Taylor Mac News

Amidst Performance Space New York's exhilarating first series of interdisciplinary works under the new leadership of Executive Artistic Director Jenny Schlenzka, the organization's 2018 gala will celebrate game-changing and iconic figures from the arts sector (April 14).

Abingdon Theatre Company (Tony Speciale, Artistic Director; Denise Dickens, Producing Director) has announced casting for the first production of its 25th Anniversary main stage season, The Gentleman Caller, a new play by Philip Dawkins (Charm, Le Switch, The Homosexuals).

Our greatest Australian classic and a hilarious cutting edge, new American play sit side by side in the month of May. Ray Lawler's Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, is a beautiful 1950's drama of love and homecoming. Set in working class Melbourne, this classic is directed by Adam Mitchell and is paired with the subversive and gender bending American kitchen sink drama, HIR by Taylor Mac (24 Decade History of Popular Music), directed by Zoe Pepper.

The Play Company (PlayCo), led by Founding Producer Kate Loewald and Managing Director Robert G. Bradshaw, today announces the complete cast for Toshiki Okada's Time's Journey Through a Room, marking PlayCo's third collaboration with Okada, translator Aya Ogawa, and director Dan Rothenberg, May 10 - June 10, 2018. This haunting play, set in post-Fukushima Japan, will star three Japanese born performers, all of whom are now based in New York: Yuki Kawahisa (Honoka), Maho Honda (Arisa) and Kensaku Shinohara (Kazuki). The play is both an intimate examination of how we move forward from life-altering events, and a study of how we experience time, asking whether we can ever be alive to the present moment. 

Today, Carole Shorenstein Hays announced that single tickets are now available for SOFT POWER, the play featuring a musical by David Henry Hwang (play and lyrics) and Jeanine Tesori (music and additional lyrics). SOFT POWER will make its Bay Area premiere at San Francisco's Curran (445 Geary Street) June 20 - July 8, 2018. SOFT POWER is a Center Theatre Group co-commission with The Public Theater and will perform at the Curran following its world premiere at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles

San Francisco's Curran theater will welcome Broadway legend Patti LuPone on Wednesday, June 13, as part of the popular SHOW & TELL series, which features provocative, topical and entertaining one-night-only events. The engagement has been rescheduled from its original date of Friday, June 1. From the White House to the Great White Way, SHOW & TELL's all-star lineup also features some of the theater's most celebrated artists, from Former FBI Director James Comey (Monday, April 23) and former White House photographer Pete Souza (Thursday, May 10) to the writers and creative minds behind SOFT POWER, David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori (Thursday, May 17). Additional SHOW & TELL events include heralded award-winning playwright and actress, recently of "Black Panther" fame, Danai Gurira and Tony Award-winning director George C. Wolfe; event dates and times to be announced at a later date. Tickets for SHOW & TELL events start at $29 and some include autographed books and special VIP opportunities. Tickets are available by calling 415-358-1220 or visiting SFCURRAN.com.

Shakespeare & Company announces its 2018 season casting. Under the direction of Artistic Director Allyn Burrows the Company's Summer Season includes a roster of audience beloved artists, critically acclaimed actors, and a host of newcomers joining the Company. The season opens Memorial Day Weekend with Carey Crim's New England Premiere of Morning After Grace, a comedic romance about second chances.

Marika Hughes has returned to her chamber music roots with a new project, The New String Quartet. Alongside Charlie Burnham (violin/voice) Marvin Sewell (guitar) and Rashaan Carter (bass), the band sets out to celebrate the sounds, the vibrations and the resonances of their acoustic, unamplified strings. Rooted in the traditions of the western classical string quartet, NSQ weaves itself thru Marika's musical heritage; from songs to tunes to impromptu sketches. With a new collection of music Marika and The New String Quartet tip their hats to love, to loss, family and to gratitude.

Vincent D'Onofrio and Dana Lyn to celebrate Slim Bone Head Volt - Volume 2 Album Release, Friday, May 4 - Doors at 6:00pm, Show at 7:00pm

Faye Driscoll, hailed as “a postmillenium postmodern wild woman” (Deborah Jowitt, The Village Voice) for her work that is a “tour de force of performance and direction” (Brian Seibert, The New York Times), receives the 12th Annual Jacob's Pillow Dance Award. The Bessie Award-winning choreographer, director, and alumnus of The School at Jacob's Pillow joins a group of honorees that includes Annie-B Parson and Paul Lazar of Big Dance Theater, Kyle Abraham of Abraham.in.Motion, Michelle Dorrance of Dorrance Dance, Camille A. Brown of Camille A. Brown & Dancers, and Liz Lerman of Dance Exchange. The Award will be formally presented as part of the Jacob's Pillow Season Opening Gala on June 16, 2018 followed by the presentation of Driscoll's work at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival for the second consecutive summer, August 1–5.

