Max Raymond (he/him) is a proud gay trans man, actor, writer, educator, producer, theatre administrator, and consultant. He grew up in North Carolina and Texas and now lives in NYC.
Most recently, Max was seen onstage in Let’s Hear It For the Boys: A Transmasc Cabaret at The Green Room 42. The annual variety show, which debuted in 2024 (co-conceived and co-produced with Charlie Hano/Hano Casting), features an entirely transmasculine and trans man cast, band, and creative team and presents new work by transmasc writers alongside songs from the existing musical theatre canon. Max is also the show’s marketing manager, production designer, and stage manager. The 2025 iteration added two transmasc ASL interpreters and a transmasc illustrator to its talent lineup and earned record-breaking ticket sales and critical acclaim.
Earlier this year, he performed in The Trojans, a new synthwave musical loosely based on The Iliad; the show’s run was extended due to popular demand. Read Helen Shaw’s rave review for The New Yorker here.
From February-March, he performed in Why We Celebrate Juneteenth at Black Spectrum Theatre; the show played to hundreds of NYC students and young people, and performances were followed by cast talkbacks featuring open Q&As. In February, Max co-starred in Short Session, part of The Cut Edge Collective’s 10-Minute Play Festival, alongside Jess Elgene. In January and November, he performed in developmental workshops of new musicals Quiddawick and The Trojans, respectively. In October, Max was featured in Trans Voices Cabaret at The Green Room 42 and I’ve Been ROBBED!!! Cabaret at Caveat. In August, he performed in a developmental workshop of Sarah Galante's Swallow Me Whole at Camp Ballibay for the Fine and Performing Arts. In July, he was seen on stage as #00 (the goalie) in a gender-expansive production of The Wolves at SoHo Playhouse, and he originated the role of Cornelius in The Death Avenue Posse, a new site-specific play that was presented at The High Line Spur as part of West Side Fest. In June, he performed in and co-produced (with Charlie Hano/Hano Casting) Let’s Hear It For the Boys: A Transmasc Cabaret at The Green Room 42. That same month, he originated the role of Chad in the first full workshop production of Velvet Rage. In May, he originated the role of One in the World Premiere of In Camera with Troy Foundry Theatre.
Max also recently performed in the short film 808 (a 2024 New York Trans Film Festival, Out on Film, and OUTSOUTH Queer Film Festival selection), about joy and safety in queer nightlife, and the virtual Hamlet adaptation Frailty, Thy Name, in which he played a trans Hamlet. He is a member of the 2024 class of Breaking the Binary Theatre’s Summer Intensive with L Morgan Lee and a 2024 NY4CA Artist Advocacy Resident, and he moonlights as drag artist Ripley Grier (she/he).
In his 10+ years of teaching experience, Max has taught vocal performance, piano, music theory, and theatre to students of all ages. He is an Arts Ignite Teaching Artist and is available for hire as a gender consultant and trans literacy trainer. He is also a poet and a published playwright; he received a 2022-23 Echoes Playwriting Fellowship through Primary Stages and is a member of The PlayGround Experiment’s Literary Advisory Council.
Max worked as the first annual Assistant to the Artistic Director (then Patrick Torres) at Raleigh Little Theatre and is a Co-Founding Artistic + Creative Director of Star Pocket Theatre, through which he co-produced Mashallah: Exploring Middle Eastern Identities in America, a storytelling event, and Carson McCullers' The Member of the Wedding, in which he starred as Frankie Addams. He has since lead produced The Gaza Monologues and co-produced (with Karl Saint Lucy) From Shakespeare to Gaza: Performances for Palestine at The People’s Forum in NYC.
Outside of performing, Max’s extensive nonprofit and regional theatre involvement has included work with Chautauqua Theater Company, Triad Stage, 826DC, India’s Sehgal Foundation, the New York Neo-Futurists, The Drama League, The Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition, and Theatre of the Oppressed NYC. He volunteers with PFLAG NYC, PAWS NY, Puppy Kitty NYCity, MeForWe, and the Sam & Devorah Foundation’s Trans Mentor Project, where he mentors trans youth. He is a passionate foster dad to two rescue cats (ask him about adopting Lynx and Mr. Ketchup!).
Max has profiles on Actors Access, Backstage, IMDb, Ring of Keys, RISE Theatre Directory, and The Parity Database.
