Taylor Trensch Goes Underground in 'Floyd Collins' (And Gets a Tony Nom)
In the second act of the gripping Lincoln Center Theatre revival of "Floyd Collins," the trapped titular protagonist and the journalist telling his story share a transcendent moment. The scene is played with grace and restraint on the Vivian Beaumont stage by Jeremy Jordan as Collins and Taylor Trensch as Skeet Miller, the Kentucky newspaper reporter who would go on to win the Pulitzer Prize for writing about the musical's tragic turn of events.
The show is based on the true story that happened in 1925 at a time when the state of Kentucky encouraged the exploration and commercialization of caves with hopes to bolster tourism. The ambitious Collins, a 38-year-old accomplished spelunker, took to the challenge and set out to explore a cave on a neighbor's property, only to became trapped some 55 feet beneath the ground with no supplies and limited contact with the world above. The musical follows the frantic attempts to rescue him, along with the media circus that develops, while Collins attempts to keep his sanity and hope alive.
Collins' plight became a national story, in part because of Miller's humane reporting and the role he played in the attempted rescue. The public's fascination with the story also brought other journalists and curiosity seekers to the site, some trying to make a profit and others simply needing something to gossip about. Interest in Collins' plight was so great that it became one of the biggest American news stories prior to the Second World War. It was likely still part of the national consciousness when Billy Wilder reworked it for his blistering satire on the public's need for sensationalism in his 1951 Oscar-nominated "Ace in the Hole," which starred Kirk Douglas as a mercenary journalist hoping to capitalize on the plight of a man caught in a New Mexico cave and the ensuing media circus.
In real life, and in the musical, Miller didn't look to capitalize on Collins' misfortune, but rather to help him. In the role at LCT, Trensch gives a deeply heartfelt and poignant turn that, even without a song to sing, is sensational. The Tony nominating committee thought so as well, giving him a nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Musical, one of the show's six. His co-star Jordan also received a nom for Best Actor in a Musical, and the show also scored noms for Best Lighting Design, Best Sound Design, Best Orchestrations, and Best Revival of a Musical. (Though this is the first time "Floyd Collins" is on Broadway, having premiered off-Broadway in 1996, the Tony committee placed in the revival category, which made its fine score by Adam Guettel and book/additional lyrics by Tina Landau ineligible.)
Trensch's nomination marks the first for the out, 35-year-old actor with an accomplished resume. His Broadway career began in 2012 when he was cast as Boq in "Wicked." He went on to appear in the off-Broadway revivals of "Rent" and "Bare," before landing the part of Michael Wormwood in the Royal Shakespeare Company's Broadway transfer of "Matilda the Musical" in 2013. A year later, he played the lead role of Christopher Boone (alternating) in the Tony-winning play "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time," written by Simon Stephens, based on the novel by Mark Haddon.
In 2017, Trensch co-starred as the spirited Barnaby Tucker in the Broadway revival of "Hello, Dolly!" opposite Bette Midler and Gavin Creel. He went on to take over the coveted titular role in "Dear Evan Hansen," as well as the part of Dill Harris in Aaron Sorkin's adaptation of Harper Lee's classic, "To Kill a Mockingbird." Post-pandemic, he stepped into another iconic role, that of vengeful Mordred in Sorkin's reimagining of the legendary Lerner/Loewe musical, "Camelot," where he entered late in the show and immediately seized it.
Last year he shared the off-Broadway stage with Cynthia Nixon in The New Group's production of Jordan Seavey's stirring play, "The Seven Year Disappear." This past fall he also played the loner in the musical "Safety Not Guaranteed" at BAM, for which he just received an Outer Critics Circle nomination for Outstanding Lead Performer in an Off-Broadway Musical.
Trensch also has a fun role in the new queer-themed indie film "Things Like This," opening May 16, 2025.
"Floyd Collins" is performing through June 22, 2025, at Lincoln Center's Vivian Beaumont Theater, 150 W. 65th Street, NYC. For tickets, follow this link.
EDGE: What's it like being back at the Beaumont?
Taylor Trensch: Oh, it's a dream come true. A, the toilet seats are heated, and B, this is where I saw my first Broadway show; so it's a nice reminder to be so appreciative for every moment I get to be a part of this community.
EDGE: What was your first show?
Taylor Trensch: "The Light in the Piazza."
EDGE: Wow. What a baptism!
Taylor Trensch: I know, it was an amazing start. I saw that, and then I saw the "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" the next day.
EDGE: So, the last time we spoke, you and Cynthia Nixon were killing it off-Broadway, and then you went right into "Safety Not Guaranteed." Congratulations on the Outer Critics Circle nomination.
Taylor Trensch: Oh, thank you so much.
EDGE: Now you're in "Floyd Collins," When do you have time to breathe?
Taylor Trensch: [Laughs] I mean, I have more time than one would think. The nice thing about the theater schedule is you get all your days to, like, sleep in and lay down, eat chips.
EDGE: Have you had a chance to see any of the shows that are up right now?
Taylor Trensch: I've gone to see a few. Our opening fell on a Monday night, so the very next day I got to see "Dead Outlaw," which I have a bunch of friends in. And that was a real treat... I got to see "Maybe Happy Ending," which I adored. I wish I could see more. That's the one bummer of working in theater.
EDGE: Tell me about getting cast in "Floyd Collins."
Taylor Trensch: Sure. I never in a million years thought there was a part in it for me. This was my favorite cast recording growing up as a teenager, and because the character of Skeets doesn't sing, he's not really present in the recording, so I didn't know who he was. And I sure as heck couldn't sing either of the Floyd or Homer songs, so I never thought there was a part in it for me. And Tina Landau very generously sort of massaged some of the language in the script for me, because the actor who plays this role is typically 5'5'' or shorter... I feel so lucky to be here.