Shakespeare & Company's Northeast Regional Tour of Shakespeare returns to the Tina Packer Playhouse for Shakespeare's Birthday Celebration. Join the Company on Saturday, April 21 at 7pm as they celebrate the Bard's birthday with a rousing 90-minute performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream, followed by a reception with the artists, and birthday cake! 

The cast is phenomenal, especially Ned Averill-Snell in a performance that brings to mind the odd combination of Daniel Day-Lewis, Harpo Marx and Lon Chaney, Jr. It's a timely show that must be seen to be believed.

Abingdon Theatre Company (Tony Speciale, Artistic Director; Denise Dickens, Producing Director) continues its 2017-2018 Ghostlight Reading Series this month with a provocative new work inspired by the legacy of legendary comic Lenny Bruce: Buyer Beware, a new play by Michael Weller, will receive a reading presentation Monday March 26 at 7PM at The DR2 Theatre, 101 E. 15th Street. The event is free but reservations are required. Visit abingdontheatre.org for reservations and further information including casting updates.

The Kennedy Center kicked off its multidisciplinary contemporary cultural assault Tuesday with something thought to embody the approach, Taylor Macs 'A 24-Decade History of Popular Music (1776-2016).'

The Play Company (PlayCo), led by Founding Producer Kate Loewald and Managing Director Robert G. Bradshaw, presents Toshiki Okada's Time's Journey Through a Room, marking PlayCo's third collaboration with Okada, translator Aya Ogawa, and director Dan Rothenberg, May 10 - June 10, 2018. This haunting play, set in post-Fukushima Japan, is an intimate examination of how we move forward from life-altering events, and a study of how we experience time, asking whether we can ever be alive to the present moment.

Carole Shorenstein Hays announced that San Francisco's Curran theater will welcome Former FBI Director James Comey (Monday, April 23) and former White House photographer Pete Souza (Thursday, May 10) as part of Curran's popular SHOW & TELL series, featuring provocative, topical and entertaining one-night-only events. From the White House to the Great White Way, SHOW & TELL's all-star lineup also features some of the theater's most celebrated artists, including the writers and creative minds behind Soft Power, David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori (Thursday, May 17) and Broadway legend Patti LuPone (Friday, June 1). Additional SHOW & TELL events include heralded award-winning playwright and actress, recently of "Black Panther" fame, Danai Gurira and Tony Award-winning director George C. Wolfe; event dates and times to be announced at a later date. Tickets for SHOW & TELL events start at $29 and some include autographed books and special VIP opportunities. Tickets are available by calling 415-358-1220 or visiting SFCURRAN.com.

UCLA's Center for the Art of Performance (CAP UCLA) welcomes the return of Taylor Mac, the genre-defying winner of a 2017 MacArthur 'Genius' Grant, recipient of the 2017 Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama, and a finalist for the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, in the epic 24-hour performance art concert, A 24-Decade History of Popular Music, in its entirety in four six-hour chapters March 15, 17, 22 and 24 at 6 p.m. at The Theatre at Ace Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. Single tickets are now available for $45-$250 online at cap.ucla.edu and theatre.acehotel.com, via AXS by phone at 888-929-7849 and in person at The Theatre at Ace Hotel box office.

Today, Curran announced the cast of SOFT POWER, a play with a musical by David Henry Hwang (play and lyrics) and Jeanine Tesori (music and additional lyrics). SOFT POWER will make its Bay Area premiere at San Francisco's Curran theater (445 Geary Street), June 20 - July 8, 2018. Produced by Center Theatre Group, SOFT POWER comes to Curran after its world premiere at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles from May 3 through June 10, 2018. Tickets for SOFT POWER are currently only available to #CURRAN2018 subscribers. Single tickets will be announced at a later date.

There seems to be a spate of plays getting a lot of critical acclaim these days that take on societal changes and amp them up to an extreme and absurd level. For example, the recent "Straight White Men" that looked at white male privilege. And now we have the gender conformity examining "Hir" by Taylor Mac, currently playing at ArtsWest. The thing is they keep billing these as comedies and touting them for their daring. Daring, maybe as they tackle subjects that make people uncomfortable, but comedy, no. As was the case with "Straight White Men", "Hir" takes everything to an absurd level, and don't get me wrong I love an absurd comedy, but they do it in such a way that by the end there is not one likable character.

Young Jean Lee is the winner of the 2018 Edwin Booth Award. The Award Ceremony will take place Wednesday, March 21, 2018 beginning at 6:30 pm in The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center at the CUNY Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue, at 34th Street. Admission is FREE but seating is limited. Reservations: boothawardrsvp@gmail.com