Why isn’t Taylor Mac in charge of all musical education programs in the United States? At his A 24-Decade History of Popular Music: 1900s-1950s on January 23, the outrageous theater artist made it clear that his knowledge of music is only perhaps surpassed by his ability to connect with audiences, his ability to remind us why is it that we listen to music in the first place. Mac’s ambitious project, in which he will chronicle “a history” of music throughout two dozen decades, is set to culminate with a 24-hour long extravaganza sometime in 2016, where he plans to perform for a whole day, if his energy and caffeine-intake so permit it.
Near the end of his 1900s-1920s show he explained that the reason why he was doing this project was perhaps more spiritual than intellectual, as he was trying to convey the sense of community he had felt as a young man when he attended his very first Pride march in San Francisco. He explained that watching all these people come together from all walks of life, made him desire to capture this lightning in a bottle, so to speak, and in his shows he attempts to tackle the essence of creation as seen through the communities and sense of community that inspire said creations.
As he takes us through the early 1900s for instance, he recreates the Jewish tenements in America that served to inspire prolific icons like Irving Berlin. One of the show’s most moving moments is when Mac divides the audience into segments and assigns them all “parts”, one segment wails like babies, another is composed of nagging mothers, another of sick grandparents. From the center of the stage, Mac conducts this large human orchestra, while in the center he performs Berlin’s “All Alone”. The cacophony should be enough to drive anyone crazy, but instead it serves to make us value Berlin’s songwriting all the more. It’s a moment that truly lifts the soul, in a show that, for its three hour running time, is surprisingly never lacking in those.
Audience participation is essential as he encourages people to be as uncomfortable as possible, and more than once, has audience members come onstage and interact with him (he’s so kind a performer he even gives honorary roles to shyer members who refuse to leave their seats). He creates a sense of being trapped in a less delusional version of The Sound of Music, his Maria von Trapp more interested in us understanding the historical context and our roles in society, than in having us sing pretty tunes to pretend the world is always a happy place.
