HBO Doco “Taylor Mac’s 24-Decade History of Popular Music” Premieres June 27

HBO Doco “Taylor Mac’s 24-Decade History of Popular Music” Premieres June 27.

On Tuesday, June 27 (9:00-10:46PM ET/PT), HBO will premiere the documentary TAYLOR MAC’S 24-DECADE HISTORY OF POPULAR MUSIC, which was produced and directed by Academy Award®-winning filmmakers Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman (HBO’s “The Celluloid Closet,” “Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice”). The film is an official selection of the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival.

Check out the official trailer

At Brooklyn’s St. Ann’s Warehouse in 2016, Taylor Mac gave a one-time-only performance of a 24-hour long immersive theatrical experience. Hourly, Mac transformed into decade-specific costumes designed by Mac’s longtime collaborator Machine Dazzle, narrating an alternate history of the United States through music that was popular from the nation’s founding to the present. The documentary TAYLOR MAC’S 24-DECADE HISTORY OF POPULAR MUSIC features footage from Mac’s marathon performance in New York as well as shows from the rest of the tour. Mac and 24 musicians perform 24 songs throughout the show, beginning with “Yankee Doodle” and progressing through “Gimme Shelter,” “Born to Run,” and “Gloria,” with one performer leaving the stage every hour until Mac is alone for the final hour.

The show is full of off-stage interviews with Mac and his closest collaborators, as well as stunning musical performances, surprising and revelatory historical interpretation, comedic banter, and audience participation. Mac, who throughout the interview uses the pronoun “judy,” describes judy’s background and artistic mission of “to dream the culture forward.” The film also provides an inside look at how costume designer Machine Dazzle brought American culture from each of the film’s 24 decades to life through Mac’s outlandish outfits.

Featured Participants: MacArthur Genius Fellow and Pulitzer Prize finalist Taylor Mac is joined on-screen by his stage co-director co-director Niegel Smith, musical director Matt Ray, costume designer Machine Dazzle and make-up designer Anastasia Durasova. On stage, Mac is accompanied by singers Erin Hill, Steffanie Christi’an, Heather Christian, Thornetta Davis, and Anais Mitchell, among others, a 24-piece orchestra, and a surprising number of willing audience members.

Who is making the documentary

HBO Documentary Films in association with Content Superba presents TAYLOR MAC’S 24-DECADE HISTORY OF POPULAR MUSIC, a Telling Pictures and Pomegranate Arts Production in association with Fifth Season and Nature’s Darlings. Directed and produced by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman; produced by Joel Stillerman, Linda Brumbach, Alisa E. Regas, Taylor Mac, Mari Rivera. For HBO: executive producers, Nancy Abraham and Lisa Heller; coordinating producer, Anna Klein.

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