Editor’s Note: Taylor Mac took the stage at Hudson Hall on Saturday night. Our arts writer Taliesin Thomas went in a longtime admirer and came out with a few more reasons to swoon. Here’s her account of the evening, addressed to Mac.
Dear Taylor Mac,
You will probably never see this love letter, but the fangirl in me demands that I write it.
During your performance at Hudson Hall, you blazed like a crimson hued geisha-medusa for your adoring crowd (this devotee included), and it was a dream-come-true to see you in the flesh.
From the moment you took the stage, you filled the entire space with your unabashed drag-queen-momma-goddess power and playful spirit.
You gracefully sauntered in that fabulous colorful “red velvet cupcake” meets “lady in red” mash-up dress and those sculptured heels (an achievement all its own).
Photo: Taliesin Thomas
The glow from the glitter on your lips reached every inch of the room, and I was utterly mesmerized by the sparkling luminosity around your gorgeous mouth.
You held a perfectly cracked smile all night, and your beaming smirk reflected a certain palpable melancholy and nostalgia as you spoke and sang from your mighty heart.
Several times you commanded us to touch a curvy part of our own body and meditate, and you did so in your perfectly mischievous tone.
You said that everyone and everything is inherently “queer” because nothing in this universe is ‘straight’ (and I will never forget how you said that).
When I first discovered you years ago, I felt transformed by your very existence.
I have watched your “To a Stranger” clip (from your “Whitman in the Woods” series) at least two hundred times and it remains my “Taylor Mac go-to” in times of need.
“I am to see to it that I do not lose you,” to quote you, quoting Whitman (swoon).
You and Matt Ray gave us your combined beauty and talent that night, and it was superb.
And thank you for speaking so candidly about the political shit-show of today—you honored that dialogue at the outset, and it made a difference. You make a difference.
You, you, you—please forever you.
Yours,
Taliesin
