Taylor Mac's A 24-DECADE HISTORY OF POPULAR MUSIC: 1776-1836 Comes to San Francisco

The Curran presents Taylor Mac's A 24-Decade History of Popular Music: 1776 - 1836 as part of "Curran: Under Construction," the ground-breaking series of intimate and non-traditional programming curated by Carole Shorenstein Hays. The six-performance limited engagement will begin tonight, January 21, at the Curran (445 Geary St).

As recently announced, "Curran: Under Construction" kicks-off a new era for the historic theatre, which is undergoing a major renovation and will reopen as a full-sized venue in early 2017. Throughout "Curran: Under Construction," audiences will enter through the Curran's stage door alleyway and be seated on stage alongside the action.

A 24-Decade History of Popular Music: 1776 - 1836 will be presented in two parts -- Part I: 1776-1806 on January 21-23, and Part II: 1806-1836 on January 26-27. A six-hour marathon of both parts I and II will be presented at the final performance on January 30.

"Taylor Mac is a visionary talent and we are delighted to welcome him, for the first -- but not last -- time to the Curran. His epic work-in-progress promises to be a great climax to our Curran: Under Construction adventure," said Shorenstein Hays.

Taylor Mac is embarking on an ambitious, highly entertaining and stirring project called A 24-Decade History of Popular Music, a durational music theatre project and a subjective history of the past 240 years in America. This highly anticipated project incorporates over 30 different performance art concerts, a number of co-commissioners from around the world, and will culminate in a one-time only 24-hour event. He will be performing mini-marathons of 3 and 6 hour excerpts of the piece, both as developmental workshops prior to the 24 hour piece, and touring after the "premiere." The Curran is proud to co-commission this ambitious work and present the first six decades beginning with the birth of the nation in 1776, here in the city that inspired him to create it: San Francisco.

Mac is a legendary downtown New York theater artist, originally from Northern California, with a large and dedicated audience in the Bay Area. He is a playwright, actor, singer/songwriter who has performed internationally from the Public Theater in New York to Sydney Opera House. He is currently an artist in residence at the Park Avenue Armory and the Sundance Institute's Theater Lab at for summer 2015. He is this year's recently named recipient of the Herb Alpert Award for theater.

Tickets for Taylor Mac are priced at $50, with marathon tickets priced at $75, and can be purchased exclusively via Eventbrite by visiting SFCURRAN.COM, where you can also find all the latest information about "Curran: Under Construction" and plans for the new Curran theatre.

A 24-Decade History of Popular Music is created, written, co-directed and performed by Taylor Mac, with co-direction by Niegel Smith, music direction by Matt Ray and costumes by Machine Dazzle. The work is co-produced by Pomegranate Arts and Nature's Darlings.

A 24- Decade History of Popular Music is commissioned in part by Carole Shorenstein Hays, The Curran SF; Carolina Performing Arts, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA; Hancher Auditorium at the University of Iowa; Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts; Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago; New Haven Festival of Arts & Ideas; New York Live Arts; OZ Arts Nashville; University Musical Society of the University of Michigan. This work was developed with the support of the Park Avenue Armory residency program and the 2015 Sundance Institute Theatre Lab at the Sundance Resort. A 24- Decade History of Popular Music was made possible with funding by the New England Foundation for the Arts' National Theater Project, with lead funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Built in 1922, the Curran has housed some of the most important productions in theater history and has maintained a reputation over the course of its life as one of the most prestigious live entertainment venues in North America. Now, nearly 100 years after it welcomed its first Bay Area audiences, the Curran is undergoing a major restoration and renovation. Under the curation of eight-time Tony Award winner Carole Shorenstein Hays, the Curran will reopen as a 1,600 seat venue in late 2016 with the new mission. Inspired by the unique entrepreneurial spirit of the Bay Area, as well as Ms. Shorenstein Hays's lifelong passion for creatively daring, cutting-edge material, the Curran will provide a home for a handpicked selection of the most exciting stage works being conceived and created anywhere in the world.

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