A 24-Decade History of Popular Music NYC Reviews and Tickets
Member Reviews (27)
See it if you want to experience true art and beauty! One of the most original, honest entertaining enjoyable evenings in recent memory!
Don't see it if you don't/won't think outside the box. This is pretty straight forward but not at all business as usual. It's quirky and kinky fun!
See it if You want to see a completely unique piece of entertainment - a cabaret on steroids that pushes your buttons while making you laugh.
Don't see it if You dislike audience interaction or aren't willing to give yourself over to a fun experience that you'll likely never have in a theater.
See it if It;'s humorous, it's relevant, it's outrageous, irreverent,enjoyable and seemingly endless.
Don't see it if You are homophobic, tone-deaf,not interested in history or talent and don't have 24 hours to spend immersed in a unique world not your own. Read more
See it if You love Taylor Mac (and you should) and you are ready for a slow moving history of American song (queer version).
Don't see it if You haven't had your required sleep. I love Taylor (12 shows) but acoustics are poor, the songs just crawl. The interstitial stuff is fun.
See it if you want to experience community and theatre; be challenged and engaged; and are looking for pure fun with a dose of hard truth.
Don't see it if you enjoy more traditional theatrical forms of storytelling and prefer to simply watch and not participate in the act of creation.
See it if you love Taylor Mac and admire his creative talent, wild costumes, and unique singing. Be part of this once-in-a-lifetime theatrical event.
Don't see it if you dislike participatory theater, sexual innuendo, lots of glitter/glitz/glamour, and a thought-provoking look at our history through song.
See it if you like creative and informative performance art by an intelligent, flamboyant actor and you have the ability to stay up for 24 hours!
Don't see it if you don't have the stamina to watch for 24 continuous hours (or 3 for the shorter shows) or if you don't like "out there" performance art. Read more
See it if you like outrageous things. If you want to see a brilliantly conceived show.
Don't see it if don't like some participation. It's brilliant. Go!!
Critic Reviews (9)
"Mr. Mac’s production is a hyperextended song cycle blended liberally with inspired patter, history viewed through a queer prism, elaborate audience-involving theatrical gambits and the occasional guest star. I have seen half of the production and can attest to its glittering uniqueness: the most spectacular drag act imaginable, combined with superb musicianship and generous doses of progressive gender politics."
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"Mac gave me one of the great experiences of my life. I’ve slept on it, and I’m sure. It wasn’t simply the physical feat...An entire day of all that prowess, energy and virtuosity would have been astounding. But Mr. Mac is also a devastatingly intelligent artist of conflation...Not everything in '24-Decade' worked...His moral grasp of the larger picture costs him the richness of the smaller, human one...But the show got its power from Mr. Mac’s larger, subjective moral force."
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"There is so much art genius rampaging through St. Ann’s Warehouse...'Perfection is for assholes,' Mac states quite perfectly, forging beauty from pain and failure...It was three hours without intermission, pure anarchic and, yes, exhausting bliss. Folks were encouraged to stand and tell their most humiliating puke stories. Oh, look: I’ve run out of words; thank the angels and devils Taylor Mac never will."
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"This is not regular theater. It’s not even a regular concert...Mac is basically performing a nightclub act in a very special club, one built around and for the gifts of people not usually welcome, except as freaks, in mainstream settings...Mac sings very well indeed, and the arrangements by Matt Ray are often spellbinding...Mac’s vision of our country treats history itself as a kind of music, always alive when you sing it for someone."
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"Mac focuses each decade on a different historical theme or event using fanciful storytelling, personal anecdotes and songs from the time...Once each hourlong segment ends, he quickly changes into a new equally elaborate and outrageous wardrobe and headdress and emerges anew, still full of energy...Anyone who appreciates wild and crazy theater, cabaret and/or performance art is strongly encouraged to check out at least one installment of this unforgettable set of history lessons."
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"The most profound experience I’ve had, and will surely remain the experience to which I aspire as an artist and human for the rest of my life...A standing ovation so immediate and so deserved the lights aren’t even completely out in the final blackout before the audience is on its feet screaming and banging the chairs on the floor because simply clapping is an inadequate showcase of our appreciation to Taylor for having made it through this beast of a show...I am irreparably changed."
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"Mac’s outrageous, outlandish, offensive, raunchy, insightful, inspired, sometimes hilarious, sometimes moving, sometimes thrilling, once-in-a-lifetime theatrical event...The term 'concert' feels inadequate–just as calling Mac a drag act doesn’t get anywhere close to describing the artist’s extraordinary talent and breadth of ambition...'A 24-Decade History' is as much an American cultural and political history–and the weirdest fashion show this season—as it is a history of the nation’s music."
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"I caught Part VI, which I selected because I wanted to see how he did with the heart of the Great American Songbook. He does great. He camps it up with total abandon one minute and in the next minute, he delivers moving renditions of classic songs all beautifully arranged...I'm not a big audience participation fan but Mac creates such a joyous environment that I found myself joining in...I'm glad for the three hours I got. And the merriment continued right through to the end."
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