The music director, Stephen Oremus, was telling me: "I hope you've done your work." We only have ten days rehearsal. The music is no joke. My solo singing is not that hard. But the stuff I have as part of the choir or as a "Dead Guest" in the second-half... I'm singing some really incredible chorus stuff that I haven't done in a long time. It's extremely difficult.
Max von EssenI'm a New Yorker. I'm liberal and open-minded. Things don't really shock me. But I was reading the second-act today and thinking that if you're religious, you could be. But you shouldn't be! You can be extremely religious and have your faith and still be open-minded to art. Because this is art. That's part of the excitement. It literally is "The Jerry Springer Show" on-stage set to beautiful operatic music. That's what's so incredible about it!
Max von EssenI absolutely never thought I would! But it's something to look forward to in my career. I'm not just the young, leading guy who falls in love, simple and naive. Even just doing Enjolras recently in Les Mis. I used to cover Marius and thought: "Oh, that's simple. What I should be doing." But then when I got Enjolras, I hadn't even thought about it. He's more powerful, sure of himself, a leader. It was nice! It was much harder singing, passionate, declamatory. Which was awesome - and now this!
Max von Essen, I have a friend living as a woman. But she's almost too "normal," to be quite frank. I'm not relying on her, because "The Jerry Springer Show" has such huge characters. I'm trying to come up with a little more dysfunction than that.
Max von EssenMy role is almost a sight-gag. I have to be a woman to sing the lyrics "I am a man" to have it be a joke. I start the lyric in a male-register and a whole coloratura up into a soprano. And other points in the show... like the guy who likes to be treated like a baby and wear a diaper!
Max von EssenI want to get a handle on the music. There's only so much you can do alone. I want everyone else there. I can't wait until we feel we've got it down and we can really figure out what it's all about! I can't wait to meet Harvey Keitel, too! I'm so used to working with musical theatre people... I'm really curious how he works. He's the only one that doesn't sing in the show - he acts and weaves himself through the show as the ring-master. I hope I learn something from him.
Max von Essen