EDGE: Skeets Miller was the real-life Kentucky journalist who, 100 years ago, broke the story. I don't think people can grasp the significance of his reporting at that time, and how it became this national story.
Taylor Trensch: Totally! There were certain days during the rescue efforts where Skeets was every bit as famous as Floyd Collins was, because he was the sole lifeline from Floyd to the public. And he won a Pulitzer. He was so brave. He was 20 or 21, climbing down into this impossible cavern to speak with Floyd. I have to keep reminding myself it really wasn't that long ago. What an extraordinary person.
EDGE: He's sort of the personification of one of the sides of humanity — those that care about the life of another human being, versus those that are simply looking out for how they can benefit from a tragedy. And that's really timely today.
Taylor Trensch: Completely. I think maybe more than ever, our media landscape is rife with exploiting people's deeply painful traumas to make a profit. So, yeah, it feels like a great time to be doing this musical.
EDGE: The show is atypical in so many different ways. It's dark. Tina Landau allows for these great scenes — like with you and Jeremy — that take their time and really breathe. What's it like to step into something like that, where you know you don't have to move from place to place so quickly?
Taylor Trensch: I think it was so scary in the early days of the rehearsal process. I was feeling so self-conscious because most of my scenes are long book scenes, and I feel like, yeah, exactly, that's not the typical fare on Broadway. And I was so nervous people were going to be bored to hell and throw rotten vegetables at me, and be like, [shouts] 'Dance! Sing a song! Shut up.' But [Tina's] just one of the most brilliant leaders. She puts so much trust in actors, which then invites actors to put so much trust back in her. So, I always felt so taken care of, and that we were going to be okay. And Jeremy, also, what an amazing scene partner to have. He makes those scenes feel like they race by, because it's he's so present and easy to be on stage with.
Watch "Disappear" from "Dear Evan Hansen" performed by Taylor Trensch and Alex Boniello.
EDGE: So, speaking of Jeremy, there's this sort of electric homoeroticism between Floyd and Skeets. I was wondering if you could speak a little bit about that.
Taylor Trensch: Totally. I don't think it's intentional on Tina or Adam's part, but there's this book called "Trapped" by a biographer named Roger Brucker, who's one of the foremost scholars about this event. And in the book, he lightly hints at Floyd's potential latent homosexuality. Because he was 37, he wasn't partnered, he didn't have a wife or a girlfriend. He would spend all of his time down in these caves. And, in the book, he gestures to the possibility that maybe Floyd was closeted, or maybe he wasn't aware, or maybe asexual. So, I think some elements of that must have subtly crept into the show.
EDGE: Very interesting. So, it being award season, things are at a higher level than they normally would be. How do you keep yourself grounded?
Taylor Trensch: By staying off the internet, I guess. Maybe seven years ago, people really kindly put out lists of like, "This is who I think should be nominated for Tony Awards." And when I was doing "Hello, Dolly!" I got put on one. And everyone thought they were the actual Tony Awards nomination announcements. And I was getting all these texts. And then I, of course, didn't get nominated. It was so embarrassing for me. So now I just try to avoid looking at any of that stuff during this time, and just celebrate the people who are uplifted. It's such an exciting time... it's so competitive... you can't put too much stake in it. And the people who are selected deserve it.
EDGE: It is an exciting time... another Golden Age. This year is insane in terms of great shows and performances.
Taylor Trensch: It's nuts... I'm looking around [at] so many of my friends who are making stuff. This is my 16th year as a New York-based professional actor. And it's all my friends, and that's my favorite part of this year. My first roommate in New York City, Kimberly Bellflower, the playwright of "John Proctor Is the Villain," is making her Broadway debut. And Cole Escola, one of my very first friends I made in New York, is having this huge moment. I'm just so excited for the both of them, and that feels really special to look around and see all of these people that I love, outside of what we do, being celebrated.
EDGE: You don't get to sing in "Floyd." And you only had one small song in "Camelot," Mordred's "The Seven Deadly Virtues." You did sing in "Safety Not Guaranteed." What's it like being in a book musical and not having any songs?
Taylor Trensch: Oh, I love every second of it. Singing stresses me out so much. There was a lot of singing in "Safety Not Guaranteed," and I loved that music. The band Guster wrote the music. That was so fun to sing, and was sort of reminiscent of "Spring Awakening" in that it didn't need to sound so broadly perfect all of the time. But, my gosh, getting to just sit back in the show and listen to true masters like Jeremy and Jason Gotay and Lizzie McAlpine soar on this music, and not have to wake up worrying if I have the notes today. That's a real blessing.
EDGE: I wanted to mention Gavin Creel, your "Hello, Dolly!" co-star who was such an amazing talent and extraordinary human. I had the great good fortune to sit down with him a few months before he left us. There's no real question here, except that losing him sucks.
Taylor Trensch: Yeah, it's terrible. I was sitting with Philippa Soo and Adam Chandler-Berat in McCarren park yesterday. We were talking about him so much. I just think about him every day. I think about him a lot, especially during this show, because every night we're mourning the loss of a person... while we were doing "Hello, Dolly!," we would always dream up shows we wanted to do together, after "Hello, Dolly!" closed, and "Floyd Collins" was one of them. So, this whole experience feels very wrapped up in him. And some days it feels like my best shot at having some sort of communion with him, or communication with him — making art with people who are nice. That feels like the best way to stay and feel connected to him.
This interview has been edited for content and clarity.