This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:01] Trevor Braun: While you were skipping stones, building forts and flying kites, I was missing school and on the Saturday nights. Other kids were climbing trees and rolling down hills, I was singing songs to pay my family's bills. Little me, growing up Broadway. Little me.

[0:21] Marc Tumminelli: Hello, welcome back to Little Me: Growing Up Broadway with me, Marc Tumminelli. If you're happy here, head over to Apple Podcasts and leave us a five-star review. I love them. I cry when I read them, so do it. Also, don't forget to follow us on Instagram at LittleMe Podcast. Okay, enough about that. So today I have someone who, without question, grew up on Broadway. He made his Broadway debut as Chip in Disney's Beauty and the Beast and went on to originate the role of Flounder in Disney's The Little Mermaid on Broadway and played the role of Michael in BILLY ELLIOT on Broadway, and also was part of the incredible Broadway cast of The Ferryman. His TV credits include Dash and Lily on Netflix, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel on Amazon Prime, and my favorite, Curb Your Enthusiasm on HBO. He can currently be seen playing Dennis in the hilarious off-Broadway comedy, The Play That GOES WRONG at New World Stages. Please welcome Trevor Braun.

[1:10] Trevor Braun: Hi, Marc.

[1:11] Marc Tumminelli: Hi, Trevor. How's it going?

[1:13] Trevor Braun: How are you?

[1:13] Marc Tumminelli: Thank you so much for being here. I'm so excited to meet you.

[1:16] Trevor Braun: Yeah, thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to talk to you.

[1:19] Marc Tumminelli: You were a Broadway kid that didn't do Broadway workshops, so I don't know you, and I'm thrilled to hear your story. So tell me about, I mean, in 2005, you made your Broadway debut as Chip in Beauty and the Beast, crammed into that little cart. But what were you doing before that? That made your parents be like, "We gotta get this kid an agent." Like, what was happening pre-2005?

[1:39] Trevor Braun: Yeah, so um, I kind of have been doing theater my whole life. I've been acting my whole life. I had a brief, very brief stint of doing T-ball for like half a season. Um, didn't work out. No, supposedly I begged them not to make me go back. I would sit in the outfield and like draw in the sand and pick daisies. So pretty soon after that, I realized that I was meant to be an actor. Um, but my whole family has actually been involved with acting and theater my whole life. Like my mom started when she was a teenager acting in her community theater, and then when she met my dad, he started helping backstage doing a lot of shows. Then my sister started doing it with them. So you could say it runs in my blood.

[2:23] Marc Tumminelli: Um, were you doing like all the community theater that was like nearby?

[2:30] Trevor Braun: Yeah, we were doing the local community theater that my mom grew up doing. I kind of was grandfathered in, I guess you could say, around the age of three. My first show was Bye Bye Birdie, and they added a line for me. It's funny. So my mom, she was one of the people at the Bye Bye Birdie concert or at the Conrad Birdie concert, and Conrad sings to her and she passes out, and they added a line for me where I walked up to Conrad and I said, "What are you doing to what did you do to my mom?" And that is so sweet. Yeah, ever since then, then I was the puppet in Annie. I was the mayor of Munchkin City in The Wizard of Oz. So I was consistently working since.

[3:17] Marc Tumminelli: Where were you doing these things?

[3:18] Trevor Braun: I grew up in Fairlawn, New Jersey, which is like 20 minutes outside of Manhattan.

[3:24] Marc Tumminelli: Shout out to Fairlawn.

[3:25] Trevor Braun: Yeah, exactly. Um, so that made it very easy for you to come into New York and start auditioning. How did that process start for you?

[3:34] Trevor Braun: Yeah, so my sister also was acting with us, and so she actually, her voice teacher at elementary school gave her the number of this agent, Shirley Grant, who she said she should go in and audition for. So my mom says from, I don't remember too well, but according to my mom, she brought me and my sister to the audition, and it was in like the basement of this house, and they brought my sister down, and my sister went down and sang for them. And supposedly, because I was a very outgoing kid, I was bugging my mom, just being like, "I want to go down there and meet them. I want to go and sing for them. I want to go and like talk to them." She was like, "Okay, be quiet. Like, this is your time for your sister." And they heard me from downstairs, and they're like, "Let him come downstairs, let him come down." So I went downstairs and I think I sang "Zippity Doo-Dah" for them.

[4:19] Trevor Braun: And Shirley Grant's basement. I'm in Shirley Grant's basement. And supposedly, right after I finished, they all turned to each other and they went, "Chip." And within three months, I went in for a Chip in Beauty and the Beast. And you know, the rest is history.

[4:36] Marc Tumminelli: So did they sign your sister too? I hope fingers crossed on this.

[4:40] Trevor Braun: Yeah, yeah, they did. They signed my sister.

