Rising Star Max Bartos On The Five Things You Need To Shine In The Entertainment Industry

An Interview With Edward Sylvan

Have different ways to creatively fuel yourself. Always work on enhancing your craft and never stop working on yourself!

As a part of our series about pop culture’s rising stars, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Max Bartos.

Max Bartos is best known for originating the role of Darren in Sing Street the musical both on and off Broadway. At 11 years old, Max was involved in a life-threatening bike crash that caused traumatic brain injury and sidelined him from playing sports but miraculously gave him the ability to have perfect pitch jump-starting his Broadway career. Max has participated in many pre-Broadway workshops including the new Frank Wildhorn musical The Song of Bernadette. In addition to his work on the great white way, Max has been in such films as Uncut Gems with Adam Sandler, The Most Dangerous Man with Paul Logan and Young Shane in Shane Dawson’s film The Lottery. A self-taught musician, he plays six instruments including both acoustic and electric guitar as well as piano, drums, bass, banjo, and mandolin. He is a verified artist on Spotify, releasing one single and the concept rock opera Such is Life. A front man for several emo/pop punk bands, Max performs and tours consistently all over the East Coast. He is the lyricist, composer, and book writer of two new musicals including an adaptation of HG Wells’ The Invisible Man and a musical adaption of the Spoon River Anthology. When not working, Max enjoys boxing, practicing magic, and building legos.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?

Yeah! I grew up in Lancaster Pennsylvania, right across the street from an Amish farm, so I really can’t get more Lancaster than that! Lancaster is a place that really embraces the arts — so I’m lucky to have been surrounded by art and music for as long as I can remember. My mom and dad are both lawyers and my sister, Ava, is thinking about law as a career, so I’m kind of the outlier in the family!

Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?

When I was in elementary and middle school, I loved playing lacrosse and boxing, and I viewed myself as an athlete more than anything else. One Sunday when I was in sixth grade, though, I went for a family bike ride on a local trail path that would really change the course of my life. While biking down the path, I looked over my shoulder and accidentally veered my bike over an embankment and into a river. I don’t remember much of the accident, but I remember my dad climbing down the embankment toward me. The doctors credit my helmet with preventing even worse injuries, but I was diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury and began months of rehabilitation. After the accident, I couldn’t read at all, and I had to be pulled out of school. My doctor said I could never do contact sports again and my parents have now told me that the doctor told them that they might have to re-envision the types of goals that it would be possible for me to achieve in the future. During my recovery, everything caused headaches and I would just lie in a dark room most of the time — no reading, no TV. A friend of the family told me that art and music saved his life after a life-threatening injury, so I would close my eyes and listen to music. I know that people recover from brain injuries in all different sorts of unusual ways, but I learned that the traumatic brain injury gave me the ability to have perfect pitch. I slowly started to get better and realized my life was going to revolve around music! It was a long slow recovery, but I kind of view music as the throughline of my recovery. In the literal dark days when I was in my bedroom with my scrambled brain, music healed me.

I turned that love of music into a career as a musician and actor. After I started to heal, I began writing music and I auditioned for my first theatrical production. Things snowballed pretty quickly from there and I soon found myself at 16 performing in the industry workshop and then off-Broadway production of Sing Street. I learned more through that experience than at any time in my life. I learned that it’s about more than just showing up and being ready to go — it’s about thinking deeply about who you are and how you can bring that to the character you play. In a lot of ways, I actually started to really identify with my character, Darren. He was always willing to put himself out there for any opportunity — even at the risk of utter failure.

Sing Street announced a Broadway transfer even before the off-Broadway run ended. We all pretty much rolled right into rehearsals and then moved into our Broadway theatre, the Lyceum. It was that first day after I got my dressing room that the entire cast was called to the stage for an announcement — It was March 2020 and Broadway was being shut down. We all believed that it would be temporary, but after delays and more delays Sing Street never came back to Broadway. So, interestingly, I have a Broadway credit because I was under a Broadway contract, we never officially opened.

I managed the heartbreak of losing my most important professional role in part due to how I coped with my brain injury. The only way out is through, so I decided to work on my skills every day that I wasn’t working I was learning. I worked on vocal health. I released my first original song. I then released my first album. If nobody is hiring, you work for yourself trying to learn more about yourself as a musician and artist — and that’s exactly what I’ve done since

Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

I was doing a production of Aladdin Jr at Ephrata Performing Arts Center, which is this amazing local theater in Pennsylvania, and my director at the time, and longtime friend now, Irving Gonzales said something to my mom that really changed my life. He said, “Max is crazy talented for sure, but more importantly he’s a nice person and hard worker and that’s what will get him farther than anything in his career.” He also told me that people may forget what you say or do, but they will always remember how you made them feel. So, to this day, I carry that with me — I always try to put in 110% of my effort while trying to also make the people around me know how important they are to me.

