Duke Arts Presents: An Evening from the Queer Songbook, by Taylor Mac & Matt Ray

Following their three-night run of Holiday Sauce in 2025, MacArthur "Genius" Award-winning icon Taylor Mac reunites with Obie Award-winning composer Matt Ray, "the musical nexus of New York's alt-cabaret scene" (NYTimes), for an evening that invites all to reflect on queer lineage and futures.

Following their much-heralded durational performance A 24-Decade History of Popular Music (subject of an HBO original documentary), Mac and Ray now join to celebrate the release of Bark of Millions. An original, illustrated songbook, "Bark of Millions provides a source for poetic contemplation, a queer terroir out of which new forms of life can grow." (Vulture, NY Mag)

Electrifying, provocative, and disarming, this duet evening is an open call to community and celebration. In Mac's own words, if you're not invited to the party, throw a better one!