A 24-Decade History of Popular Music

A 24-Decade History of Popular Music is Taylor Mac’s multiyear effort to chart a subjective history of the United States through 246 songs that were popular throughout the country — and its disparate communities — from 1776 to the present day. In performing the work, Mac is joined by an orchestra — led by music director Matt Ray, who created new arrangements of all 246 songs — plus an ensemble of “Dandy Minions” and a variety of local special guests, including members of the audience cast as colonial needleworkers, World War One soldiers, and Yum Yum from The Mikado. Costume designer Machine Dazzle, a longtime Mac collaborator, has made by hand an outrageously imaginative, world-unto-itself costume specific to each decade.