HBO’s ‘Taylor Mac’s 24-Decade History of Popular Music’ Doc Trailer

HBO’s ‘Taylor Mac’s 24-Decade History of Popular Music’ Doc Trailer

by Alex Billington
June 7, 2023
Source: YouTube

“This isn’t like a regular concert.” HBO has revealed an official trailer for documentary film called Taylor Mac’s 24-Decade History of Popular Music, which is less of a music history doc and more of a unique concert film. It’s premiering next week at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival before streaming on Max later this month. The film captures Taylor Mac’s exuberant, blatantly gay 24-hour musical performance in NYC in 2016, featuring skilled musicians, creative costumes, and the American myth as recounted through sailor’s ditties, disco, & sugary pop. “Rich with stunning musical performances, surprising and revelatory historical interpretation, comedic banter, and audience interaction, the performance is intercut with intimate off-stage interviews with Mac and his closest collaborators. In the interview, Mac, who uses the gender pronoun ‘judy,’ outlines judy’s personal story and artistic aim ‘to dream the culture forward.’ The film also offers a behind-the-scenes window into the work of costume designer Machine Dazzle, who incorporates elaborate, humorous references to American life in each of the 24 decades depicted in Mac’s” extravagant outfits. Fun.

Official trailer (+ poster) for Taylor Mac’s 24-Decade History of Popular Music, from YouTube:

In 2016, Taylor Mac performed a one-time-only, 24-hour immersive theatrical experience in front of a live audience at St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn. The concert offered an alternative take on U.S. history, narrated through music popular from the nation’s founding to the present, with Mac transforming hourly by changing into elaborate, decade-specific costumes by Mac’s longtime collaborator Machine Dazzle. The documentary, Taylor Mac’s 24-Decade History of Popular Music, captures Mac’s marathon performance in New York, alongside footage from other shows on the tour, which played throughout the world. In the show, Mac and 24 musicians interpret 24 songs, from “Yankee Doodle” to “Gimme Shelter,” “Born to Run,” and “Gloria,” with one performer leaving the stage each hour, until Mac is on stage alone in the final 24th hour. Taylor Mac’s 24-Decade History of Popular Music is co-directed by the acclaimed filmmakers Rob Epstein & Jeffrey Friedman, of many films including Howl, Lovelace, State of Pride, Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice most recently. This is premiering at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival. HBO will debut Taylor Mac’s 24-Decade History of Popular Music streaming on Max starting June 27th, 2023. Curious?

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