A 24-Decade History of Popular Music

Premiered in full in 2016, the musical uses mainly pre-existing songs popular throughout the history of the United States to examine and reframe American history through the experiences of marginalized communities. Mac says that "A 24-Decade History of Popular Music is a reenactment of how the individual(s) may lose the long game but communities and movements, if continually brought together, have the potential to thrive while bending towards justice."{{cite web |url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/philadelphia/article/Taylor-Macs-24-Decade-History-of-Popular-Music-Makes-Philadelphia-Premiere-at-Kimmel-Centers-PIFA-2018-20171109 |title=Taylor Mac's 24-Decade History of Popular Music Makes Philadelphia Premiere at Kimmel Center's PIFA 2018 |last= |first= |date=November 9, 2017 |website=Broadway World |publisher= |access-date=October 13, 2023 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231014005959/https://www.broadwayworld.com/philadelphia/article/Taylor-Macs-24-Decade-History-of-Popular-Music-Makes-Philadelphia-Premiere-at-Kimmel-Centers-PIFA-2018-20171109 |archive-date=October 14, 2023}} Presented in eight acts and featuring 246 songs, the production is intended to last twenty-four hours when performed to completion.{{cite web|title=A 24-Decade History of Popular Music|url=http://www.taylormac.org/portfolio_page/24-decade/|website=taylormac.org|accessdate=3 September 2017|date=7 August 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170903162725/http://www.taylormac.org/portfolio_page/24-decade/ |archive-date= September 3, 2017}}{{cite web|title=A 24-Decade History of Popular Music - St. Ann's Warehouse|url=http://stannswarehouse.org/show/taylor-mac-24-decade-history-popular-music-1776-2016/|website=St. Ann's Warehouse|accessdate=3 September 2017|url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20161101045503/http://stannswarehouse.org/show/taylor-mac-24-decade-history-popular-music-1776-2016/|archivedate=November 1, 2016}}{{Cite magazine |date=2016-09-19 |title=America's Top 240. |magazine=New York |volume=49 |issn=0028-7369 |id={{EBSCOhost|121770027}} |number=19 |pages=92–93}}

• Taylor Mac – Playwright, performer, co-director
• Matt Ray – Musical direction, arrangements, performer
• Niegel Smith – Co-director
• Machine Dazzle – Costume designer
• Jocelyn Clarke – Dramaturg
• Mimi Lien – Scenic design
• John Torres – Lighting design

The complete production is performed over eight acts, with each act representing three decades of U.S. history.

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• ACT I: 1776-1806 – Founding Father Drag, Women's Lib, and Crazy Jane
• ACT II: 1806-1836 – Young Love, Blindfolds, and Murder Ballads
• ACT III: 1836-1866 – Puppets, Whitman, and Civil War
• ACT IV: 1866-1896 – Circus, Mikado, and the Oklahoma Land Rush

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• ACT V: 1896-1926 – Tenements, Trenches, and Speakeasies
• ACT VI: 1926-1956 – The Depression, Prison Fantasies, and the Atomic Bomb
• ACT VII: 1956-1986 – A March, a Riot, and a Backroom Sex Party
• ACT VIII: 1986-2016 – Direct Action, Radical Lesbians, and Originals

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| quote = 15 years old, 14 years old, I went to the first or second AIDS walk that was in San Francisco, and I had never met an out homosexual before. It was a pretty profound experience for a little kid that grew up in suburbia and a pretty normative, slightly oppressive environment. Even ... It was discovering queer history, queer agency, queer community because it was deteriorating from this epidemic. So I wanted to make a show about it. So this is what the show is: its a metaphorical representation of that experience from a 15-year-old kid's perspective.{{cite AV media |date=September 16, 2016 |title=Sundance Theatre Lab: Taylor Mac and A 24-Decade History of Popular Music |type= |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hldiCsWXWf8 |access-date=3 September 2017 |archive-url= |archive-date= |location= |publisher=Sundance Institute |via=YouTube}}

| source = —Taylor Mac

}}

A 24-Decade History's development began in 2011, with the goal of holding one marathon performance in 2016.

