Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Taylor Mac’s free form jazz opera THE HANG is an ecstatic celebration of queerness and individuality

• By drediman
• January 31, 2022
• No Comments

This past weekend at HERE, I caught Taylor Mac and Matt Ray’s new opera The Hang (the production was supposed to have headlined this January’s Prototype Festival, which was unfortunately canceled, like the Public’s similarly experimental Under the Radar Festival, due to the Omicron variant). I use the term “opera” in the loosest sense of the word, as the production pays as much tribute to cabaret and experimental theater. That it defies easy classification is one of the work’s chief pleasures. The Hang – which takes its inspiration from the death of Socrates – is one of the most audaciously unconventional and unpredictable pieces of music theater I’ve experienced in a long, long time.

In essence, the work is an ecstatic and non-formulaic celebration of queerness, as embodied by Socrates’ fierce intellectual individualism. It’s a gloriously messy concoction – the restless, loopy libretto is by Mac – and I mean that as a strong endorsement. Like a fever dream, the opera unfolds organically with a vivid sense of anything goes. Mr. Ray’s probingly eclectic and meandering score (played by an exuberant eight-piece orchestra comprised primarily of brass players) pays heavy tribute to the jazz and the art song traditions. In overall impact, the closest comparison to The Hang I can think of is the iconic renegade musical Hair, both of which possess free form structures and an uncontainable life force that bursts through the fourth wall and engulfs the audience.

The piece has been directed by Niegel Smith with the kind of infectious vivacity and spontaneity that befits the material. Indeed, in many ways, his production feels more like an impromptu party than a meticulously staged theatrical endeavor. The irresistibly irreverent rag tag company – which includes the likes of the wonderful Kat Edmonson – is as distinctive as they come, and each of them (including the musicians!) gets their opportunity to shine. As Socrates, Mac gives a performance that’s uncommonly present and utterly generous. As usual of judy’s shows, the entire company has been garbed in Machine Dazzle’s outrageously and fabulously otherworldly outfits.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

THE HANG
Off-Broadway, Opera
HERE
1 hour, 45 minutes (no intermission)
Through March 6