I just actually had to go and look up what this show is called. "24 Decade History of Pop Music" is actually what it is called! Huzzah. I will stop calling it "that Taylor Mac thing" (which I am sure most people call all his stuff at once point or another).
So any ways cats and kittens, I went to check out Taylor do the 1930's-1950's on Tuesday. Which seems like a world away. Man, sometimes life moves so fast that I truly, truly cannot keep up. It's good, right?
Any way. So, no surprises here- I do love Taylor Mac and whatever he turns his fancy to, I love to join in. And that's what's pretty great about Taylor Mac, right? Whatever he is doing, you feel like you can join right in for the most part. Taylor's aesthetic is so sloppy in a way and yet his persona and his look, are extremely curated. For someone that's never seen one of his shows before- it's kind of like he can wander in and out of the space, he had a ribbon stuck to his shoe like a piece of toilet paper for about 30 minutes before he finally (awkwardly) removed it, there was an epic amount of ad-lib, and a true feeling that if he wanted a part of the show to take 20 minutes instead of 5, he'd just keep talking. It's not very precise and yet it's quite lovely.
Fun fact: I saw "The Lily's Revenge" in Boston and Taylor Mac was actually- according to an amazing curtain speech- passing a kidney stone DURING the performance. I think he copped to taking some painkillers and was just gonna see what happened. And this is like a 6 hour show. And he totally pulled that shit off. Legendary.
Any way- back to this- which was just a 3 hour snippet of the eventual, final, 24 hour event. Highlights included: being told that we were going to be served soup, but okay they couldn't afford soup, and had peanuts instead. We were implored to actually TALK to the audience members around us and talk about a time when you truly lost everything. As my luck would have it- the man next to me turned right to me and told me that he lost his home in hurricane Sandy. His whole home- and everything in it. But it brought him and his partner together and they're now stronger for it. Hot damn. LIVE THEATRE.
Other great moments include in the 1950's when the audience was forced to enact White Flight- I actually got to stay in the center of the center section with all the brown folk! It was great! Taylor remarked multiple times that he needed to hire someone to work on his audience diversity.
There was definitely a point somewhere in the 40's where the thing nearly ground to a halt- even Taylor commented on this- but then again, didn't the world almost ground to a halt in the 40's? So maybe this was apropos? But by the time it got to the 50's it picked back up. I cannot even imagine what is going to happen as he edges into the 70's, 80's and 90's- where modern pop really makes it's home.
The costumes and lobby installation by Machine Dazzle (not to mention the onstage costume changes that Machine managed) are all stunning in their garish, trashy, DIY, repose.
Oh and the moment where he sang something about the "call of the lark" and looked out into the audience: "Martha Clarke- Martha Clarke, do the call of the lark!" I couldn't tell if Martha was actually there, but I hope she was. In other people sighting news- Christian Parker the ever delightful Chair of the Columbia Theatre Department was in attendance! Holler holler.
So there you have it. It was just a snippet. The real deal is going to be the 24 hour show. I hope he gets to do it in like Madison Square Garden or something as I imagine he'll only do it once and tickets will be impossible. I am sure it will be tiring and I can't honestly tell how the schtick will hold up...I did get the distinct impression that the sheer labor of it will probably make Taylor into a whole new heightened version of himself...which should be equal parts amazing and terrifying. (will it be more or less intense than Lily's Revenge while passing a stone? My hope will be that by 2016- only Katie Naka and Taylor Mac will be reporting on this.)
So any who. Oh friends. There is much to blog about in the world of January Nonsense Theatre Blogger Katie Naka this week. First I need to find out from my lawyer friends how they technically define the term "disparage" and then I need to clear my brain and figure what I want to say. But trust me- you haven't nearly seen the last of this little black duck.