Photo: Max Crumb in That Parenting Musical on Theater Row. Photo by Maria Baranova / Provided by KSA PR, with permission.
Max Crumb is an accomplished actor who has graced stages in New York City and beyond, and is currently taking on a role he began preparing for as a child. That’s right, Crumb is seen playing a toddler multiple times a week, but this is certainly one of the most unique characters ever. They are currently appearing in That Parenting the Musical, which is currently having its New York premiere on Theater Row at Theater 3, courtesy of Ember Productions. Performances will be on sale until January 2025.
In the show, mom and dad are trying their best to stay awake, but the new toddler in the house is keeping them up until illegal hours in the middle of the night. Krum is that infant, officially known as “Child 1”. As this story is told, the audience laughs at jokes about everything from the absurdities of parenthood and juggling responsibilities to yoga pants and the danger lurking around every corner. According to press notes, the musical was produced by the self-proclaimed “Mom and Dad” team of Graham Fuller and Christina Fuller, and directed and choreographed by Jen Weinman.
“It’s going well,” Crum said in a recent phone interview. “We’re just finding our groove right now, building an audience, growing our peeps through word of mouth, and it’s going well.”
Crumb appeared on Broadway in Disaster! Crumb and Weinman had co-starred in another Off-Broadway show about 10 years earlier, and the actor was poached by a casting company and signed on the dotted line.
“I knew it was a good time, so I said, ‘Sure, I’d love to do that,'” Crum said. “So I’ve been lucky enough to have attended all the readings and workshops since then and then been involved in the production, so I held a workshop last April and another in October last year. We had a workshop and we really started preparing. And now we’re here, and this is insane.”
Mr. Crumb said he loved the Fullers’ music and jumped at the chance to bring these songs to life, saying that song after song was a banger. The actor also appreciated the emphasis placed on the script over a traditional book. “This show is like a series of songs strung together,” Crumb said. “I love that kind of magical, whimsical (quality), but still in one story structure. And to play a toddler is a dream role. …I play a lot of silly characters, and I’m a little bit known for physical comedy. But now that I’m older, I wish I could stop doing physical comedy. (Laughs) But I think I’m basically a very childish person. This is because I grew up in a family that valued fun, eccentricity, and music above all else. In a sense, I was able to get away from roles that were difficult for me, where I would play a normal person. I can relax and put on a costume and show people how weird I am.”
Crumb began preparing for this role early in life. After all, everyone was a child at one time or another, so the actors relied on those childhood experiences to better convey the character of Child One.
“You don’t have to have children to experience the show itself, and the way it’s presented feels like aliens are studying humans to show what it’s like to be a parent.” , not too grim,” they said. “It’s kind of parents from their own perspective. … I think there’s a comedy there. It’s very self-conscious. It’s very informative. There’s never been a space like this. Parents, children, There’s never been a show like this dedicated to human development, what it means to be a family unit, growing up, etc. I think this is very unique, and of course on Broadway. There are a lot of shows and plays that are about what it’s like to grow up, but this is specifically about random people, like trying to travel with your kids and how awful it is, or your best friend who won’t. It’s about having kids and hating kids, and you ask her to babysit. That’s what it’s like.
Crumb added, “Graham and Christina are very keen on collaboration, and in my experience with them, it’s been great. They’ve changed certain things here and there. There’s a new song on the show that I love, and it’s called “A Little Bit of Space”. , they’ve been doing a lot of work on putting different songs in different places and workshopping them. , I think we wanted it to be the funniest version. And I think that’s what we’re giving, I hope.”
Written by John Saltz / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
That parenting musical featuring Max Crumb will continue to run on Theater Row at Theater 3, courtesy of Ember Productions. Click here for more information and tickets.
