A 24-Decade History of Popular Music NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (27)
See it if you love unique music-filled productions compellingly dealing with American history. Enjoy shows that involve the audience.
Don't see it if you hate shows requiring audience involvement, are averse to drag performance & a bit of nudity, You need traditional plot driven narrative. Read more
See it if You like shows which explore American history from an outsider's point of view, which involve the audience and you become part of the show.
Don't see it if You aren't up for an examination of the dark side of the American experience.
See it if you want to see one of today's greatest performers in an event that will soon be considered legendary.
Don't see it if you really, really don't like audience participation (as opposed to the general dislike most people have). Read more
See it if you want to see something that will make you feel alive and make you think. It's political, beautiful, masterful, and gleefully imperfect.
Don't see it if I can't think of a reason not to see this, if you are a traditionalist Mac seeks to open your mind
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 I saw the Abridged Version (only 2hours) and even in that form, Taylor Mac and the show are thrilling. See it!
Don't see it if I can't think of a reason not to see it Read more
See it if See it if you're up for something completely different from mainstream, into Americana, queer art, activism, drag, eccentric performance art
Don't see it if Don't see it if you're a boring person. This is not the show for you if you're only into family-friendly mainstream Disneyfied Broadway crap
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.
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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