EDGE Interview: Taylor Trensch on Acting with Cynthia Nixon (x8)

EDGE: And working with Scott Elliott?

Taylor Trensch: I love Scott Elliott. I had seen so many things at The New Group before, and I was always so impressed with the risks they took. I think they always do really challenging, provocative work that you don't often get to see. For many years, we [were] developing the play with a different director. Scott came in later in the process and he unlocked a lot of things for me as an actor. I feel like I cracked the play open in new ways thanks to his sensitive, insightful work as a director.

EDGE: You're an out queer actor playing an out queer character. Is that something that's important for you?

Taylor Trensch: Yeah, I love it. It's funny, I think about all of the straight actors who play mostly straight characters and no one bats an eye about that. I love playing queer characters because it doesn't feel like I'm being pigeonholed into something. They're all so wildly different. And, also, it's something I don't have to think about playing. I don't have to think about trying to signal to the audience that I'm a gay person or a queer person. It just comes naturally... I think there are, obviously, many straight actors who can give amazing, nuanced performances in queer roles, but I do think an audience can sense a certain underlying authenticity which, when we cast authentically, just helps the realism of the play.

EDGE: I recently spoke with your "Dolly" co-star Gavin Creel about being queer in 2024. And he made a really interesting point about how when you speak to the press, for instance, they seem to make everything about being queer. They don't do that with straight people.

Taylor Trensch: Exactly. I know. I mean, I think it's certainly an interesting lens to walk through the world in. It certainly affects so many things in my life. [Laughs] But that is so fascinating, that it's often the headline when you read a Jim Parsons interview, or Jonathan Bailey interview, or a Colman Domingo interview.

EDGE: So how do you think the theater community is doing in terms of queer representation?

Taylor Trensch: I think and I hope that we're doing a little better than Hollywood. Because there are so many queer theater artists, and there have been since the beginning of time. I think about all of the people who I admire most, as actors, writers, directors and designers, and so many of them are queer people who get the opportunity to do what they love, over and over again. I think we're doing okay; I hope so.

EDGE: Groups like The New Group help because they're telling queer stories that need to be told. They're not really doing that on Broadway right now.

Taylor Trensch: Off Broadway, in general, is always a little ahead of the curve because of the financial pressures, this expectation to recoup. It's not quite the same as it is doing these huge commercial Broadway runs.

EDGE: That's a perfect pivot to asking you about Aaron Sorkin, because you've been in two of his Broadway adaptations, "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "Camelot." Both amazing productions. What is it about Sorkin's work that draws you to these projects?

Taylor Trensch: Oh, gosh, I just think he's one of the smartest, most creative, best writers we've got. "The West Wing" is one of my all-time favorite TV shows. And I'll never forget, I read the very first draft of "To Kill a Mockingbird." Years and years and years ago, Scott Rudin and Bart Sher invited Celia Keenan-Bolger, Will Pullen, and myself to read the first draft, thinking eventually he would cast nine-year-olds to play the roles of the children. I remember reading that first draft, and I was like, "This could go up tonight in front of an audience paying hundreds of dollars, and they would feel so totally satisfied." Especially with "To Kill a Mockingbird," I don't think there's anybody more equipped to write about action taking place in and around a courthouse. He's so brilliant at that.

And I love, too, so much, what he did with "Camelot." It was a musical I knew very little about before doing our version. And since then, I've gone back and watched the movie, which is beautiful, but I love so much that he put the focus on people and the power of people, of organizing, coming together and changing the world vs. supernatural abilities taking care of that. I'm just forever in awe of his abilities as a writer.

EDGE: You've been in a number of big musicals – "Hello, Dolly!," which you and Gavin were great in. What was it like stepping into a character like Barnaby?

Taylor Trensch: It was a blast... It was such a joy machine. The design, the score, every single person involved just made me smile from ear to ear. Gavin Creel is somebody I've loved for so long. His voice on Broadway cast recordings has been something that I've devoured for years and years. And it was a real dream come true to work with all of these titans that I've admired. And just to do something that made people happy at a time when, in our country, we were all feeling a little low.

EDGE: And that's a perfect pivot back to "Seven Year Disappear," because it is grounded in that specific election [2016], it's woven into the fabric of the text.

Taylor Trensch: Jordan started writing this play about seven years ago, so I think he couldn't help but focus a little bit on the political climate in this country. And, in many ways, I think the whole play is a metaphor. Miriam's disappearance is a metaphor for progressive America taking a backseat or disappearing a little bit – feeling comfortable because of Obama's presidency. I think that's part of why Trump got elected. We all got a little complacent and didn't participate in the system maybe as much as we should have or could have. It is certainly chilling to do some of those scenes as we approach another election. The threat of another Trump presidency feels very real and scary. Earlier in our run, there were some scenes where we talked about Hillary Clinton that used to get a lot of laughs and the closer and closer we get to election day it starts to get really tense in the theater. It's an ooky spooky time.

EDGE: It sure is. You guys are taking the show to another level, you're live streaming these last few performances.

Taylor Trensch: I know! I'm so excited. Theater is so expensive – not to mention, if you don't live in New York City the travel and the accommodations can [make it] feel really impossible to make a trip to New York and see theater, so I'm so grateful that we'll get to share it with people who wouldn't be able to see it otherwise. I hope it translates, but I do also think that because there's so many video elements in our show, hopefully that'll help connect the distance the viewer might feel watching it on video instead of seeing it live in the room.

This interview has been edited for content, clarity and length.

For more information about the livestream performances, click here.