VIDEO: Max Von Essen Visits Backstage LIVE with Richard Ridge

Tony nominated leading man, Max von Essen, embraces his love of the golden age of Broadway and the American Songbook in this Birdland Theater solo show. Inspired by an era long past, Max works his leading man charm and breathes new life into music we've loved for decades. From the Gershwins to Lerner and Loewe, From An American in Paris to Jersey Boys. He's joined by Grammy winning songwriter and famed musical director, Billy Stritch, as well as very special guest, Nick Adams.

Max von Essen is a Tony nominated singer and actor best known for his role as Henri Baurel in the award winning production of An American in Paris on Broadway. He recently finished a year long run in the Broadway production of Anastasia as Gleb Vaganov and then toured the United States as Marvin in Lincoln Center Theater's revival of Falsettos. Other Broadway credits include Evita, the revivals of Les Misérables and Jesus Christ Superstar, Dance of the Vampires, and the closing company of the original Les Misérables. Additional New York credits include Yours Unfaithfully for the Mint Theater, Death Takes a Holiday for the Roundabout Theater Company, The Jerry Springer Opera at Carnegie Hall, Hello Again (Drama League nomination) for The Transport Group, Finian's Rainbow for the Irish Repertory Theater, The Fantasticks at the Sullivan Street Playhouse, and many others. Tours include Xanadu, Chicago and West Side Story. 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 Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, and a recent sold-out solo run at the famed Birdland Jazz Club in New York City. Recordings include An American in Paris (earning Max a Grammy nomination), Evita, Death Takes a Holiday, Finian's Rainbow, Love Songs of Andrew Lloyd Weber, Broadway by the Year: 1928, Broadway Unplugged and his debut solo album, Call Me Old Fashioned: The Broadway Standard, now available on iTunes.