[4:42] Marc Tumminelli: All right. So in three months, you finally get your probably audition for Chip, which they knew you would probably book the second you walked in the door. Well, um, and of course you booked it. What do you remember about that audition?

[4:53] Trevor Braun: I don't remember. I'm not gonna lie, I don't remember too too much, but I do remember one thing. I remember that I had tickets to see Wicked, and I was dying to see it. I'd been waiting for months to see it. Uh, and I was waiting outside in the waiting room, and the pianist walked out to go to the bathroom for a bathroom break. And I got up, like I said, I was a very outgoing kid. I walked right over to him and I like tapped him, and he was like, "Yes." And I went, "Excuse me, if I do this show, can I still see Wicked?" And he was like, "Uh, when are you going to see Wicked?" And I told him when, and he went, "We'll see." Luckily, I got to see Wicked and I got to do the show. So it all worked out, my childhood dreams. What a great year for you.

[5:37] Trevor Braun: Yeah, exactly. All right. How did your family react? Like, especially your sister, when you like book a Broadway show in three minutes, the joy of having a little outgoing brother.

[5:47] Trevor Braun: They loved it. Um, my parents always say that they were sort of unprepared, like they were excited for me, but at the same time, they didn't really have an idea of what the sort of change in lifestyle was going to be for them, for all of us. So I think there was excitement. There was, if I'm being honest, a little bit of fear, trepidation. But I think all these things came together to create like just a feeling of excitement overall. But there were a lot, there's just a lot of emotions, you know, because it was a big deal. And it's also like a big sacrifice for the family. And how do we get you in and out and who's doing it and all of that, and all that stuff. How did that all go down? Did you guys work out the schedule? Like who brought you in and out? Tell me about that, how that all works.

[6:37] Trevor Braun: Yeah, they would shift. There was like, I guess you could say shifts. Um, they would drive me in. Some days my mom would drive me in, some days my dad would drive me in. Uh, usually they'd pick me up from school, I'd go home, I'd have a quick dinner, maybe do some homework, and then they'd drive me into the city. Sometimes I take a nap on the way there, sometimes I take naps on the way back. Um, my sister sometimes would come in, usually would stay home. They would take her to school. Um, on Wednesdays, I remember all the other kids in school were jealous because I got to leave at noon. Because if you leave at noon or beyond, it counts as a full day. So I could leave every Wednesday at noon and I got to leave school early, which honestly for me it was nice, but I was a big school kid. I'm a bit of a nerd. So sometimes I was like, "Oh no, I'm gonna miss like circle time" or you know, whatever.

[7:27] Marc Tumminelli: Amazing. What grade were you in then?

[7:29] Trevor Braun: Uh, when I started, I was in first.

[7:32] Marc Tumminelli: Oh my god, you're a little itty bitty. Like that's a little chip. Like literally wait a little bit longer. What do you? I'm sure I don't remember one thing from first grade. So do you remember anything about like your first performance or any of that rehearsal process?

[7:48] Trevor Braun: What do I remember? It's like what comes through the smoke for you. Yeah, I'm trying to, I'm like closing my eyes and trying to go into like a zen state to see what my subconscious. I remember um I remember that cart. I remember a lot of the people. I remember there was this right outside of our dressing room, there was this big like, it was like almost like a trapdoor in the wall. And you'd take it, you'd open it, and it would take you up the like the catwalk and over to where the spotlights were. And I just remember whenever it opened, I remember being so terrified of it because it was like this big dark hole that was like over the theater. Felt very Phantom of the Opera, like terrifying. I just remember being very afraid of that.

[8:32] Trevor Braun: Um, I also remember, okay. This is a funny story. Uh, look at your little face light up. Here we go. What club, everyone. This is a funny one. It's a bit, uh, you might want to cover your nose for this one. Um, but I remember, there's you know, Beauty and the Beast, I'm assuming, you know, during the song "Human Again," during like sort of the bridge, they have like the song, uh, they say coming closer and closer and closer and closer and closer and closer. So I was a really big Empanada Mama. I still am to this day, Empanada Mama fan. I loved it, but I was in the cart, and I, you know, had a lot of Empanada Mama, and I was very young, and so I was a little gassy in there. This podcast is not sponsored by Empanada Mama. Although everyone should go, it's delicious. It is great. Go ahead. And I remember to that part of the song, I almost started, you know, yeah, starting along with the city.

[9:34] Trevor Braun: All right, gassy gassy goo or in that cart. Yeah, exactly. And you're still in the cart. Exactly. So I thought I was safe, but I remember getting off stage and opening the cart, and everyone backstage, like people like there was a genuine reaction in Night. I was so young. Oh my god. So I started crying. I was so upset because I thought I'd like I'd ruin the whole show. Um, so that that was a not a great moment.