It has been said that mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I was performing in Sing Street off-Broadway at New York Theater Workshop, and it was one of our performances after we announced our Broadway transfer. All the big-name people were coming to see the show and because I’m a theater mega fan, I was always starstruck by the audience. At one point in the show Brother Baxter, played by the incredible Martin Moran, takes a VHS tape out of my video camera and smashes it on the ground. I’m not sure what happened that night, but after it happened, I picked up the remains of the VHS tape on the ground and I exited the stage like I was supposed to. After I exited, I realized that there was a pile of tape still sitting in the middle of the stage that I forgot to pick up, so for the remainder of the three-minute song that started after I exited the stage I stood in the wings slowly pulling the pile of tape towards me. It is still one of my favorite memories to think about, and it told me to always be prepared for anything to happen on stage because whatever you think is too crazy to happen will happen!! I guess that’s just the magic of live theater!

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?

I just finished doing a month-long workshop of the new Frank Wildhorn Musical “The Song of Bernadette” which was absolutely incredible! Like I said before I am a mega theater fan, so to be doing a show written by Frank Wildhorn, starring Lea Salonga, Alice Ripley, Sophia Anne Caruso, Javier Muñoz, and the fact that I was understudying Colton Ryan was like the greatest dream come true ever. But, along with being a performer on stage I am also a musician and composer. I’m in the process right now of recording, with the help of my friend Sam Poon, my second concept rock opera! My first called Such Is Life, I wrote back in October of 2021 and it’s on my Spotify! Take a listen!! This newest album is based off the Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters. I am also writing a musical adaptation of HG Wells ‘incredible book The Invisible Man!

You have been blessed with success in a career path that can be challenging. Do you have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on this career path, but seem daunted by the prospect of failure?

It honestly feels like a dream come true every morning when I wake up and realize how far I’ve come. So, anybody out there thinking of becoming an actor or musician I have two words for you; DO IT! It’s not an easy career path, that is for sure, but the feeling of walking out on a stage and being able to express yourself in a beautiful poetic fashion is worth all the “what if’s”, and the “Am I good enough?”. When you begin to sing or play an instrument, it all fades away. And that is something I can’t put into words how beautiful it feels.

We are very interested in diversity in the entertainment industry. Can you share three reasons with our readers about why you think it’s important to have diversity represented in film and television? How can that potentially affect our culture?

I think diversity on all fronts is important including, but not limited to; race, gender, body type, and sexual orientation, and all of those need to be taken into consideration when casting a creative work. Diversity is something that has taken way too long to be taken into consideration in a professional capacity, but I am happy that it has happened, or is at least beginning to happen. I am a straight white cisgender man, and these past few years have taught me so much about acknowledging my inherent privilege and how I can help amplify the voices of the unheard using that privilege. I always say that it is my duty to dismantle the corrupt organization of men from the inside out. I mean, I think diversity is important because it creates opportunities for artists who 10 years ago would be cast aside, and I think equal opportunity for creatives is something immensely important. Another reason is because it allows the recipient of the arts to have a new perspective on stories and experiences that they might not have been exposed to otherwise. And lastly, I think it allows people to see themselves as a character onstage, or in a movie. It’s like when the casting was announced for the Little Mermaid movie, all these little girls were ecstatic that Ariel looked like them, and it was so heartwarming.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why? Please share a story or example for each.

1. An audition is just an audition, try not to make it too important, just do it and then forget about it

2. Have different ways to creatively fuel yourself.

3. View your friends as your best collaborators!

4. Every audition is an audition for that project and the one after that.

5. Always work on enhancing your craft and never stop working on yourself!

Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?

Keep expanding your horizons! If you start feeling burned out, start creating something or learning something new. For me, I start teaching myself a new instrument or start writing a new song. I think the key to not burn out is to keep relighting the fire with new endeavors!

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

I’ve always been very passionate about mental health advocacy. Over COVID I did an online charity concert series to raise money for Aevidum, which is an incredible organization benefiting the advocacy and awareness of Mental Health in teenagers. I struggled with mental health when I was younger, I suffered from depression, which I have since been able to get under control, but my anxiety is still very prevalent in my life, even more so after the pandemic. It is my goal with my music, and online presence to make people feel not alone, and normalize the feelings that people could be feeling, and help them get better.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

I want to give a special shoutout to my mom Rebecca. She is my best friend in the whole world, and I would never be where I am without her. She has sacrificed so much to allow me to pursue the opportunities that have gotten me this far in my career. When I was doing Sing Street, I was 16 so I had to have someone with me in NY, and she stayed with me in New York and my dad and sister were back home in PA.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

The quote that means the most to me is “We Accept the Love We Think We Deserve” from Perks Of Being A Wallflower. I’m a hopeless romantic, and I wear my heart on my sleeve, which is a blessing and a curse. I’ll never stop being myself though. But that has allowed people to sneak into my life and try and take advantage of that. As soon as I heard that quote, tears welled up in my eyes and I had a new perspective of my own self-worth and how I should hold myself to a higher standard in my mind, and allow myself to believe I deserve more than the

Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. :-)

The person I would love to share a meal with is MCR front man and artist Gerard Way. Gerard is my biggest inspiration musically, theatrically, aesthetically, and personality-wise. He inspires me to keep being myself no matter what, and I even have multiple MCR/Gerard tattoos. He is truly my biggest idol and inspiration, and I would give anything to meet him and say thank you for everything he’s inspired me to do.

How can our readers follow you online?

Thank you so much for having me!! My Instagram is @max_bartos and my TikTok is @maxbartosofficial ! I’m also on Spotify under Max Bartos and on there you can hear my original music!!!

This was very meaningful, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!