Out and proud performer Max Chernin plays the lead character Leo Frank in the current tour of Parade. The Tony Award-winning musical is rooted in truth and tells the story of the notorious 1913 trial wherein Frank, a Jewish factory manager, was accused of rape and murder in Marietta, Georgia. Small-town mentalities mix with antisemitic sensibilities to create a recipe for disaster while being backed by powerful music throughout this moving revival.
Chernin hails from New York with previous roles on Broadway, including Parade, before the tour, as well as Sunday in the Park with George and Bright Star. Television credits range from ABC’s The Family to Prime’s Mozart in the Jungle and, most recently, NBC’s The Blacklist.
The phenomenal singer called up to talk about his life in a Parade.
Windy City Times: Where in the world are you calling in from?
Max Chernin: I’m on tour in Des Moines, Iowa. We are in a cute part of town with bars and coffee shops. There’s a t-shirt shop and a yoga studio, so it’s all I need for one week.
WCT: Perfect. Where are you from?
MC: I am from Cleveland.
WCT: Did you always want to be a performer?
MC: Yes. I went to public school and they had a strong arts program. I studied drama and music in Cincinnati. That led me to New York City.
WCT: How did Broadway happen for you?
MC: The musical theater program set up a showcase for us. I did an industry showcase for producers and agents.
I auditioned all around town after that and landed smaller gigs, which led to bigger gigs. The first big show I worked on was called Bright Star. It was a bluegrass musical that I was with when it was developed out in San Diego. It went to Broadway and was my Broadway debut.
I was fortunate to have jobs continue to line up and I have been teaching on the side, which has helped me get by.
WCT: What drew you to the role of Leo Frank?
MC: I have been with Parade since it started. There have been a couple of different chapters and the first one was as a concert version at New York City Center’s Encores! program in 2022.
I auditioned for a completely different role and told my agent that I just wanted to be in the show, no matter what. I got a call to be in the ensemble and understudy the role of Leo and Hugh Dorsey, which I did at City Center and on Broadway. When the tour began, I graduated to playing the part full-time.
WCT: Congratulations!
MC: This is a dream show for any theater nerd and this role is truly one of the best.
WCT: Are you Jewish like Leo?
MC: Yes, I am half-Jewish. I identify culturally more with my Jewish side and I think about the storytellers in my family. This is an opportunity to honor their quirks and mannerisms through Leo while telling this story.
WCT: What is your trick for belting out “This Is Not Over Yet?”
MC: [laughs] Talia Suskauer and I call it “musical theater crack!” We get a high from it after singing the song. There is a lot of subtle, theater storytelling that happens in this production, but this is the one giant moment where we sing out. It feels like a musical in that moment and the audience reaction is always so special. We send out the song and receive the love back from them every time.
WCT: I read online that someone described your voice as the best they had ever heard live.
MC: Really? That was very kind of them to say.
WCT: How do you describe Parade to people who haven’t seen it yet?
MC: It’s a musical about a true crime that happened here in our country. It follows the story of Leo Frank, who is a Jewish man and was wrongly accused of the rape and murder of a young girl in the South. The event itself, the trial and several years afterwards are all covered in the show.
It functions as a mirror to how the country is functioning at this moment in time. It illustrates how the media and newspapers portray this person in a negative light. It’s a fake news story that villainizes a person to create a scapegoat.
There’s also a love story between him and his wife. She shows up and advocates for him. It’s an example of how love can be found amidst horrible events such as this.
WCT: As you tour around the country, are audiences having vastly different reactions to the material?
MC: They are different in the way they are polite within a theater setting. It’s interesting with the package deals, where people see a variety of Broadway shows for the year. The show before us is Wicked and the show after is Hamilton. Some people are pleasantly surprised and some are faced with the reality of a true crime story. There is always a range of reactions in the audience for this show.
WCT: I saw a behind-the-scenes Pride moment on social media where the LGBTQ+ members of the cast and crew were supported.
MC: There are Confederate flags in our show and we didn’t want to rehearse with them ever. In the rehearsal room, we used Pride flags instead.
When we filmed that post, it happened on Pride Sunday and we decided to use the rainbow flags at our bows. Being theater people, we don’t usually get to celebrate in the festivities of anything happening on a weekend, so we couldn’t go to the parade down the street in Los Angeles.
Our show is called Parade and we wanted to have our own parade onstage!
‘Parade’ is at the CIBC Theatre, 18 W. Monroe St., from Aug. 5-17. Find tickets at broadwayinchicago.com.