Saturday, June 24, 8:15 pm, Castro • not streaming • on HBO June 27
West Coast première
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| Taylor Mac |
Taylor Mac undertook a monumental project, a journey through American popular music from the Revolutionary War to the present. Each decade was given a full hour, with about ten songs woven in with narration, dramatization, and audience participation. Initially staged as a series of four six-hour performances, Taylor Mac decided to stage it (just once!) as a marathon 24-hour production, from noon to noon. Of course, the event was filmed from multiple angles, giving documentarians Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman (The Celluloid Closet, The Times of Harvey Milk, Howl, and many others) plenty of source material, supplemented with footage of a photo shoot highlighting the amazing costumes (or “wearable sculptures”) from the show. The stage show itself is a tour-de-force, and the backstory only adds to the interest. I don’t know that I could’ve put myself through the full 24-hour performance in one sitting, or even in four chunks, but the essence of the show distilled into a standard feature-length presentation is compelling and involves the viewer, giving you at least a little of the sense that you were there. Definitely a MUST SEE.
Taylor Mac’s A 24-Decade History of Popular Music premieres June 27 on HBO and will be available on max (f.k.a. HBO/max).
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