Max Wolf Friedlich grew up in Manhattan. A lover of theater, he wanted to audition to attend LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts, but his mom wasn’t convinced. “My mom said I probably wasn’t that good,” Friedlich recalled. And while it may sound harsh, it seems more like a case of a mother knowing her child and wanting to set him up for success. “She asked if I really thought I was that good at acting — which was a good move on her part, honestly.”
Friedlich might not have been much of an actor, but he turned out to be a hell of a writer. His new play, “Job,” became a smash Off-Broadway, selling out a twice-extended premiere at Soho Playhouse and an extended commercial run at the Connelly Theatre. On July 15, “Job” begins previews at Broadway’s Hayes Theatre, under the direction of Friedlich’s longtime friend and collaborator Michael Herwitz — who happens to be a LaGuardia alum.
Friedlich may not have been a student at that renowned high school, but he eventually found his way into the LaGuardia crowd.
Friedlich’s first play, “SleepOver” (a hit at the 2012 New York Fringe Festival), starred a LaGuardia alum, which led Friedlich to meet Russell Kahn, (a LaGuardia grad) who ran an Off-Off-Broadway short play festival. Kahn then introduced Friedlich to Herwitz and Niall Cunningham, both LaGuardia alumni and founders of the production company G45 (named for one of their high school drama department classrooms). By 2016, G45 chose to present Friedlich’s play “Black Ice” as part of its new works festival. That reading turned out to be a meeting of the minds.
