Max Cherin is coming home to Northeast Ohio! The Shaker Heights native, who grew up dreaming of becoming a professional actor while taking in shows at the Playhouse Square theater complex, is now taking center stage in the award-winning revival of Parade. Having a local native return to the area to showcase his or her success is a treat. (Reference: LeBron James, The Black Keys, and the dozens of other performers from the greater Cleveland area who have achieved great things in the theater realm!)
In the national touring production of Parade, Chernin has the lead role of Leo Frank. He is thrilled not only to have achieved this coveted role at the ripe age of 34, but also to be able to perform for three weeks in Cleveland!
“It’s the city I’m most looking forward to because I’ve always dreamed of performing at Playhouse Square, and it would be exciting no matter what I was doing, but to be doing it with this show in particular, and to be on the poster on the marquee is just a pretty surreal experience,” Chernin said in a recent phone interview with CleveRock.com. “And my family has seen me do this, but not my entire family. And also, to be able to share it with some of my teachers and some of my classmates from high school, it’s going to be really special. Probably overwhelming at times. And I don’t know, just kind of like a full circle moment from that kid who was 18 at the Beck Center in Lakewood to now, when I’m 34 and starring in a show at Playhouse Square.”
Chernin gives his education, upbringing, and opportunities he received as a young actor a boatload of credit for the success he has found on Broadway and beyond.
“It’s amazing the resources that are available for young artists in Northeast Ohio. It’s like a full immersion. There’s not one thing to do; there’s a dozen things to do. So it really is the diversity of experience, I think, that really helped me wrap my head around what it meant to have a life in the future, if you will,” Chernin said of his place of origin. “And I had opportunities to meet other kids that wanted to do this just as bad as I did and were just as nerdy about it as me. I really found some of my oldest and dearest friends through a lot of those programs growing up. But yeah, Shaker, specifically, has an incredible arts connection and an incredible theater program itself. So, I was really able to have that as a part of my day-to-day in high school. In high school, I took an acting class, and I took a seminar in stage management. And then, on top of that, I was doing shows with a youth theater called Heights Youth Theater in Cleveland Heights and I was doing shows at Stage Crafters Theater that’s based out of Orange. I was a busy guy!”
Max was also queried if there was a specific piece of theater that he saw or was involved in that sparked his love for performing arts and gave him the inspiration or motivation to pursue his passion.
“When I was 18, I was cast in a professional production of a play called The History Boys, and I was doing it at the Beck Center on the west side in Lakewood. And I was 17, and I drove myself there. I drove myself from Shaker to Lakewood and I had a job as an actor,” he said. “This play was a challenging play. I had to learn a British accent. It was about a group of high school boys, and there were only two of us that were young. So it was me and a bunch of older professional actors. And I just felt so cool. I mean, I didn’t get paid much, but I got paid to do it. And I had a show schedule, which meant that I was doing probably five shows a week. But yeah, I was going to high school during the day and I was going to do my job at night, and it was just an affirmation that this was what I wanted to do. And I got to smoke a cigarette on stage, which felt really badass at the time. And I also, I turned 18 while doing the show as well. And so it was just like, I don’t know, just felt like a very cool preview of what my life could be and something that was unique to the art scene in Cleveland as well.”
Parade debuted on Broadway in 1998 before quickly shuttering after only 39 previews and 85 performances in 1999. The 2023 revival gave the show new legs, earning two Tony awards and a Grammy nomination for Best Musical Theater Album.
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For those (like this interviewer) unfamiliar with the show’s plot:
“Parade is centered around the story of Leo Frank. It’s a true story about a Jewish man living in the South who was wrongly convicted of a crime. And our story follows the unfolding of the crime itself and the trial that followed, and then the two years afterwards that he spent in jail. And the best way to describe it is kind of like a true crime documentary lens,” Chernin explained. “So we’ve incorporated real photographs from the actual time and from a lot of the settings into our production. So we’re really helping paint the scene for the audience to kind of understand how this all went down. It’s paired with our love story between Leo and his wife, Lucille, which tracks how they evolve over that whole time period and really how they were able to find love for each other amidst this chaotic frenzy of the trial and everything that was going on for Leo.”