[10:02] Marc Tumminelli: Too many empanadas. Now you know, you know your limit.

[10:05] Trevor Braun: Yeah, I remember once I fell asleep on stage in the cart while at the end of, you know, the title song, Mrs. Potts turns to me and like says, like, I can't even remember what the line is.

[10:22] Marc Tumminelli: It's past your bedtime.

[10:23] Trevor Braun: Yeah, exactly. And it was past my bedtime, so I was dead asleep. Uh, so my god. Um, did she just wake you up or did you just kept someone just pushed you off?

[10:34] Trevor Braun: I think they just took me off. I think they were like, you know what, my god, this is so crazy. Who was Belle when you started there?

[10:41] Marc Tumminelli: We had a lot of Belles.

[10:43] Trevor Braun: Who is my first Belle? Oh my gosh. I can't even remember which was my first. I remember some of the ones I did have. I had Ashley Brown. I had Annalise Vanderpool. I had who else did I have? I had I went through a lot of Belles because I was in the show for a pretty long time. I was technically the longest running Chip on Broadway because I was in the show for about two years.

[11:06] Marc Tumminelli: Wow.

[11:06] Trevor Braun: So there were a lot of, there were a lot of Belles. I'm sure if I call my mom right now, she would give you the list.

[11:13] Marc Tumminelli: Oh yeah, she'd pull out a scroll. Oh my god, how amazing. And also like to do that so young, it just must feel like this weird. Like, did this really happen to me or am I imagining it? Like, I mean, to have an experience like that. So um, when did you decide I need to stop being stuck in this cart for three hours at night?

[11:32] Trevor Braun: Well, the show yeah. Did you close it?

[11:34] Trevor Braun: Yeah, I was I was there for the final performance. I closed the show. Uh, it was really it was a sad moment, you know, for everyone involved. The show had been running for for a really long time, you know, so many it employed so many people, it had such a legacy. So it was sad to see it go. I was obviously heartbroken. So I guess I didn't, I never aged out. I still fit in that thing. I mean, I'm still pretty small, honestly. If you put me in the cart now, I might even fit.

[12:02] Marc Tumminelli: You can get one performance out.

[12:03] Trevor Braun: Um, so how I've had those dreams. How long was it before Mermaid came into your life after uh after Beauty and the Beast closed?

[12:13] Trevor Braun: I think Mermaid was about maybe six months later. I had gone from that show to do an off-Broadway show called Growing Up 70s at the Haw Comedy Club. I don't know if you remember that place. Right up 46th Street.

[12:27] Marc Tumminelli: Yes.

[12:27] Trevor Braun: Yeah. So they had like a, it was a show that took place in the 70s. Barry Williams, who was the original Greg Brady. Oh, I'm familiar.

[12:37] Trevor Braun: Yeah. So he he was in the show with me and I did that show. They'd actually written the part with me in mind because we would go there sometimes. My dad between shows, he'd like shoot pool or we go see comedy shows. Because you know, these are the things that kids do when you're on Broadway. Oh my god, it's so weird. Okay. So you did that for a while. So you never really kind of stopped working, man. You were like went from from Beauty and the Beast to this 70s thing into, you know, this huge new musical.

[13:05] Trevor Braun: So Little Mermaid must have felt like such a different experience for you because you were originating a role in a new musical, right?

[13:12] Trevor Braun: Definitely, yeah. It was the first time I'd, uh, no one would have liked to have a tutor because throughout all of Beauty and the Beast, I had been going to school during the day and then doing the show at night. But before LITTLE MERMAID opened, we'd actually had a tutor who would come in and, you know, teach us backstage. So I had like two and a half, three months where I wasn't, you know, in fourth grade. I missed fourth grade, or part of it rather. So that was, you know, interesting. Like I said, I'm a bit of a nerd, so I sometimes miss school a little bit. But, um, most kids don't miss fourth grade.

[13:48] Trevor Braun: So it is, uh, it is this rare, you've had a very rare experience. Um, and did you do the out of town like pre-Broadway and the whole were you part of LITTLE MERMAID from then or once the Broadway production kicked in?

[14:00] Trevor Braun: No, so I'd actually gone in and auditioned for LITTLE MERMAID before when they went to Denver, but I didn't book it then. The two boys that they'd, uh, who'd gotten the roles were a little bit older than me and Brian, who came in when they came back to New York. And I think when they, uh, as they were coming back from Denver to New York, they started aging up a little bit. So there was a point where there were actually four Flounders all working. It was chaos, John Mara, who I love. I don't know if you're gonna be able to do that. Shout out, shout out to John Mara, always John Mayer. He's the reason why you're here today.

