Max Vogler (currently playing Salieri in Elemental Theatre Collective and Big Table Productions’ Amadeus) is an actor with an extensive background in theater production and Educational Outreach. A graduate of The Trinity Rep Conservatory, he was a Co-Founding Director of The Trinity Summer Shakespeare Project. He has appeared several times on Law & Order and has also appeared on As The World Turns.

What is your definition of misery?
an un-examined life

What is your greatest fear?
complacency.

What was your first “real” job working in theatre?
i filled in for someone who’d dropped out of a production of last of the red hot lovers one week before the show….i was 16….

Are you a good at waiting tables?
no. i was lucky when i was doing restaurant work that i always ended up being a bartender – you can always cut someone off if they’ve had too much to drink…

Which historical figure do you most identify with?
i don’t know that i actually “identify” with a historical figure – but i really admire king arthur – a powerful leader who remained humble and dedicated to taking care of the under dogs. i have such admiration for people who hold high ideals and then try to live up to them.

Who are your favorite heroes of theatre?
the people who continue to do theater because they love it so much that they’ll do it whether they make any money doing it or not.

Who are your favorite heroes in real life?
the obamas

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
i’m not sure i know what “the virtues” are.

What do you consider the most underrated virtue?
if i did know what “the virtues” are, i’d say the most under-rated one is truth-telling – i really have a problem with people who don’t tell the truth..

Your favorite painter?
john singer-sargent

Your favorite musician?
rory block

Your favorite playwright?
right now? peter shaffer – he’s had me fascinated for about 5 years now…..

When and where were you happiest?
right now….except for that stretch in ketchum, idaho about 10 years ago…..

What do you most value in colleagues?
courage, fearlessness

Is there a class in which you wish you had paid more attention?
world civ – it was an early morning class, and i didn’t see any value at the time for knowing world history – besides, the teacher was one of those that basically read the textbook to us….i actually blew off the final to drink tequila and play reefer riot in a friend’s dorm room.

If you didn’t work in theatre, what would you do?
i’d live in the mountains somewhere where there are plenty of hot springs

What do you consider your greatest achievement?
i make a damn good chicken soup.

What you’d like to be the world’s best at?
i think being the best at something is probably over-rated….i mean, when you’re the best at something, what do you stretch for next? maybe it’s more important to me to always strive to be the best at something….it’s the challenge that’s interesting….

What book would you read more than once?
there’s two books i re-read about every year or so – east of eden by john steinbeck and to kill a mockingbird by harper lee.

Who would play you in a movie of your life?
me.

Why?
if there’s a s.a.g. role available, it might as well be me…(unless i have to audition – i mean, how much would that suck?)

What sports teams do you follow?
you mean those games they play where they throw balls of various sizes around?

Where would you like to spend a vacation?
almost anywhere i haven’t been before…i’m easy when it comes to travel. although australia’s high on the list…. hawaii…. idaho… england… greece… italy… spain…. portugal… new zealand…

What car would you like to be seen driving around in?
something big with four-wheel drive, preferably big g.m. product

What book is currently on your nightstand?
currently, there’s four books i’m working on – musicophilia by oliver sacks; a whole new mind by daniel pink; the third chimpanzee by jared diamond; and the mists of avalon by marion zimmer bradley. and i’m toying with frank herbert’s dune

If you could see a great production of a classic play, what would it be?
one of the greek plays…in ancient greece — to see how they were really done.

If you could travel back in time to visit or live in any time in history, when would it be?
probably ancient greece….that climate sounds pretty fantastic

What actor will you see in any project they do?
helen mirren

Thank you to Max Vogler (tag archive).

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