat flexible Owen Theatre. 

In Revolution(s), when soldier and aspiring musician Hampton Falk-Weems (Aaron James McKenzie) comes home from Afghanistan, he finds the South Side of Chicago is also occupied territory—and he’s accidentally joined the resistance. This all-new radical musical event from Tom Morello and Chicago’s own Zayd Ayers Dohrn pulses with punk, hip-hop and metal, and celebrates the courage that inspires us—across generations—to demand a better world.

James Lindhorst, BroadwayWorld: Revolution(s) director Steve H. Broadnax III has designed a gritty and raw production. He and casting director Lauren Port pack The Goodman's Owen Theatre diminutive stage with explosive talent and enormous voices in a masterfully crafted and beautifully conceived production.

Rachel Weinberg, BroadwayWorld: REVOLUTION(S) is truly unlike any other show I’ve seen at the Goodman. While I think the material still has some rough edges, that’s fitting of the subject matter. The themes introduced here aren’t neat and tidy, so the material shouldn’t be, either. This musical has a pulsing, urgent energy that is extremely well-matched by Morello’s music and lyrics. 

Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune: Dohrn has written what he knows and he’s mostly found the right soundtrack. What Dohrn has to do now is remove the thematic whiplash from all the cross-cutting, make it clear that every choice comes with a price and find the true center of his show. He needs his characters to actually confront each other. He has to take on the sacred cows.

Amanda Finn, New City Stage: “Revolution(s)” isn’t the perfect musical. In fact, it doesn’t feel like musical theater at all. It feels like a concert set to a story in the best way. It is collective rage, anguish and love, screaming into the void for someone—anyone—to listen. I believe it is a spark, a flicker in the darkness as we reckon with the moral ineptitude and failings of our own government. This show demands we do something in the face of injustice. And I, for one, couldn’t have wished for a better soundtrack for the revolution.

Kerry Reid, Chicago Reader: Revolution(s) requires that the audience navigate the narrative dissonance between the complexities of the characters’ lives and the straight-down-the-line anthemic nature of the music. But perhaps that’s exactly the right tone to strike for our own horrifying timeline, when people are kidnapped off the streets and the editorial board of a major Chicago newspaper demands that the mayor and the governor should dial down their rhetoric in order to appease fascists. 

Anne Spiselman, Hyde Park Herald: I wish the details of the story were clearer, the characters were more fully developed and nagging questions were resolved like how and why Emma changed from a bad ass to a fearful mom, but maybe that's just me. 

Steven Oxman, Chicago Sun Times: Unfortunately, “Revolution(s)” ultimately comes off as a work more at war with itself than with authoritarian creep or social injustice. What sounds like a show perfectly timed to the moment turns out to be the opposite.

Barbara Vitello, Daily Herald: The show faces challenges common to jukebox tuners: namely crafting characters and a narrative from songs not written for the purpose of revealing characters and advancing plot. Gripping as they are, the earnest, righteously defiant songs by Morello and company emerge as snapshots of injustice and calls to action as opposed to enhancing the story.