[14:34] Trevor Braun: He's like, you have to. Yeah, exactly. That's great. Shout out John Mara. Boys. He was dealing with four boys at one point, ages like eight, nine to like twelve, thirteen. So I imagine we were a handful. Um, but it was a blast that show. I think I started really like since I was kind of, you know, becoming a little more conscious. I was more of a real human being. I remember some things a little bit better. I made some really amazing friends who I, you know, still keep in touch with to this day. Um, and yeah, it was a pretty incredible experience. It all was.

[15:10] Trevor Braun: Did you feel like going from one Disney show to another that you were like a little Disney kid? Like that you must have, you have to feel pretty special if you're working for the Disney company as a child, like consistently for many years. Were there like perks? Were they, did they take care of you? Tell me about that.

[15:28] Trevor Braun: Yeah, I mean, uh, there were a lot of things. A lot of the Disney kids kind of stayed together. Um, we were, you know, I kept in touch with the Mary Poppins kids and the Tarzan kids and the, uh, what other shows is the Lion King kids and the, um, what are the shows were open at that time? I guess the Chitty Bang Bang kids were around then too, maybe it might be a good one. Yeah, the Chitty Chin Bang Bang kids were there. John worked with them. They weren't Disney, but we were all actually involved with a charity organization called, uh, Broadway Kids Care. Like I've been so long since I've thought about all this stuff. You're really bringing you bringing back all the memories.

[16:05] Trevor Braun: Um, and sometimes between shows we would go and, you know, get together. They had an office on 44th Street, and sometimes we would just hang out, but a lot of times they would organize big events. We made like baskets full of gifts for people, women and children in a battered women's shelter. We, uh, made gifts to send to veterans and people who are in the service. We sang at the actor's home. So that kept us occupied and really kept all the kids in the community close, which was nice because in a way it can feel, you know, a little isolating. Um, you know, being a kid, being surrounded by adults, being in a theater away from everything. So sometimes, you know, it's nice to know that there are other kids who are, you know, experiencing similar things to you, even though, you know, your experience is unique, it's incredible. It's nice to, you know, have another kid by you who's like, oh yeah, I'm also a kid on Broadway. I'm also a kid who's missing fourth grade. Um, I understand.

[17:05] Trevor Braun: Um, now LITTLE MERMAID didn't, uh, come in with the bang that they had hoped. Um, and you know, there was, it was very, I think very tricky to figure out how to make that work on Broadway. Well, as a young person, did you feel that? Were you like this isn't working, or maybe the audience doesn't love this as much, or this doesn't feel like the hit that Lion King or Beauty and the Beast was? Did you, were you aware of any of that at that age?

[17:28] Trevor Braun: Um, uh, a little bit. I mean, there was definitely a sense of recognition. I think just, you know, you get the trickle-down effect of like the adults talking about things. You overhear things. Uh, the perk of being a kid is that when you, uh, not to toot my own horn, but like, you know, everyone loves, she's in love. Everybody loves when the kids come out. Always. So when we would come out, there was always, you know, there was always a very warm reception from the audience. Um, but I could, I could sense that, but I was such a big LITTLE MERMAID fan. I mean, since that was another thing is since I was a kid, I love Beauty and the Beast, but my favorite Disney movie was LITTLE MERMAID. I was obsessed.

I was actually pretty heartbroken when I didn't get the out of town tryout because I'd wanted to be in it so badly. I had, I still have somewhere in my basement at my family's house, I have like a little plastic Ariel doll that I used to carry around. So for me, it really, it really didn't matter the, you know, the sort of like critical reception that that the show was having because I, I was just so happy to be there to be involved with that and to be, you know, part of something that I felt proud of and that I really loved and cared about. And I think a lot of people had a great time, and certainly a generation of people who grew up with that movie just wanted to see it on Broadway, and so they checked a very big box.

[18:42] Trevor Braun: And I know like so many things changed during the preview process of that show. Sierra Boggess is a very dear friend, and I love her and she's been on this podcast. But, um, you know, she's the greatest. Uh, do you remember like that kind of thing where things would change or these numbers would move or this would get cut? And how did you sort of deal with all of that end of it?

[19:02] Trevor Braun: Yeah, I mean, so when we were coming in, me and Brian, they we were coming in right at the tail end of previews, like right in the middle. So I think especially because we were a little bit younger, I think they didn't actually throw too much of that stuff our way. They were kind of giving that to the, I guess to the older kids, the two older boys who were playing Flounder. So luckily I didn't have to deal with that too much. Although if I had, I would have, I have no way of knowing, but I'm sure I would have just, you know, taken it and, you know, ran with it. I think the amazing thing about kids is they're really resilient and they're really smart, smarter than we think. They soak things up like sponges. So I think if it had come to that, I would have been able to, you know, take those notes to make those changes and to implement them. But luckily, I didn't really have to deal with too much of that.

