Barlo Perry: “What was the impetus behind A 24-DECADE HISTORY OF POPULAR MUSIC?

Taylor Mac: “It was [a 1986, San Francisco] AIDS walk. I had never seen an out homosexual before, and so many at the same time.  I discovered queer history, queer agency, queer pride while the community was being torn apart because of the epidemic and institutionalized homophobia.  To see that community building itself and surviving as it was weakening and disintegrating was an interesting dichotomy.  And years later, I thought, I want to make a show that’s a metaphor, a representation of that.”*

This week Taylor Mac returns to San Francisco, where everything started.

TAYLOR MAC—A 24-DECADE HISTORY OF POPULAR MUSIC

CHAPTER I (1776–1836), Friday, September 15, at 5 pm.

CHAPTER II (1836–1896), Sunday, September 17, at 2 pm.

CHAPTER III (1896–1956), Friday, September 22, at 5 pm.

CHAPTER IV (1956–2016), Sunday, September 24, at 2 pm.

CURRAN THEATER, 445 Geary Street, San Francisco.

sfcurran.com/shows/taylor-mac/#calendar

* from “A Time to Be Born: Taylor Mac in Conversation with Barlo Perry,” PARIS LA 15 (Spring 2017): 78–85.

Taylor Mac, with musical director/pianist Matt Ray in top photo. Photographs by Teddy Wolff.