Podcast: LITTLE KNOWN FACTS with Ilana Levine and Special Guest, Max von Essen

Little Known Facts is a weekly podcast hosted by stage and film actress Ilana Levine. With over 150 interviews to date with today's most successful artists, Levine engages her celebrity guests in intimate conversations that are hilarious, vulnerable, revealing and inspiring. Ilana's unique brand of celebrity interview has been called "Podcast Vérité," because her conversations are unfiltered, raw, honest and uniquely funny.

Today's special guest is Broadway favorite Max Von Essen. "Some things you're just drawn to as a kid, like the way I was drawn to music and performing," explained von Essen. "I saw my chorus teacher in 3rd grade play the piano and from then one I was mesmerized. I had never seen someone right in front of me hit a keyboard like that. To me it was magic."

He told the story of how he came to love the arts. "The arts weren't a part of [my parents'] lives or upbringing. [My love for theatre and music] came from inside of me. So I knew it was meant to be."

"I would listen to Liza Minnelli's songs when I was down as a kid. You realize, without even being able to explain it, the power of music- the power of an uplifting song to get you out of a dark place."

Listen to the full interview below!

Max is a Tony, Drama Desk and Grammy nominated singer and actor best known for his role as Henri in the award winning production of An American in Paris on Broadway. Most recently, he completed a year long run in the Broadway production of Anastasia and then toured the country in Lincoln Center Theater's revival of Falsettos. Other Broadway credits include Evita, the revivals of Les Miz and Jesus Christ Superstar, Dance of the Vampires, and the closing company of the original Les Miz.

Additional New York credits include Yours Unfaithfully, Death Takes a Holiday, The JERRY SPRINGER Opera, Hello Again, Finian's Rainbow and The Fantasticks. Tours include Xanadu, West Side Story and Chicago. TV & Film include Law & Order: SVU, Elementary, Boardwalk Empire, The Good Wife, Royal Pains, Gossip Girl, Seven Lovers, Sex and the City 2, and the webseries Submissions Only.

Max's concert work has brought him all across the country and Canada, including The Kennedy Center, Birdland Jazz Club and a recent solo debut at Carnegie Hall with the New York Pops. Recordings include An American in Paris, Evita, Death Takes a Holiday, Finian's Rainbow, Love Songs of Andrew Lloyd Weber, and his debut solo album, Call Me Old Fashioned: The Broadway Standard, now available on iTunes.