Taylor Mac, music director Matt Ray, costume designer Machine Dazzle, and co-director Niegel Smith developed the show over five years, holding workshops and performing abridged versions at festivals and small venues.{{cite journal|last1=Neher|first1=Erick|title=The Brooklyn Marathon: Taylor Mac's A 24-Decade History of Popular Music|journal=The Hudson Review|date=21 January 2017|volume=LXIX|number=4|url=https://hudsonreview.com/2017/01/the-brooklyn-marathon-taylor-macs-a-24-decade-history-of-popular-music/|accessdate=11 October 2017|language=en |archive-url= |archive-date=}}{{cite web |url=http://www.taylormac.org/the-decades/ |title=The Decades |last= |first= |date= |website=taylormac.org |publisher= |access-date=October 13, 2023 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150124111847/http://www.taylormac.org/the-decades/ |archive-date=January 24, 2015}} The show was workshopped as part of the Sundance Institute's 2015 Theatre Lab.{{cite web |url=https://www.sundance.org/blogs/news/sundance-institute-announces-nine-projects-selected-for-2015-theatre-lab-at-sundance-resort-in-utah-july-6-26 |title=Sundance Institute Announces Nine Projects Selected for 2015 Theatre Lab at Sundance Mountain Resort in Utah, July 6-26 |last= |first= |date=April 23, 2015 |website= |publisher=Sundance Institute |access-date=September 3, 2017 |archive-url= |archive-date=}}

The show's length, strenuous performance, and strong audience participation are intended to make the audience build bonds at having gone through "a dire circumstance with us over a 24-hour period." Mac says, "I believe theater is community and I think of myself as a community activist; someone whose job it is to bring people together, give them a shared experience and remind them of the things they've forgotten, dismissed or buried."{{cite web |url=https://arts.ucla.edu/single/taylor-mac-a-24-decade-history-of-popular-music/ |title=Taylor Mac: A 24-Decade History of Popular Music |last= |first= |date=March 15, 2018 |website=UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture |publisher=University of California, Los Angeles |access-date=October 13, 2023 |archive-url= |archive-date=}}

Many productions of the show are abridged versions, with the songs and subject matter confined to specific decades or themes.{{cite web |url=https://playbill.com/article/taylor-mac-will-tour-a-24-decade-history-of-popular-music-across-us-and-europe |title=Taylor Mac Will Tour A 24-Decade History of Popular Music Across U.S. and Europe |last=Hetrick |first=Adam |date=July 23, 2019 |website=Playbill |publisher= |access-date=October 13, 2023 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190723171817/https://playbill.com/article/taylor-mac-will-tour-a-24-decade-history-of-popular-music-across-us-and-europe |archive-date=July 23, 2019}} At different touring sites, local performers and artists participate,{{cite web|last1=Evans|first1=Suzy|title=A Trip Around the Sun With Taylor Mac's '24-Decade History'|url=http://www.americantheatre.org/2016/10/14/a-trip-around-the-sun-with-taylor-macs-24-decade-history/|website=American Theatre|publisher=Theatre Communications Group|accessdate=18 October 2017|date=14 October 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161017090929/http://www.americantheatre.org/2016/10/14/a-trip-around-the-sun-with-taylor-macs-24-decade-history/ |archive-date=October 17, 2016}} and the show is modified to incorporate local history and songs from the region.

A 24-Decade History of Popular Music has been performed as a 24-hour marathon performance only once, from October 8–9, 2016, at St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn, New York. Before the marathon performance, St. Ann's Warehouse also hosted the first complete presentation of the show, albeit in parts from September 15 through October 3, 2016.

Since the premiere performance, the 24-hour production has been staged several times, though broken up into four chapters of six hours each, spread over several days. The first of these stagings took place at the Curran Theatre in San Francisco, between September 15 and 24, 2017.{{cite web |url=https://sfcurran.com/shows/taylor-mac/ |title=Taylor Mac's A 24-Decade History of Popular Music |last= |first= |date= |website=Curran |publisher= |access-date=October 13, 2023 |archive-url= |archive-date=}}

