Preston Max Allen

Preston Max Allen

Preston Max Allen (he/him) is a transgender playwright, composer, and lyricist passionate about creating stories that center the trans community, queer youth, and unresolvable questions of emotional survival. He also sometimes just writes weird stuff for fun. Preston’s work has been featured at the New Amsterdam Theatre, Lincoln Center, Signature Theatre, Musical Theatre Factory, Chautauqua Institution,...
Preston Max Allen (he/him) is a transgender playwright, composer, and lyricist passionate about creating stories that center the trans community, queer youth, and unresolvable questions of emotional survival. He also sometimes just writes weird stuff for fun. Preston’s work has been featured at the New Amsterdam Theatre, Lincoln Center, Signature Theatre, Musical Theatre Factory, Chautauqua Institution, Feinstein’s/54 Below, and Joe's Pub. Preston conceived and wrote book, music, and lyrics for the 2019 Off-Broadway musical WE ARE THE TIGERS (Theatre 80, album now streaming); AGENT 355 (dramaturgy/co-book Jessica Kahkoska, Marion Fellowship Award Winner); KRISIS KIDS WILDERNESS ADVENTURE CAMP (Village Theatre Kidstage commission); and CARRIE 2: THE RAGE, AN UNAUTHORIZED MUSICAL PARODY (Jeff Nominee, Best New Musical). Additional musical collaborations include A VERY NETFL*X CHRISTMAS MUSICAL: NOW STREAMING LIVE! and AMY ADAMS WINS AN OSCAR (books by Edward Precht). Plays: MODERN GENTLEMAN (2022 New York Stage and Film Summer Season workshop) and CAROLINE (2021 Ars Nova Out Loud). Preston created and co-produced the 2021 concert event A PLACE FOR US: CELEBRATING TRANS AND NONBINARY ARTISTS IN MUSICAL THEATRE. He is a member of the Writers Guild of America East, Ars Nova Play Group (2019-21), teaching artist for Roundabout Theatre Company, and an alum of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop. Above all, Preston is the proud father to his cat, Hero. @prestonmaxallen / prestonmaxallen.com

Plays

  • Caroline
    Maddie is doing her best to fully support her nine-year-old daughter Caroline's identity as a trans girl as they attempt to turn a hasty departure into a mother/daughter road trip. But Maddie’s hope that her own long-estranged mother will take them in is complicated by ultimatums made during her own adolescence in this play about mothers, daughters, and things that have been neither forgotten nor forgiven.
  • Storytime
    An introverted college student's attempt to be internet famous becomes a nightmare when a giant puppet she created to go viral takes on a horrifying life of its own.
  • Modern Gentleman
    After his partner of five years abruptly ends their relationship, 28-year-old Adam must navigate the world of dating for the first time since coming out as a trans man. But Adam’s hopes for a fresh start are quickly derailed when a chaotic new girlfriend, the return of his ex, and long-ignored personal demons force him to finally confront his complicated relationship to his own identity.
  • Best Behavior
    A transgender teen and her boyfriend's lives are upended when their nomination to Homecoming court results in an ominous threat to their Texas high school.