[19:51] Trevor Braun: I think a really great part about being a kid is some of the harder things. They don't feel hard because people have a really nice way of sort of, you know, not sugarcoating them because that's not the right word, but you know, it feels like a game, you know, it's work and it's a job, but it never really feels like that there's this stress on you. It just feels like this joyous thing that you really like to do. So, you know, that's also a credit to your, you know, company and stage management and how they take care of kids. And when you're splitting a role with multiple kids, how were they as far as like making sure everyone had moments, you know, like, oh, you get this, you get to do the view, you get to do this, you get to do the recording. How did they, how did they work all of that? Was any of that stressful for you?

[20:35] Trevor Braun: Uh, it could be at times, but for the most part, as long as I was getting to be on stage, that was my like main thing is I love to perform. Still to this day, I really just love acting, being on stage, getting in front of an audience. So, you know, when the things, you know, when things were kind of, you know, parsed out to the different kids, it never felt bad because we were all still getting the opportunity to act. And I think on top of that, we were so close. Me, Brian, uh, John, the other two boys who were there briefly. I didn't get to know them too. I think I got to know them like three, four months, but really me, John, and Brian were all just a little family.

[21:22] Trevor Braun: Yeah, like incredibly close. Two people in my life who to this day I still text, I still reach out to because they really, you know, they've supported me. I will always support them. And I think that that was really what got us through everything, whether it was, you know, the reception from the critics or anything. We had we always had each other. And also it had to be fun to do. I mean, like it was this big over the top musical. You're back at the theater, you already feel super comfortable at the Lane Font.

[21:52] Trevor Braun: Yeah, exactly. And you're like, I'm an old pro here. And you're like, I farted all over this whole building. But, uh, but like, and also you get to like be on Heely's and like I'm sure it was like a blast to do, you know, just to get out and like do the show every night. And I know for Sierra, like no matter what, she got to be Ariel and the LITTLE MERMAID, you know, like yeah to be in the original cast of a big Broadway musical, it must feel so overwhelmingly thrilling, especially in those beginning months where people are just like clamoring to see what the fuss is about or see what it is.

[22:24] Trevor Braun: I mean, they cool. And the kids coming in to see it. That's, I mean, I can't imagine being an adult, but being a kid having other children come to the show and telling you, because kids, they just, they loved it, they loved it. Like, you know, whatever the critics say, like they, you know, it doesn't matter to a 10-year-old who loves the movie or a six-year-old seeing her first Broadway show. And that's really cool thing. I mean, being involved in two shows back to back that were a lot of people's first Broadway shows.

[22:51] Trevor Braun: Um, and I'm sure you'll hear that like as you get older from people being like, Oh my god, LITTLE MERMAID was my first Broadway show, it changed my life. So you don't realize that like the impact of you all working together every night has on the next generation of theater performers. It's like a very cool legacy you've been a part of already.

[23:09] Trevor Braun: Yeah, and even if you had never done anything else.

[23:13] Trevor Braun: Yeah, no, I mean, I still get people to literally to this day, like maybe three, four weeks ago, I played that because wrong. Someone was like, You and the LITTLE MERMAID, oh my god, I saw that play when I was like, and I'm like, I that's crazy. Like that's, that's wild. I'm so happy that I could, you know, even be a small part of something that is so important, like getting people to see theater, like wow, it's amazing.

[23:36] Trevor Braun: Um, leave LITTLE MERMAID to go to BILLY ELLIOT, or did you have time in between those two shows?

[23:42] Trevor Braun: Yeah, so this is actually one of my one of my favorite stories from when I was a kid. Um, so I'll tell, I'll tell the quick version.

[23:49] Trevor Braun: Um, tell any version. I'm here for it. Go ahead.

[23:52] Trevor Braun: So I was, uh, in LITTLE MERMAID, and do you know Easter Bonnet and Gypsy Admiral?

[23:58] Trevor Braun: Yeah, of course, yeah.

[23:59] Trevor Braun: So should I explain the part?

[24:00] Trevor Braun: Yeah, go ahead.

[24:01] Trevor Braun: Yeah, so there are these big benefits where all the Broadway shows perform, uh, and all the proceeds go to Broadway Cares, and they write their own little sketches and skits, and it's generally really funny, and especially really good when kids do it.

[24:12] Trevor Braun: So now tell us what you did that got you discovered.

[24:17] Trevor Braun: Okay, so it's Easter Bonnet and, uh, me and John and Brian, we all really wanted to do something, and for some reason, uh, most people in the theater didn't, you know. I guess people were busy, it's a big commitment. You have to be there for rehearsals, you have to create sketches, you have to do all this stuff. So nobody really wanted to put anything up. And so John, me and Brian decided that we were going to do something ourselves, and we didn't need, you know, anyone else. We just, we had the three of each other. Like I said, we were this little family, so we were gonna do it together.

