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]