The Melbourne International Arts Festival hosted the production, playing the four chapters between October 11 and 20, 2017.{{cite news |last=Woodhead |first=Cameron |date=October 21, 2017 |title='Almost a religious experience': Taylor Mac opus leaves audience weeping for more |url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/almost-a-religious-experience-taylor-mac-opus-leaves-audience-weeping-for-more-20171021-gz5k07.html |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |location= |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date=October 13, 2023}} Also during the festival, Taylor Mac performed The Inauguration on October 5, an abbreviated version of the show that lasted from 90 minutes to two hours, as well as The Wrap on October 22, also featuring songs from the show.{{cite web |url=http://theconversation.com/taylor-mac-makes-history-at-melbourne-festival-opening-85321 |title=Taylor Mac makes history at Melbourne Festival opening |last=Balkin |first=Sarah |date=October 5, 2017 |website=The Conversation |publisher= |access-date=October 13, 2023 |archive-url= |archive-date=}}{{cite web |url=https://www.timeout.com/melbourne/clubs/taylor-mac-a-24-decade-history-of-popular-music |title=Taylor Mac: A 24-Decade History of Popular Music |last=Johnstone |first=Rose |date=July 25, 2017 |website=Time Out |publisher= |access-date=October 11, 2023 |archive-url= |archive-date=}}{{cite web |url=https://theplusones.com/melbourne/2017/10/23/melbourne-festival-wrap-featuring-taylor-mac/ |title=Melbourne Festival: The Wrap featuring Taylor Mac |last=Zagoda |first=Tomas |date=October 23, 2017 |website=The Plus Ones |publisher= |access-date=October 13, 2023 |archive-url= |archive-date=}}

From March 15 to 24, 2018, the four-chapter production played at the Theater at the Ace Hotel in Los Angeles, presented by the UCLA Center for the Performing Arts (CAP UCLA).

A 24-Decade History was hosted by the 2018 Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts, playing at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. For this production, the performance was divided into two twelve-hour parts, with the first part beginning on June 2, and the second part beginning on June 9, 2018.{{cite web |url=https://www.kimmelculturalcampus.org/blog/decoding-taylor-mac/ |title=Decoding Taylor Mac's "24-Decade History of Popular Music" - a Philadelphia debut! |last=Reyes |first=Breanna |date=November 14, 2017 |website= |publisher=Kimmel Cultural Campus |access-date=October 13, 2023 |archive-url= |archive-date=}}

The first act only debuted in London at the Barbican Centre as part of the London International Festival of Theatre, being performed on June 28, 29, and 30, 2019.{{cite web |url=https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2018/event/taylor-mac-a-24-decade-history-of-popular-music-first-act |title=Taylor Mac — A 24-Decade History of Popular Music: The First Act (LIFT 2018) |last= |first= |date= |website= |publisher=Barbican Centre |access-date=October 14, 2023 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180317123522/https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2018/event/taylor-mac-a-24-decade-history-of-popular-music-first-act |archive-date=March 17, 2018}}{{cite web |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/features/taylor-mac-interview-live-shows-danger-safe-spaces-barbican-24-decade-history-popular-music-a8407966.html |title=Taylor Mac on bringing danger to the stage: 'My shows are the opposite of safe spaces' |last=Gardner |first=Lyn |date=June 22, 2018 |website=The Independent |publisher= |access-date=October 14, 2023 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190217203045/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/features/taylor-mac-interview-live-shows-danger-safe-spaces-barbican-24-decade-history-popular-music-a8407966.html |archive-date=February 17, 2019}} In September 2019, abridged versions were performed at four tour stops in the United States, as well as five performances of Mac's Holiday Sauce show in December.

From October 10 to 20, 2019, the four-chapter show played as part of The Berliner Festspiele's Immersion program series.{{cite web |url=https://www.exberliner.com/politics/taylor-mac-interview/ |title="Oh they love it when things go wrong!": Taylor Mac |last=Borden |first=Dan |date=October 7, 2019 |website=Exberliner |publisher= |access-date=October 13, 2023 |archive-url= |archive-date=}}

