“Fabulousness can come in many forms, and Taylor Mac seems intent on assuming each and every one of them.” — The New York Times

In 2016, Taylor Mac took to the Hunter Center stage for six glorious hours, presenting a work-in-progress performance of a selection of his twenty-four hour long A 24-Decade History of Popular Music, a romp through 240 years of American culture as seen through music — from Tin Pan Alley to disco and beyond.

This work went on to be a Pulitzer Prize Finalist, earn an Obie, a Kennedy Prize in Theater, a Drama Critics Circle Award, and countless other accolades. A documentary about the piece is now available to view on HBO Max, but MASS MoCA audiences can brag that they were among the first to experience the work months before its official premiere date.

In 2022, Mac returned to MASS MoCA with his longtime musical partner Matt Ray to preview their opera Bark of Millions, a rock opera meditation on queerness beginning with the Egyptian sun God Ra through 55 original songs by Mac and Ray. The pair spent two weeks in residence at MASS MoCA developing the piece, culminating in a public conversation with MASS MoCA Director Kristy Edmunds and a presentation of the work in-progress.

“We got more done in these past few days than we would have in weeks in NYC,” Mac said of the experience.

Bark of Millions had its world premiere at the Sydney Opera House in 2023, and has been performed since at Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), Cal Performances in Berkeley, CA, and the Berliner Festspiele.