[24:49] Trevor Braun: Um, a little backstory. Uh, in the theater, I was during LITTLE MERMAID, I was obsessed with Dream Girls, absolutely obsessed. Um, and so people in the theater, I somehow got the name, uh, Treffy White, people started calling me.

[25:05] Trevor Braun: Oh my god.

[25:06] Trevor Braun: So, uh, so I would, I would sing, uh, you know, I saw Dream Girls in theaters because this is when the Jennifer Hudson, Beyonce doing Fox version came out. Um, but, uh, so we decided to write a sketch, and John wrote us, uh, wrote me a little monologue where I come on stage in my Heelys with a robe on, talking to my agent, saying, Yeah, uh-huh, yeah, sure, whatever. Turn to the audience and I start talking about how I am looking for my next big role, my next like Tony Award-winning role. I talk about all these different options that my agent has told me about. I talk how I could do BILLY ELLIOT, but I'm not sharing my role with three other boys. I talk about, uh, I made all these different really, really great jokes. I probably have the scripts, uh, hidden somewhere in my mom's box in our basement of all the, you know, the stuff.

[25:58] Trevor Braun: Um, and then right at the end of the little monologue, I say there's one role that they're reviving, and I know I'm not traditional casting, but I think I would be absolutely incredible.

[26:09] Trevor Braun: And I turn around and I take off the robe and I turn around and I'm wearing a bedazzled Dreamgirl shirt. And I went into, if I don't say so myself, if I may say so, a pretty wonderful rendition of "And I'm Telling You," sing this song and with stopping at the end, as John Mara comes down the aisle and takes a picture of me, and I start screaming, "Stop taking pictures right now." Go on, style. Yep, of course, yes. As any wonderful, lovely diva has to. Um, and then I came on with, you know, the bonnet, and we didn't win, unfortunately, but getting back to the story. The casting director from BILLY ELLIOT, Lina Brennan, was there and saw me and called on my agent and said, "We're looking for a new Michael, we want Trevor to come in."

I wasn't really familiar with BILLY ELLIOT. I didn't know a lot. I actually couldn't dance. I had tried dancing when I was younger, and I'd been traumatized. I don't know, I'm a very anxious person. So I did not, I stopped it, didn't really, it wasn't my thing. But they wanted me to come in. Sure enough, I was like, "Yeah, sure, this seems like a cool new project." I don't know a lot about it, but I, you know, it's getting a lot of really positive reception. There are a lot of kids in it, seems great. So I go in for the audition, and it's a day of teaching us the routine, the tap routine, and then a day where we would, you know, do the scene, do the song, and do the routine in front of everyone.

After the first day, my dad said, I left the studio, I walked over to him. We were going down the elevator as soon as we got out of Ripley Greer. I started sobbing. I was so upset. I was like, "I'm never gonna get this. This is embarrassing, this is horrible." And so I was like, "Well, I just gotta get through tomorrow and then it'll be done." We go in the next day, and I spent the whole night talking with my mom, rehearsing the song, just saying, "You know what? An audition is an opportunity no matter what." And I know I can act, I know I'm funny, I know I've got chops. Let me just have a good time in there. So I go in, we do the tap routine, and it's a mess. It's horrible. I'm horrendous. They ask me to step forward in front of everyone, and it's just ridiculous.

Then they have us all go out and they have us come back in, do the song, and I just give it my all. I throw, I leave it all out there because I figure there's no reason not to. And the associate director walks me out, comes over to me with my dad and takes us down the hallway of Ripley Greer and says, "He can't dance, but we love him and we want him, so we're gonna train him." So for two, three solid months, I would go to school and have intense tap training for like two, three hours every day, then do The Little Mermaid at night. Did this for two, three weeks until I learned it, and then I started, and I, you know, started BILLY ELLIOT. So thanks to, you know, Treffy White, I was able to do it.

[29:16] Marc Tumminelli: Um, that's so cool, but also it's like the story of you working so hard to get it that it wasn't just like you're cute and they handed it to you. It's like it must have felt very different to do your third Broadway show, BILLY ELLIOT, because you knew how hard you put in the work to get there. I mean, did that, was that lost on you? Or would you say like you felt that in the moment?

[29:37] Trevor Braun: Not at all. I think BILLY ELLIOT was really kind of a big shift for me in my career, not only in terms of like tone of the show. I don't know if you know BILLY ELLIOT, but it's very different than The Little Mermaid. Yeah, it's pretty much a good one. First of all, it takes place on land, right? Very different. So there was that element of it. It was being the other idea of being surrounded by kids, having, you know, Beauty and the Beast and LITTLE MERMAID. It was all adults, one other kid. Two, three. This all huge groups of kids, huge cast, different tone. This was the first time that I missed sixth grade. So I didn't go to sixth grade. I actually, we were tutored. So the people who are the Billy's and the Michaels and the Tall Boys were all tutored, you know, as long as they were in the show because we were rehearsing constantly.

