Screening - 'Taylor Mac’s 24-Decade History of Popular Music'
Rich with stunning musical performances, the documentary Taylor Mac’s 24-Decade History of Popular Music captures Taylor Mac ’s marathon, 24-hour immersive theatrical experience. The one-time-only concert offered an alternative take on U.S. history, narrated through popular music performed by Mac (accompanied by a 24-piece orchestra) in elaborate, decade-specific costumes.
Following the film screening stay for a conversation with Taylor Mac and Machine Dazzle moderated by Tavia Nyong’O the William Lampson Professor of American Studies; Black Studies; Performance Studies; and Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies at Yale University.
Presented by HBO Documentary Films in association with Content Superba, a Telling Pictures and Pomegranate Arts Production in association with Fifth Season and Nature’s Darlings. Directed and produced by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman ; produced by Joel Stillerman, Linda Brumbach, Alisa E. Regas, Taylor Mac, Mari Rivera. Executive producers, Nancy Abraham and Lisa Heller; coordinating producer, Anna Klein.
Taylor Mac’s 24 Decade History of Popular Music was a decade in the making and captures Mac’s lens on the entirety of US history from 1776 to present day. The 24-hour live show, comprising over 240 songs and performed by Mac and a huge supporting cast, was performed only once in its entirety in Brooklyn, NY. Oscar-winning filmmakers Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman adapt this tour de force performance in all its righteous outrage and radical humanity in this feature length documentary.