Max Beal 2013 – 2017

Max Beal has just finished a very successful run in the lead role (Frankie Valli) of the musical Jersey Boys at the Regent theatre.

Max is a young man whose career is definitely on the rise and I would encourage everyone to go and see him perform if you get a chance. Many of you will already have seen him locally in Jersey Boys or in the Rock Tenors.

Max is due to shortly embark on another season of Jersey Boys in Invercargill and there is another run in Hamilton in the pipeline. Max explained that to prepare for the role of Frankie Valli involved several months of rehearsals, and listening to the music of the Four Seasons every chance he got. It is hard to imagine a more challenging role for a singer to perfect, than that of Frankie Valli, but Max 'nailed it'.

It would be fair to say that Max’s passion for the arts was reflected in his curriculum at King's – Drama, Art History, Media Studies, and Painting featured prominently. Prior to attending King's, Max was at George St Normal School and then Balmacewen Intermediate School.

Max reflected on his time at King's and thought that his best memory was of his painting classes with Blair Kennedy – they often evolved into philosophical discussions on a range of topics and occasionally turned into Karate lessons. Max considered that his favourite teachers at King's were Blair, Andrew McKenzie (Drama), and Jo "HARPER" Harford (Media Studies).

Max singled out Bryan Frost for an honourable mention. Although not taught by Bryan in class, he played a key role in Max’s love of performing art. Max spoke fondly of Bryan's leadership of Drama at King's.

It was “Frosty” who gave Max his first real taste of performing in a musical – with the role of Pontius Pilate in Jesus Christ Superstar. Max spoke fondly of that experience—he loved it—and from that moment on, the die was cast. Max also performed in school musicals of The Lion King and Joseph and his Amazing Technicolour Dream Coat. He arrived at school not long after the Performing Arts Centre was opened, and that outstanding venue must have played an important part in his development.

Max attended the Sheila Winn Shakespeare Festival in Wellington in 2017. He was selected as one of 24 young Kiwi to perform at the Globe Theatre in London. Max (and his Mum Kymberley) were overwhelmed when Dan Reddiex awarded him a Scholarship so that he could attend this prestigious event. It is doubtful that, without the support of Dan and the school, he would have been able to go.

Not only is Max a top-class performer, he is also involved in the administration of musical performance in Dunedin and is on the board of Musical Theatre Dunedin (originally Dunedin Operatic).

Max hopes to travel overseas and take on the challenge of professional performance in either the West End in London or Broadway in New York. For now, he is living and working in Dunedin with a view to saving up enough money to pursue that ambition overseas.

I quizzed Max about what he considered makes a 'good Kingsman' and he summed it up as being someone who “takes a pride in the school, is honest, and is brave enough to figure out what it is you want to do and how to go about it”.

Max follows in the excellent tradition of performing Kingsmen – Craig Scott, Derek Metzger and Chris Fennesey – and we wish him every success for the future.