Taylor Mac and Matt Ray: ‘Songs from Bark of Millions’ – Joyous!

By Alix Cohen

In wary anticipation of prior and forecast rain, devoted New Yorkers come out (Monday night) wearing hats and plastic coats, carrying ersatz seat covers and towels, to share the queer maximalist performance tradition established by Taylor Mac, Matt Ray, and Machine Dazzle.

Musicians perform under open tents. Mac notes the loss of their penis couch because of weather. Performers sit in folding chairs. Though it spits, we’re spared until the encore. Gods are with us. Extraordinary costumes are safe. The host commends audience for “not being afraid of the moist.”

Tonight’s sampled songs are inspired by queer heroes through the ages. (There are 57 songs to date) “This is reverse conversion therapy,” Mac quips. “The hope is that we’ll make you a little more queer than when you entered the theater.”

Matt Ray and the band open with “Bark of Millions”: “Bark of Millions/Brings the sun/Victorious again…” In ancient Egyptian mythology, the bark is a divine boat associated with the sun’s journey through the heavens. “Millions” signifies countless years of the sun’s recurring battles with chaos and darkness

The first call out/song is “Marsha P. Johnson”, a Black transgender activist, drag performer, and street crusader in New York City, and one of the most recognizable figures associated with the Stonewall uprising of 1969. Overall sound is like a cross between hip hop and Gilbert and Sullivan:“Once there was a year/When the tyrants all cashed in…/When the smoke had cleared/That’s when the queens redid their make-up…We danced for all our days/And the tyrants caught the melody…” (The original rhymes and syncs.)

Mac is decorated in a riot of pinks. Foot-shaped, clown slippers and shimmering, ribbon-dripped leggings anchor an eruption of ruffs and ruffles including an exploding headpiece.

“Audre Lorde” was an American poet, essayist, feminist, and activist who described herself as a “Black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet.” “Mama said the Lord is everywhere,” sings Wes Olivier “…in the politics that matter, the pickets and the bigots…” Lyrics roll creating gospel. White fabric cascades from a faux curtain rod across shoulders.

Machine Dazzle’s “Greta Garbo” – whose life and relationships have long been read through a queer lens – starts as a ballad and morphs into disco. As fine a vocalist as they are a designer, Dazzle’s contributions tonight stand out.This costume (there are many) features a balloon rainbow about 3” over head, cascading to the floor on both sides. Later, there’s a multicolor skirt made of masks and a hat that seems to burst with french fries.

“Harry Hay”, pioneering American gay-rights activist and labor organizer, is best known for helping found the Mattachine Society in 1950. With a beehive wig on steroids and vest-exposed belly, Chris Giarmo exuberantly prances, skips, and sits on their haunches.

“Stormé DeLarverie”, performer and Stonewall figure was “the guardian angel of the Village…She didn’t play with pants/And the only thing she stole/Was a certain heart of gold…” Heads nod, feet tap, shoulders shift. Matt Ray sings from behind his white piano.

Heather Christian rises from the audience in a wide cape of ombre, purple turkey feathers and coordinating body suit with a kind of circuit pattern. Her incredible headdress is comprised of two silver birds kissing. “Sappho and The Amazonians” are acknowledged with a power vocal.

Activist and Mac’s dramaturge for 40 years, “Morgan Jenness”, reaps a plaintive ode. “Morgan are you listening?/ Are you in the dust somewhere/Preordained by many atoms…Were you born a blank slate, scribbling on yourself?…” Bowed cello and violin haunt. The host clearly misses her deeply.

Nigerian-British drag artist and singer Le Gateau Chocolat (George Ikediashi) in a blooming glitter/net turban and sweeping navy gown, recalls the legend of Area Scatter said to have entered the jungle a man and exited a woman. Instead of being persecuted, they were celebrated.

If the performer went back they’d be jailed 14 years. “Wherever you go, there’s someone worse off than you…Will you banish all statues/And when you find them/Take them into the wild…” they sing. “Some of us were slaves” begins an impassioned and moving speech.Then, in regard to elusive democracy, “Even The Crown on Netflix stopped at season five!”

Jack Fuller sings “James Baldwin”, “the kind of queen who knew how to break a heart with a thought…” Plastered all over their costume are flat fabric circles surrounded by feathers. It’s a soulful sermon ending in high tenor and cymbals. “The root function of language is to control the universe by describing it.” (Baldwin)

Humor emerges from the song “Margaret Cho”, bisexual identified comedienne and longtime LGBTQ/gay-rights activist. It’s
the only lyric that features a name. “Oh Margaret Cho…The thing about you/How you always make do/When your party’s not thrown/You make one of your own…And the Cowgirl Café at the end of the day…”

Prone at Mac’s feet, wearing an upside down funnel over green fish netting, Machine Dazzle is ostensibly, extravagantly suffering from alcohol brain freeze. Mac can hardly keep it together as his friend milks the moment.

“Chavela Vargas”, an important queer vocalist and pioneer, is serenaded in Spanish by El Beh. The beautiful song by Mac with Caridad Svich, is untranslated, but full of sway and heart.

Special guest André De Shields struts across he sage wearing ersatz tribal gear with a soft horn headdress. His robe is a bold, Matisse-like, graphic. A wide beaded collar frames. Wielding an extremely tall staff with dangling feathers, he leads the company in a wonderfully raucous rendition of “Sugar in the Tank” (Julien Baker/Torres)

Others honored in tonight’s historical parade include: Sylvia Rivera, transgender activist and Stonewall organizer; Antinus, lover of the Roman emperor Hadrian; King James VI of Scotland who had several extremely close relationships with male favorites; Prosymnus, associated with Dionysus and one of the more explicitly homoerotic myths of the ancient Greek tradition; William Dorsey Swann, a 19th century drag performer, and author/poster boy for British moral repression, Oscar Wilde.

Caveats: Sound too often overwhelms lyrics and harsh light is painfully blasted directly in our eyes.Otherwise- Wowza!

Photos by Daniel Boud

Taylor Mac and Matt Ray: Songs from Bark of Millions
A Joe’s Pub in the park special concert at The Delacorte Theater
Performed by the Plethora
Music and Musical Direction by Matt Ray
Lyrics and Direction by Taylor Mac
Artistic Director of Joe’s Pub- Alex Knowlton

Featuring: Chris Giarmo, Dana Lyn, El Beh, Emily Hope Price, Gary Wang, Greg Glassman, Heather Christian, Jack Fuller, Joel E. Mateo, Jules Skloot, Le Gateau Chocolat, Lisa “Paz” Parrott, Machine Dazzle, Mama Alto, Matt Ray, Shirazette Tinnin, Stefan Fae, Taylor Mac, Viva DeConcini, Wes Olivier

Fantastical Costumes by Machine Dazzle; Gorgeous make-up is uncredited

Bark of Millions is a four-hour-plus rock opera/performance spectacle by Taylor Mac and composer Matt Ray.(This performance was about 2 1/2 hours) It premiered at the Sydney Opera House in 2023 and came to BAM in 2024.

The Bark of Millions book will be published by Black Dog & Leventhal on September 29, 2026 and is available for preorder wherever books are sold.