• 2017 Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama Inspired by American History{{cite web|last1=|first1=|title=2017 – A 24-Decade History of Popular Music: A Radical Fairy Realness Ritual by Taylor Mac and Matt Ray|url=https://kennedyprize.columbia.edu/2017-mac-ray|website=Edward M. Kennedy Prize|publisher=Columbia University Libraries|accessdate=3 September 2017|date=7 April 2017}}
• 2017 Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama{{cite web|title=Finalist: A 24-Decade History of Popular Music, by Taylor Mac|url=http://www.pulitzer.org/finalists/taylor-mac|website=www.pulitzer.org|accessdate=3 September 2017|language=en}}
• 2017 New York Drama Critics' Circle Award Special Citation{{cite web|last1=|first1=|title=2016-2017 Awards|url=http://www.dramacritics.org/dc_thisyears.html|website=|publisher=New York Drama Critics Circle|accessdate=3 September 2017|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170626225941/http://www.dramacritics.org/dc_thisyears.html|archivedate=June 26, 2017}}
• 2017 Obie Award Special Citation{{cite web|title=2017 Obie Winners|url=http://www.obieawards.com/2017/05/2017-obie-winners/|website=Obie Awards|publisher=The Village Voice and American Theatre Wing|accessdate=3 September 2017|date=22 May 2017}}
• 2017 Bessie Awards – Outstanding Production and Outstanding Visual Design{{cite web |url=https://bessies.org/2017-awards/ |title=The 2017 Bessie Awards |last= |first= |date=October 9, 2017 |website= |publisher=The New York Dance and Performance Awards |access-date=October 13, 2023 |archive-url= |archive-date=}}
• 18th Helpmann Awards – Best Cabaret Performer (for Mac) and Best Special Event{{•}}{{cite web |url=http://www.helpmannawards.com.au/2018/nominees-and-winners/cabaret/ |title=2018 Nominees and Winners: Best Cabaret Performer |last= |first= |date=July 16, 2018 |website=Helpmann Awards |publisher=Live Performance Australia |access-date=October 13, 2023 |archive-url= |archive-date=}}
  {{•}}{{cite web |url=http://www.helpmannawards.com.au/2018/nominees-and-winners/industry/ |title=2018 Nominees and Winners: Best Special Event |last= |first= |date=July 16, 2018 |website=Helpmann Awards |publisher=Live Performance Australia |access-date=October 13, 2023 |archive-url= |archive-date=}}

On June 14, 2023, the concert film of the same name premiered at Tribeca Festival.{{cite web |url=https://tribecafilm.com/films/taylor-mac-s-24-decade-history-of-popular-music-2023 |title=TAYLOR MAC'S 24-DECADE HISTORY OF POPULAR MUSIC |last= |first= |date= |website= |publisher=Tribeca Festival |access-date=October 13, 2023 |archive-url= |archive-date=}} Directed by Academy Award winners Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, the film covers the 2016 St. Ann's Warehouse premiere performance. On June 27, the film aired on HBO and began streaming on Max.{{cite web |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/taylor-macs-24-decade-history-of-popular-music-review-hbo-max-1235517081/ |title='Taylor Mac's 24-Decade History of Popular Music' Review: Exhilarating Concert Doc Explores America Through a Queer Lens |last=Rooney |first=David |date=June 16, 2023 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |publisher= |access-date=October 13, 2023 |archive-url= |archive-date=}}

It won the juried Outstanding Costumes for Variety, Nonfiction, or Reality Programming at the 76th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards{{cite web|title=Juried Winners for 76th Emmy Awards Announced |url=https://www.emmys.com/news/awards-news/76th-juried-winners-announced-240814 |website=Academy of Television Arts & Sciences |date=August 14, 2024 |access-date=1 September 2024}}

• American popular music
• American folk music
• Protest songs in the United States

{{reflist|30em}}

• [https://taylormac.org/24decade Official website]
• {{IMDb title|tt27549751|Taylor Mac's 24-Decade History of Popular Music}}
• [https://www.hbo.com/movies/taylor-macs-24-decade-history-of-popular-music Official website for the film]

{{DEFAULTSORT:24-Decade History of Popular Music, A}}

Category:2016 musicals

Category:Off-Broadway musicals

Category:Jukebox musicals

Category:Performance art

Category:Concert films

Category:2023 LGBTQ-related films

Category:LGBTQ-related musical films

Category:American musical films

Category:American LGBTQ-related films

Category:Primetime Emmy Award–winning broadcasts