Malden Musician Ready to Release Rock Opera of “MacBeth”

Malden rock musician Greg Cherone describes it as “Jesus Christ Superstar meets Game of Thrones.” What he’s talking about is his latest project, “Shakespeare’s MacBeth, a rock opera.”

The recently completed concept album features award-winning recording artist Laura Wright, who was a semi-finalist on American Idol season 5, as Lady MacBeth; Boston rock legend Rick Berlin (of Berlin Airlift, Orchestra Luna, and Luna fame) as King Duncan; Malden’s Dave Munro from the indy-pop band “Air Traffic Controller” as Prince Malcolm; and “Shakespeare’s MacBeth, a rock opera” co-creator Robert Clapp, Jr. as MacBeth.

“We’ve been shopping this around with our music industry contacts and music attorneys,” Cherone said, adding that their ultimate goal is to stage a production. “We contacted the Boston Rock Opera and have our fingers crossed.”

Cherone and guitarist John Bettencourt started the project several years ago but then put it aside before Clapp helped them pick it back up again. It took a full year to complete, but Cherone notes the idea has been a “life-long vision” for him.

“I remember being a high school freshman (at Malden High) and this particular play required reading. The Elizabethan language was archaic and difficult for me to understand at the time. I wasn’t really sure what was going on,” he said. “But I was hearing the music in my mind, particularly AC/DC’s bagpipes, in addition to marching drums, blaring trumpets, and clanking steel sword fights.”

He added that his goal with this project is to update and retell the story in a modern way for a new generation much like the passion play was depicted in “Jesus Christ Superstar.”

The full digital album is slated for release in January 2025, but a four-song excerpt of the album is available to stream at all of the online digital platforms now, according to Cherone. The songs, “A Dangerous Thing,” and “If We Should Fail,” are available on YouTube.