SIDE BY SIDE BY SUSAN BLACKWELL Max Von Essen of ANASTASIA

Oh hey, everybody! It's me Susan Blackwell and today and I'm side-by-side my favorite Broadway jingle horse. Look
everybody! From Anastasia, its Max von Essen. Hi! Max!
--Hi, everybody! --Tell our friends at home where we are what we're doing toda.
--We are in Hell's Kitchen at a local hang. Am i telling you where we
are? We're at Glass House Tavern --We love the Glass House Tavern.

And we are making a gingerbread house for the holidays. It's a kit. We're taking--
--No, no, no. I baked fresh gingerbread this morning.

I was up before dawn.
--You or your team prepared this. This is wonderful.
-- Okay do you have a plan for this? --Yeah we just connect her.
[Singing] Tell me a story in 30 seconds.
30 Seconds on the cloc.

You're gonna tell me the whole life story. Don't leave out the
awesome parts. Ready, and, you're, starting, now.
--Okay I'm Italian. I was born in Queens til I was five.

Then I grew up on Long Island
where that was pretty much like what I'm a product of. And I fell in love a
musical theater because my mom brought me all these songs and movies and things. And then my dream was to move to into the city and be a Broadway star and it's
all I want to do ever and now  I'm here. I have more time? And I went to
school and I study music and economics because I had to be you know be serious
and I came out I'm a proud gay man.

I'm performer and now I'm an Anastasia on
Broadway and living my dream, constantly. --Badoom! Super bonus what is the name of that autobiography my autobiography is um Straight to the Middle the
Unauthorized Autobiography of Max von Essen. [Singing] We're playing
what the what right now with max! -Clapped hands and slide whistle and wears wigs. What the what? --I don't know how that started, but someone gave me a slide
whistle and I was doing a show a long time ago and we needed, like we it was
it was stressful, so I just always had it in my bag so if there was ever like a
tense moment a stage manager said something crazy, I just like.

And everyone
would just immediately like ease. It just broke the tension all the time.
And caftans, that is something I stole from Andrew Rannells.
--Ya don't say. --Not I didn't steal
an actual caftan, but I stole the idea of it.

Because caftans also... They just make you feel great. I mean you feel like you're in an
episode or like you're down and like Miami or something with your old lady
friend.
-- So you have a collection? --We have a box of caftans and usually when we have friends over, and you've been drinking for a few minutes or a few
hours, at some point someone will know where they are and they'll run upstairs
just like go under my bed and they'll grab a wig because the wigs are in the
box too. And they'll grab a caftan and then the party just turns into like men
and women lounging around and wigs and caftans.


--That's why on your Facebook there are so many photo, just like party photos, random photos, and I'll be like like a why are a third of the people in this photograph wearing like a wig?
-- I'm telling you it's so fun and you're so relaxed. --Goddamn barrel of monkeys Max von Essen. You've been on your farewell tour of West Side Story, Tony, for like years now
so what the what? --So over. It's been a long time.
--Come on.

But how many times did you say this is my last Tony in West Sid Story.
-- I mean like at least three times but it was like my
--They just kept pulling you back in! First gig ever. Another theater
would call. And then recently I was actually auditioning
--And you're like, I'm off book! --There was a
concert recently of like a fancy a symphony concert and I was auditioning
for it, first of all, I was like auditioning? --You're auditioning?
--Yes.

Second of all I audition for everything, but this one, they were
like, I thought maybe they would just call me it's a concert, doesn't matter if
I'm a little old. It's a big space, just in concert, but not only did I go to
audition because I thought one more! -- I got one more in me!
--But I knew I could do it vocally, and it in concert. It'd be a little different.
--And you're off book. --I didn't get it.
--Oh...

-[Slide whistle noise] --You're doing Anastasia on the Broadway. What the what is that like?
-- I I love it. I love it so much. --I love that you love it.


--It's super challenging, but not like physically
challenging. He's on and off stage, got these long breaks.
--For this? --Yes, challenging.  I mean Ramin was like and would sing sing his high notes.

I think it was
like, it felt like a piece of cake for him, or he just made it seem like that.
But for me not a piece of cake. But it's fun yeah and why and you know it's not
supposed to be easy. I mean, American Paris wasn't easy. It was more physical.
--Broadway's not supposed to be easy.

--Broadway isn't supposed to be easy.
--And this definitely isn't like singing the
these songs Ahrens and Flaherty, these like epic songs, it's amazing. --When you see audience members filming shows with their camera, what the what happens?
-- Oh my god you know you know my trigger points don't you? That's when I need a slide whistle
in my pocket. --Calm your shit down.

 --It's baby's first break! My first break,
for me, cuz it was so crazy. I was a little bit obsessed with Liza Minnelli
when I was a kid, like that was one of the, she was one of the first performers,
I was like oh my gosh like I gravitated towards. I didn't even know who her
mother was like at that point. I mean I.

Knew Wizard of Oz, but I didn't know it
was like mother daughter Judy Garland. I just knew Liza Minelli. I loved her and
then I saw it in Backstage. Not .Com, the paper that I would get every week.
--What's that now? --Backstage.


--And Liza Minnelli needed a backup singer, she had two guys, she needed a third. It said like between five nine and five eleven, I guess the
costumes. Back --And her height.
--High baritone, tenor or whatever, and I was like I'm sorry excuse
me? This is mine.