“I think some of our best art mirrors what’s going on in our current times or what’s going on in life. While it’s not what we might consider a cheery musical, it’s a think piece on how we are all walking through the world right now, every day,” he continued. “And I think what’s really hitting at a strong point is how polarized and divided our country is right now. And I think it’s this show shines a lens on another time in American history over a hundred years ago where our country was hurting and where our country was so divided and where our country was absorbing media, how they were absorbing media. And I think folks coming into this will walk away feeling, I hope they feel really moved, and really surprised and really touched on how Leo and this whole case and everything around it really, really played out how it all shook down. And I don’t know, the score is moving and the way that it’s presented is, I just think it’s a fantastic piece of art. And I think art can show up in many ways. Lion King is art. Art piece is also a living piece of art that pays homage to real life people and real struggle and real hurt that I think we’re also in a time period where that is even more true than before.
Chernin may have cut his acting jobs in Ohio, but he mastered his current role in New York City, where he understudied famed actor Ben Platt in the lead role that he now owns.
“First of all, I’m just saying Ben was such a joy. I just adore him, and he was such a gracious leader of our company. He really encouraged me to explore the role on my own,” Chernin praised. “He didn’t really have any say, but there wasn’t any animosity between us at all. And I think what I learned from watching him go through the process of staging the show with our director, Michael Arden, is that they really were prioritizing bringing an authentic energy to the show. So Ben brought a lot of himself into the character. And so when I went on, I had to hit certain marks. I had to be in the right place to hit the lighting, but I was able to bring some of myself to the role. And I think now that it’s fully mine, I’m just able to lean into that a little bit more. But Ben and Michael really set the precedent, and I was able to show up in a way that felt authentic to me, which is rare. It’s very rare. And it made that performance even more special to me.”
Audience members leave the theater with their favorite moments of a given piece of theater, but performers sometimes have a different take from their unique perspective and involvement with a show. Max’s favorite part of Parade?
“There’s a second act duet called, ‘This Is Not Over Yet,’ that I get to do with Lucille. That comes at a huge turning point in the show. And Talia, who plays Lucille, we call it candy,” he said. “We call it candy because it is just musical theater heaven. And we get to sing this incredible driving song. And at that point, the audience needs that. They need this release. And so there’s nothing better than that. It truly is musical theater candy.”
Music and plot are the focal point of any Broadway musical production. What else should patrons be on the lookout for if they attend Parade?
“I would say keep a wide angle lens on what’s going on. There are some really wonderful storytelling clues that might be in the back left corner of the stage when something major is happening front and center,” Chernin suggested. “I think a lot of the imagery in our show is a wide landscape picture, and I think you might not see everything, but you might catch one or two things that, especially in this setting where we’re exploring a true crime, might make you think about a few things coming out. So yeah, that’s a great question. Also, our projections are something to keep an eye on. I think it will really help you connect that this was a real thing.
Sure, Chernin has many friends in the area that he’s excited to perform for. This curious interviewer couldn’t help but wonder about the other side of the coin. How about the haters? The skeptics? The people who laughed at his ambitions to pursue an acting career? Surely he feels vindicated knowing that these folks will have to fork over a pretty penny if they want to see him during his return to town. At the very least, they’ll feel foolish seeing his likeness on promotional materials around town. Chernin was asked if there were any specific persons that he has the smug-smile-satisfaction, given his success.
“Oh, I don’t know if I could say in an interview,” he said with a chuckle. “They are going to know exactly who they are. There was someone who kind of gatekept me from doing Cleveland Theater because they really wanted me to be a part of their college program. And so they were dangling admission into that program over my head instead of casting me in the show. And so I hope that person comes out. I hope they come out, and there’s no ill will nowadays. It was just a funny experience, of course, as a young kid, to wonder why they weren’t casting me. And then, I did not go to their program. I got into the University of Cincinnati, and to be frank, it was just cheaper tuition.”
As if sating ticket requests for friends and family and pulling off eight-show weeks isn’t enough work, Chernin will undoubtedly have the role of local guide added to his duties, with an eager cast wanting to explore his great hometown!
“I got to go get a milkshake at Tommy’s, and I got to take my cast out to a fun night at Happy Dog. Those are on my list,” he said with enthusiasm. “I think I’m going to make them a little list of my favorites. I might be sleeping most days because the show’s a little demanding, but I’ll tell them where to go!”
And, Max: Why should Clevelanders come to check out Parade when it is in Cleveland from February 4 – 23?
“I think folks should come out to see Parade if they want to see a truly moving story that has a really inspired lens on what is going on in our current times and where we’ve all come from in our past.”
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