A fifty-seven song—and counting—parade trance extravaganza for the living library of the deviant theme, with lyrics by Mac and music by Matt Ray. Performing non-stop, with an ensemble of 21 singers/musicians, it becomes an abstract rock-opera meditation on queerness.
Taylor Mac
TAYLOR MAC (lyricist/concept) is a playwright, poet, performance artist, actor, and singer-songwriter. Mac has been honored with MacArthur “genius” grant, Guggenheim, and Oxford fellowships, is a Pulitzer Prize Finalist, a Tony nominee for Best Play, and the recipient of the International Ibsen Award, the Kennedy Prize, two Obies, a New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award, two Bessies, two Helpmann awards, the Drama League Award, and an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts (New School). Mac is the author/creator of thirty full-length works of theater, including Bark of Millions (a songbook parade for the living library of the deviant theme) and The Hang (a jazz-infused Passion play about the final hours of the life of Socrates), both with music by Matt Ray; A 24-Decade History of Popular Music (a 24-hour performance-art concert about communities building themselves because they’re being torn apart); and An American Dionysia (four full-length plays about the polarization of America, to be performed separately or as an ancient Greek festival: Prosperous Fools; The Fre; Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus; and Hir). The concert-doc, Taylor Mac’s 24-Decade History of Popular Music, is currently streaming on HBO/Max.
Matt Ray
MATT RAY (composer) is a pianist, multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, composer, arranger, theater-maker, and music director. The New York Times called him “the musical nexus of New York’s alt-cabaret scene,” and he has spent more than three decades making an impact on New York’s nightlife and culture. He first collaborated with Taylor Mac on The Lily’s Revenge as arranger, music director, and pianist, and subsequently A 24-Decade History of Popular Music for which he and Mac shared the 2017 Kennedy Prize for Drama Inspired By American History. Mac and Ray followed with the jazz-based theater piece The Hang, and for his composition and music direction on that work, Matt received a 2023 Obie Award. The Hang also received four Drama Desk and two Drama League nominations, including a Drama Desk nomination for Matt Ray for Best Music.
Show Credits
Concept, Lyrics, and Co-Direction by
Taylor Mac
Music and Musical Direction by
Matt Ray
The Ensemble
Chris Giarmo, Dana Lyn, El Beh, Greg Glassman, Gary Wang, Jack Fuller (vocal captain), Joel E. Mateo, Jules Skloot, Lisa “Paz” Parrott, Machine Dazzle, Mama Alto, Matt Ray, Mel Hsu, Sean Donovan (associate choreographer), Shirazette Tinnin, Steffanie Christi’an, Stephen Quinn, Taylor Mac, Viva DeConcini, Wes Olivier
Co-Director
Niegel Smith
Co-Director / Choreographer
Faye Driscoll
Costume Design
Machine Dazzle
Lighting Design
John Torres
Sound Design
Brendan Aanes
Art Direction
Matthew Buttrey
Props Design
Oscar Escobedo & Zach Blumner
Produced by
Pomegranate Arts & Nature’s Darlings
Creative and Executive Producers
Linda Brumbach & Alisa E. Regas
Commissioning Support
Commissioned by Pomegranate Arts and BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music). Co-commissioned by Sydney Opera House and the Berliner Festpiele with additional support by the Ron Beller & Jennifer Moses Family Foundation and Hal Philipps. Residencies at Kaatsbaan Cultural Park, MASS MoCA-North Adams, MA, Irish Arts Center-New York City, and PEAK Performances in the Alexander Kasser Theater, Montclair State University-Montclair, NJ.
Production History
Sydney Opera House, premiere
Brooklyn Academy of Music, NYC premiere
Cal Performances, California premiere
Berliner Festpiele, European premiere
Oxford University (concert version)
Public Theater at the Delacorte (concert version)
Arts Emerson Boston (concert version)
Mass Moca (development presentation)
Kaatsbaan International Dance Center (development presentations)
Irish Arts Center, NY (workshop)
Joe’s Pub, NY (development presentations)