We were there was never a period where it was like we rehearsed and then we were doing the show. We were always rehearsed, we were always freshening up, we were always keeping warm, keeping those muscles, you know, nice and oiled up because the show is so demanding. So it kind of felt like I was shifting from, you know, I was still a kid on Broadway, but it sort of felt at this point that I was kind of coming into my own and that I was, you know, kind of dealing with what it was like to really, like you said, to really work hard. Not as much as working hard before, but no, but it's different, but and also probably the first time you were playing like a human, really. Yeah, these people are human, but you were a cup and then a fish.

So it is different to sort of approach a character that has fears of the world, and you know, or not, or your relationships with Billy. I mean, Michael's like a great part. I mean, there's a lot to mine out there. Did you start to discover, like, "Oh wait, I'm an actor?" Like, you know, I'm sure you start to feel that way a little bit.

[31:34] Trevor Braun: Totally. I mean, I still to this day, I swear I still have dreams where they call me up and they ask me to do Michael again because it's one of my favorite. I just, that show is brilliant to this day. I think it's absolutely magic and that character is amazing. But I remember in rehearsals, they started teaching me about, you know, like as ifs, like imaginary, like what we would do things, and they go, "What would this be to Trevor?" You know, acting exercises that I ended up learning about in college, and I had the opportunity to learn about them in, you know, at 11, 12 years old, and making notes in my script that weren't just blocking notes. And that was a really cool thing. I look back now at my BILLY ELLIOT script, and it's just, I can't even read it because the pencil, I wish I'd used pen, but I was using pencil, so it's all just smudged off.

I can barely see what's left. But I really, that was, it was amazing to, like you said, to see myself becoming an actor, and you know, with a part like Michael to see similarities between myself and, you know, this is before I came out, but at the same time, you know, being forced to deal with that on stage in front of a huge audience is crazy. And I didn't come out till a few years later. But you know, even having the opportunity to be able to mine those things at a young age, I think, and in general, to be in theater as a kid and to be in such a supportive environment with, you know, people who are open about themselves and, you know, living their lives happily was a privilege, and I think really has helped me in my own self-discovery.

[33:09] Marc Tumminelli: Is that a very hard thing to do when you're, how old were you in BILLY ELLIOT?

[33:13] Trevor Braun: I was 11, 12, I think, or 11.

[33:15] Marc Tumminelli: Right. So that's like a pretty tricky time to like put on a dress and joke around, like when especially you have your own sexuality, things you're kind of probably aware of. And was that hard for you, or you just like, "I just am gonna do this and not worry about what people think of me in this part?"

[33:32] Trevor Braun: I don't know. I just, I'd imagine it's a mind game to play with yourself if you're already questioning things and then you're playing a character who's just dressing up for fun. Do you know what I mean?

[33:41] Marc Tumminelli: Yeah, no, definitely, yeah.

[33:44] Trevor Braun: No, it was definitely, it was tricky. Um, and I think I was still young enough, you know. I was, you know, times have changed, luckily, I think, hopefully. I think so. So I'm hoping that people now at that age are, you know, feel more comfortable being themselves. There was definitely part of me that was, you know, still in a denial sort of state. But I think getting to like exercise those things, getting to really live them out in front of an audience was a cool way for me to be able to see myself through it. It's like you said, it's a tricky mind game because like I was able to see myself more clearly through being someone else.

[34:27] Marc Tumminelli: Yeah. So how, I don't know at the time. Most 12-year-olds don't have that experience. So it's really interesting to get to do it. And also a show that's so much about how a man is perceived and, you know, all of those things. I'm sure it was a great education for you in this beautiful big British import musical, you know, of getting to do that. Um, how long did you do that show? I mean, Elton John, how long did you do BILLY ELLIOT for?

[34:54] Trevor Braun: I was in BILLY ELLIOT for about 10 months, a year. And then that was the first experience I had growing up in. Agent out, yep, aging out, which was brutal.

[35:07] Marc Tumminelli: Yeah. I mean, it's so well. Tell me about it. Was that a conversation someone had with you? It was like, "This is the end of the road." Like, how did you, did you know? Talk to me.

