Award-winning performer, playwright, songwriter, performance artist, director and producer Taylor Mac is the featured speaker at the University of Houston’s annual Mitchell Artist Lecture on Tuesday, Nov. 5, at Moores Opera House. During his talk titled “What’s Gonna Happen?,” Mac will share his vision for the future of theatre in an uncertain world and the power of transforming calamity into communion.
“This lecture is a long time coming. We have wanted to bring Taylor Mac to Houston for years,” said Karen Farber, director of the UH Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts. “In the end, I am glad we waited since Taylor’s topic, ‘What’s Gonna Happen?’ could not be better timed with November 5 being Election Day.”
The multi-faceted artist who uses “judy” — not as a name but as a gender pronoun — is best recognized for his theatrical marathon “A 24-Decade History of Popular Music,” nominated for the 2017 Pulitzer Prize in Drama. Dressed in drag, Mac takes the audience through a social history of the United States from 1776 to present day.
A MacArthur Foundation “Genius” Fellow, Mac’s other accolades include seven Tony Award nominations for “Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus,” which starred Nathan Lane, as well as a NY Drama Critics Circle Award, Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, Guggenheim Award and the Herb Alpert Award in Theater.
WHAT: 2019 Mitchell Artist Lecture, presented by the UH Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts
WHO: Taylor Mac, award-winning playwright and performance artist
WHEN: 6-7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 5
Admission is free and open to the public, but an RSVP is required.
WHERE: University of Houston Moores Opera House, 3333 Cullen Blvd., Houston, TX 77024 Parking is available in Lot 16B (Click here for map and driving directions).