There are no guarantees of success when attempting to stage ambitious new work. If one were seeking proof that the theater can be a fickle muse and that past accomplishment is no insurance against present failure, one need only look at the veritable “dream team” assembled for playwright/performance artist Taylor Mac’s Broadway debut “Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus.”
Mac (who uses the term “judy” as a gender pronoun) is a winner of the MacArthur Genius Grant, and anyone who experienced judy’s “A 24-Decade History of Popular Music” may rightly regard it as one of the defining cultural experiences of their lives. Given the range and probity of judy’s many preoccupations and the acuity with which judy exposes the surreal contradictions of contemporary life, it is clear that Mac’s is a singular creative voice that should be heard on Broadway. And it is our responsibility and privilege to pay attention.