But I mean no agent or
anything at the time. I just sent and sent my stuff in and I got an audition. I
had five callbacks and then I booked it. And I toured with Liza Minnelli.


---That was baby's first break? --Yeah.
-- That is an amazing break. Yeah I mean that was crazy. It
didn't really do anything career-wise was so sort of separate. I wanted to do
theater like no one really knew..

It didn't get me auditions or anything.
--What an adventure. --But it was.
--And with somebody you love. Still love? Love even more?
-- Yes! Well I mean how could you not, how could I not still Liza, love Liza Minnelli.
--I don't know maybe she beat you with hanger.
--She wronged me. No no you're kidding.

She's perfect. --Show us your pussy now.
-- Show us a picture of your cat, your Hedgehog, your pet, your dog. --Oh!
--Show us your pussy. --I thought you were...

You know you know what's coming? In my life?
-- I do. --Pocket, you know that Pocket is coming. --Oh god am I gonna am I if I turn into a
crazy cat person already. So my partner and I have wanted, well he's wanted, he
grew up with pets, like tons of pets.

He's like we need something. I'm like dying,
I'm aching for like to have like a life a small life around. And I don't like
feel a need for it but now I have like fallen in love and I've come on board. This is a little Sphinx cat, her name is Pocket.

Look at her!
--Pocket! Is the name of the game The name of the game is pocket.
-- Chek out her Instagram at Pocket the Sphinx. Um, not my doing. My boyfriend's obsessed.
--Pocket? --Oh, yes her name is
Pocket, but she comes on Friday.

It's literally Christmas. She's from a
special breeder in Arizona. --Adopt! Adopt! Adopt!
--I know I know I know here and I. We absolutely 1000% would.

I'm really allergic, so we had to find the best
possible breed for me. And she's hairless. She's got like a little bit on her ears.
--Look at the sunlight coming through her ears. Geegeegeee.


--She is, and she's teeny, and she's gonna be she's gonna stay pretty teeny.
Daniel's flying out to Arizona on Friday to go get her, cuz she's that where she is.
--Wow, Pocket. --I know, she's setting me back. Let's just say thank God I'm going back
on Broadway.

--I see diamonds on Pocket. Mmm that's what I'm saying. --[Singing] Fill it in! Fill it in! Fill in the
musical blanks. --You're gonna fill in the blanks but you have to do it in song
okay?
-- Uh-huh.

The first song I remember singing was...
--The Sun will come out tomorrow! Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow.
--Annie? --Well [laughs] --I auditioned for community theater prod
version of Annie. Once again they took a little license
because they wanted me in the show and so they made up a role. I was the boy
orphan. They had one boy.
--A boy orphan? --The borphan.

If you recall from Annie, there are no boy orphans. --My first audition
song was... --Oh, oh gosh. Do you know song, [singing] All the time I thought there's only me.

Crazy in a way that no one else could be, would have given everything I
owned if someone would have said you're not alone. It's so depressing.
It's the Barry Manilow song, I think, but I like we're just kind of like singing
is like a light, like a light, light pop. Song. --My go to audition song now is...

--Oh, okay, I have a couple, but it's probably... I. Have dreamed that your arms are lovely.  I have dreamed what a joy you'll be.

Yeah. I have dreamed...
I love that song. It's one of my favorite songs ever. And I can kind of like adjust
it a little bit depending on like what's needed.

Look I mean, obviously, I go
in for more shows that are a little bit like more sung, a little bit more romantic,
--But when they're like we need a bluegrass version.
--Oh, that's [singing] I have dreamed that your arms are  lovely. No. No, I don't do anything lat that. -- We need like a heavy metal version of that, then you're like...

--Then I say thank you!
-- My go-to karaoke song is... --Oh, I Who Have Nothing. [Singing] I, who have
nothing. I, who have no one.

I adore you! It's Tom Jones says it. And I want you so! Ba-da-ba-da... I love you! I don't know
the words right now. Cuz it's usually karaoke.
--Your voice.

You're like a -dork-chestra. That's a dork Orchestra all in one body. Guess what time it is? --It's time to eat this? It's time to go?
--It's time for Susan's fantasy jukebox. I've got your nose and you can have it back, but
first you can have to sing me any song of your choosing.

How about
something from Anastasia? --I'd love it.
--Yeah, there's a really pretty song called The Neva Flows
and it goes like [singing] The Neva flows, a new wind blows, and soon it will be spring.
The leaves unfold, the Czar lies cold, a revolution is a simple thing. --That's it. Yeah and he just kind of keeps going, but it's not a pretty theme? Da da da da da
dee da da da da da? Pretty.
--You're good at singing.

--No. You should have told me you
were gonna make me sing it at a morning shoot! --You guys this has been another
amazing episode of side by side by Susan Blackwell with Max von Essen. Go see him
--Come see me. -- In Anastasia.

You want any spreadings?
--Sure. --You're a dreamboat. You're a god damn dreamboat. I'm putting  him sideways.

Like look like --Jaunty.
--This is really nice. Can you get a shot of that? [Jingle Bells plays] --What was the boy orphan's name? Did he have a name like I don't know like Colby jack or something?
--You know I. Don't think they gave me a name and at
the time... --Little stinker.
--I didn't have enough training to realize that I was supposed
to you know fill in a complete, you know, background and story for him.
--You didn't do a character study on the borphan?
-- I did not.

I have no idea what his name was.
[Slide whistle].