Somewhere close to the four-hour mark in “Bark of Millions,” the polychromatic cavalcade of splendor that is Taylor Mac and Matt Ray’s new rock opera, I finally realized why the woman in front of me had been reading on her phone throughout the performance.
The words on her phone were excerpts from the show’s lyrics, a free digital version of the printed fan deck on sale at concessions.
More than 50 songs in, she was grasping at that text in an attempt to follow along.
Because the great frustration of “Bark of Millions,” which continues through Saturday at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Harvey Theater, is that there are far too many songs in which the music drowns out the lyrics, making the meaning a bafflement.
If “Bark of Millions” were aiming to succeed on aural gorgeousness and visual spectacle alone, there would be no cause to quibble.
Persons:
Taylor Mac, Matt Ray’s, Brendan Aanes, Mac
Organizations:
Brooklyn Academy of Music’s
Locations:
Versailles, Vegas