Ahead of its premiere next week at the Tribeca Film Festival and its release on HBO and MAX on June 27, Taylor Mac’s 24-Decade History of Popular Music presents its first trailer looking back on the incredible day-long performance of the legendary American artist.
Academy Award-winners Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman helm this incredible musical adventure, reliving one of the most incredible events in the history of the industry starring one of the most impressive performers of all time.
Here’s the trailer and official synopsis for the documentary:
“In 2016, Taylor Mac performed a one-time-only, 24-hour immersive theatrical experience in front of a live audience at St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn. The concert offered an alternative take on U.S. history, narrated through music that was popular from the nation’s founding to the present, with Mac transforming hourly by changing into elaborate, decade-specific costumes by Mac’s longtime collaborator Machine Dazzle. The documentary, TAYLOR MAC’S 24-DECADE HISTORY OF POPULAR MUSIC, captures Mac’s marathon performance in New York, alongside footage from other shows on the tour, which played throughout the world. In the show, Mac and 24 musicians interpret 24 songs, from ‘Yankee Doodle” to “Gimme Shelter,” “Born to Run,” and “Gloria,” with one performer leaving the stage each hour, until Mac is on stage alone in the final 24th hour.”
The documentary includes a special look behind the scenes with costume designer Machine Dazzle, who elaborates the complex and vibrant outfits that help to tell the story visually.
On stage, Mac is joined by singers Erin Hill, Steffanie Christi’an, Heather Christian, Thornetta Davis, Anais Mitchell, among others. And, of course, an amazing orchestra.
Joining Epstein and Friedman as producers are Joel Stillerman, Linda Brumbach, Alisa E. Regas, Taylor Mac, and Mari Rivera.
Who’s Taylor Mac?
Born in California in 1973, Taylor Mac is a renowned playwright, producer, director, performer and Genius Grant recipient, who uses judy as a gender pronoun, although “performer” is another word used to describe gender in Mac’s own words:
“In case you don’t know, my pronoun is judy (only capitalized when at the start of a sentence, like a normal pronoun). A few people have claimed I use this pronoun as a joke. They are uninformed. It’s not a joke, which doesn’t mean it’s not funny. It’s a personalized pronoun for someone whose gender (professionally and personally) is constantly changing. My gender isn’t male or female or non-binary (which oddly creates a binary between people who are non-binary and people who are binary). My gender is “performer” (one day I’ll get it on the passport). It’s also an art piece.”
Mac’s mother was the owner of a private art school, which was the main influence on the artist’s future. Taylor moved to New York in 1994 to study Dramatic Arts at the AADA.
Taylor Mac’s 24-Decade History of Popular Music also explores Judy’s unique point of view on the musical industry and show business, always looking for new ways to push the limits forwards by drawing outside the lines, without caring what everyone else thinks.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
