This is the first book to dedicate critical attention to the work of influential theater-maker Taylor Mac. Mac is particularly celebrated for the historic performance event A 24-Decade History of Popular Music, in which Mac, in fantastical costumes designed by collaborator Machine Dazzle, sang the history of the United States for 24 straight hours in October 2016. The MacArthur Foundation soon thereafter awarded their "genius" award to a "writer, director, actor, singer, and performance artist whose fearlessly experimental works dramatize the power of theater as a space for building community . . . [and who] interacts with the audience to inspire a reconsideration of assumptions about gender, identity, ethnicity, and performance itself."
Featuring essays, interviews, and commentaries by noted critics and artists, the volume examines the vastness of Mac's theatrical imagination, the singularity of their voice, the inclusiveness of their cultural insights and critiques, and the creativity they display through stylistic and formal qualities and the unorthodoxies of their personal and professional trajectories. Contributors consider the range of Mac's career as a playwright, performer, actor, and singer, expanding and enriching the conversation on this much-celebrated and deeply resonant body of work.
Rezensionen / Stimmen
"The Taylor Mac Book is an overdue encomium to the work of an artist who defines the cutting edge in theater, performance, and the interpretation of American song. With maximalist exuberance and impish daring, Taylor Mac has revived the fortunes of queer aesthetics for our parlous times. How great that now we all get to hang out with judy and the crew in this deliriously welcome collection of essays."
-Tavia Nyong'o, Yale University * Tavia Nyong'o * "This book is a joy to read, conveying the spirit, mischief, and intellect of Taylor Mac's work and reflecting its genius and complexity. The mix of topics and styles is well suited to the multifaceted nature of Mac's work and also makes for engaged reading."
-Jennifer Parker-Starbuck, Royal Holloway, University of London * Jennifer Parker-Starbuck * "Most useful and glorious are the bold full-color photographs of Mac on stage, resplendent in his dazzling head-to-toe costumes and "trademark sequined and glitter-bedecked makeup," which captures the essence of his performativity."
--CHOICE Connect, rated recommended. * CHOICE Connect * "Theoretical and conceptual throughlines emerge and develop across the volume's chapters, including the relationship between 'chrononormativity' and queer
temporality, and the potential of performance to create community, build coalition and
imagine utopian futures." * Michael Hunter, Performance Research *
Reihe
Sprache
Verlagsort
Zielgruppe
Illustrationen
41 illustrations, 1 table
Maße
Höhe: 229 mm
Breite: 152 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-472-07527-0 (9780472075270)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Klassifikation
David Roman is Professor of English and American Studies at the University of Southern California.
Sean F. Edgecomb is Associate Professor of Theatre and Performance in the Ph.D. Program at the Graduate Center and the Coordinator of Drama at the College of Staten Island, CUNY.
Contents
Preface: "It's going to go on a lot longer than you want it to":
A Conversation about Taylor Mac, Covid and Collaboration.
David Roman and Sean F. Edgecomb
Acknowledgments
Introduction: The Early Performance of Taylor Mac
Sean F. Edgecomb
1: Participation, Endurance, and the Pucker in Taylor Mac's The Lily's Revenge
Carrie J. Preston
2: Between Hir and There: Considering Taylor Mac's Work as Bridging Genres
Kelly I. Aliano
3: Queer Pussy Time: Taylor Mac's Lesbian Decade
Kim Marra
4: Too Slow: Taylor Mac and the Rubs of Time
Lisa A. Freeman
5: Taylor Mac, Walt Whitman, and Adhesive America: Cruising Utopia with the Good
Gay Poet
Jennifer Buckley
6: Circles and Lines: Community and Legacy in Taylor Mac's Gary:
A Sequel to "Titus Andronicus"
Erika T. Lin
7: Designturgy, Being Queer: Taylor Mac Wears Machine Dazzle in 24 Decades
Sissi Liu
8: Sing the Revolution!: Lin-Manuel Miranda, Taylor Mac and the Great American Songbook
David Roman
9: The Walk Across America for Mother Earth
Paul Zimet
10: An Interview with Taylor Mac
Kevin Sessums
11: Reflections on Collaboration
Matt Ray
Machine Dazzle
Viva DeConcini
Niegel Smith
Tigger! Ferguson
Barbara Gustern
Linda Brumbach
Contributors
Bibliography
Index
