Whiz Kid: To the Max

Although he calls himself a typical teenager, a brief conversation with Bay Lane Middle School student Max Mullen reveals that he’s not typical at all. The eighth-grader recently won a role in the upcoming production of First Stage Theatre’s The Hundred Dresses, and his talents on stage are not his only gifts.

Having received a set of drums in sixth grade, he was also nominated to play in the UWM Honors Band as a percussionist. The program provides students the opportunity to work with each other and with nationally recognized wind band conductors. In addition, students participate in master classes with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Department of Music's performance faculty.

Max explained his experience with First Stage’s audition process, "It was really scary at first, but the directors have a way to loosen you up so you can relax a little. I had no idea what play I’d end up in, or if I would even get a second audition.”

That second call back was received, and Max was awarded the part of Jacob Petronski, an older brother to Wanda, one of the female leads. It is Wanda who proclaims to another girl that she has 100 beautiful dresses at home even though she wears the same one every day.

While it’s his first official role in a First Stage production, it’s not an environment that is foreign to him.

Max's mom, Angel Mullen, is also active in theatre, and has been an advisor to the drama club at Muskego High School for the past two years, and an instructor with First Stage’s outreach and theatre academy for the past eight. Max has taken classes at First Stage and was also an intern last summer, serving as a peer mentor of sorts for third and fourth-grade students.

In addition, Angel also credits the "Odyssey of the Mind" program with fostering Max's creativity. Active in the program since second grade, Max explained that he enjoyed working on a team to solve problems creatively, building devices to achieve a result. His teams have made world finals four times.

Rehearsals for The Hundred Dresses begin at the end of February, and opening night is March 25. Beyond the play, Max looks forward to becoming a freshman at Muskego High School in fall 2011, where he’ll continue his involvement in music and theatre, among other "typical teenager" interests.