“It’s very rare for something like this to be on Broadway, so I think it’s exciting and fun,” playwright Taylor Mac said of the new Broadway play Gary on CBS Sunday Morning April 28.
The play marks Mac’s Broadway debut, but isn’t the writer’s first big undertaking—by far. Mac is a MacArthur Genius recipient and Pulitzer Prize finalist for A 24-Decade History of Popular Music. “I have a lot of awards that say 'unique' and I think, ‘Is that a caveat?’” Mac wonders. “But I’m very happy for them.”
Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus stars Nathan Lane in the titular role, a bit part in Shakespeare’s Titus. “Even if you had seen it yesterday, you probably would not remember the clown from Titus Andronicus,” judy (the pronoun Mac uses) says.
READ: Why Nathan Lane Follows Up Angels in America With Taylor Mac’s Gary
“It’s about taking a risk,” says Lane. “Taylor is a brilliant mind, but has a theatrical agenda. Part of the agenda is, I’m not here to make you comfortable, in fact, I might be here to make you uncomfortable and yet we’re still going to have a lot of fun.’”
Mac explains judy's larger vision: “All of us have to clean up after our particular political system that’s falling apart right now. Eventually, we are gong to have to pick up the pieces rather than just continue to fight each other. 'What is that going to look like?' and 'Who is going to do it?' and 'How are we going to do it?' is the bigger question. ”
Watch the full interview—complete with clips from Gary—in the video above.
