Taylor Mac is back in the Bay Area, and this time the artist is bringing a pair of performances and a brand-new book along for the ride. The occasion is “Bark of Millions,” the sprawling queer-history rock opera Mac created with composer Matt Ray, which has been building a following since its world premiere in Sydney.
The news comes from KTVU, which describes Mac as a musician, artist, Pulitzer Prize nominee and MacArthur “genius grant” recipient. The station reports that Mac will perform twice in the Bay Area and has a new book focused on the songs created for the show. Exact dates, venues and ticket details for those two appearances aren't spelled out in the material available, so check with presenters before planning your evening.
A Four-Hour Marathon Through Queer History
For readers who missed the show's earlier Bay Area stop, “Bark of Millions” landed at UC Berkeley's Zellerbach Hall from February 23 to 25, 2024, according to Taylor Mac's own site. The San Francisco Chronicle's Datebook billed that run as a four-hour rock opera with 55 original songs and an international ensemble of 22 artists. Machine Dazzle's costume designs were part of the spectacle.
Counts vary depending on who's tallying, with some sources citing 54 songs and others 55, and ensemble sizes ranging widely across descriptions. Whatever the exact number, the scale is the point. The Cal Performances press kit says every song is inspired by a different queer person in history, spanning from ancient Egypt to leaders of the drag movement in America.
From Sydney Opera House to Your Bookshelf
The production had its world premiere at the Sydney Opera House in 2023 and its U.S. premiere at BAM the following year, per the Queer Love Project. The songs all have lyrics by Mac and music by longtime collaborator Matt Ray, the Mercury News reported at the time of the Berkeley run. The same piece noted that Mac's earlier epic, “A 24-Decade History of Popular Music,” ran 24 hours and 246 songs, with Ray as musical director.
The new book is a literary extension of the production, as that newsletter describes it, celebrating queer history, lineages and lives. According to Matt Ray's website, it is a two-volume set that includes melodies, chords, lyrics and essays, with Book II holding lead sheets for 50 of the show's songs. The title is “Bark of Millions: Queer Songs for the Living Library of the Deviant Theme,” and it was scheduled for publication on September 29, 2026, by Black Dog & Leventhal.
The show also isn't meant to sit still. Mac told the Mercury News in 2024, “Every year we're going add at least another song to the show,” a promise that suggests any return visit could look a little different from the last.