[35:11] Trevor Braun: Yeah, so I definitely felt it coming. It was on the in the voice drop. Even yesterday, I actually, one of the moms of one of the ballet girls in the show came to see me in BILLY ELLIOT or in Play That Goes Wrong, and she reminded me, "But you're still doing BILLY ELLIOT every night." She reminded me that, and I forgotten that there was a time when my voice started to drop where I just like almost stopped talking and I started convincing myself I was like, "It's a cold, it's a cold." And I remember, I remember really well now she reminded me that I was so convinced it was a cold and that I wasn't, you know, my voice dropping. And it was hard, it was a hard thing to deal with especially because I, you know, been with these people I'd created a family.

I loved doing this for so long. And it's your life, like school's not your life, the whole show's your life. So it's not like, "Oh, I'll come back, we're going on summer vacation, I'll come back in September." It's like, "No, I have to go back to real life." I'm sure that's a really terrifying thing to carry with you for a minute.

[36:19] Trevor Braun: Totally. Luckily, my town is, I was really, my parents, funnily enough, when they decided to move, because we moved when I was maybe like four, three, four years old to Fairlawn, they didn't know at the time that Fairlawn has a really vibrant artistic community. Our high school theater is thriving. It was amazing. We had a lot of community theaters there because the community theater we'd initially done was in my mom's hometown, which is Clifton, New Jersey, nearby. But, so luckily, right straight out of BILLY ELLIOT, I was able to start continuing to, you know, maybe not in a quote unquote professional sense, I was still able to, you know, learn about my craft and learn about acting and performing and doing all these things in a different setting, which I think taught me a whole different set of skills, which was really also cool.

So I never really stopped. I never wanted to stop, and I never did. And I'm just so grateful I was afforded those opportunities, whether, you know, it was in the basement of a church or, you know, on Broadway, it didn't really matter to me.

[37:27] Marc Tumminelli: Did you go back to see BILLY ELLIOT once you were not in it?

[37:30] Trevor Braun: Yeah, yeah, I did. I did.

[38:39] Marc Tumminelli: That hard?

[38:39] Trevor Braun: Oh, I'm like, it was brutal. Um, I remember I, so I during BILLY ELLIOT, I'd started my lifelong, but it kind of started then my lifelong obsession with Shakespeare, right? Huge Shakespeare nut. I love Shakespeare. And Kate Hennig, who played, um, Mrs. Wilkinson in the show, was also, uh, she was a professor of Shakespeare, she'd written plays, she lived in Canada and done a lot of that. So I remember when I wasn't on, when I was understudying, when I was on standby, uh, during intermission, I would, she had a big break from intermission, a little ways into act two. I would go up to her dressing room and she would train me. And I have like books and books full of, you know, Shakespeare training that she gave me.

And I remember for closing night of BILLY ELLIOT, they'd invited a bunch of the company back, and we went back to see the show, and she also wasn't in the show anymore. But I remember we saw each other in the aisle, and I remember sobbing and just, you know, the flood of emotions of, you know, being back at the theater, feeling older, having that perspective, seeing the show again, seeing her again, feeling, seeing how much I've grown, but how much I, you know, missed it. It was really, it was an overwhelming experience, but I went back and, uh, as an outsider's perspective, I still, I still to this day think it's just a brilliant, one of the best musicals. Agreed, I totally agree. And such a great launch pad for so many kids in the business because there were so many kids in that show.

You know, those girls, like, God, it was wild. So you went to, like, now you have to go back to regular school and go to high school, even if you're doing community theater, and I'm sure you were auditioning for stuff as it came up, but you were kind of entering the dead years. So like, what did you do? Did you do your high school musicals?

[38:39] Trevor Braun: Yeah, I did all the high school shows that we had. We had three shows a year; we would have a fall play, a spring musical, and a spring play. So pretty much, I mean, not even pretty much, it was all year round during the school year. And then there was a local theater community that would put on summer shows, and then sometimes I would go to outside towns to do, you know, a show here and there. But I was, I don't, there wasn't a moment where I was not acting, not a single moment. Yeah, I mean, the longest that I ever didn't act was during the pandemic in the past year. But other than that, I’ve been, you just, I never saw, went from show to show, and it didn't feel like it had to be Broadway to be good.

And that's amazing because I think a lot of theater kids, once they have that level of success, they're, that nothing can compare to it. And it feels like for you, you were like, no, I just want to work, I just want to be in a show, I just want to play a part, and it didn't matter where it was, which is probably why you're having adult success, which we're gonna talk about right now.

[40:19] Trevor Braun: So you went you went to Pace, yes?

[40:21] Trevor Braun: Yes, Pace University.

[40:22] Marc Tumminelli: Great.

[40:23] Marc Tumminelli: And so while you were at Pace, is that when Ferryman came up for you?

[40:27] Trevor Braun: Yeah. So, uh, I was auditioning for schools. I wanted to stay in New York because I wanted to keep, you know, pursuing, I wanted to keep auditioning. Uh, I tried to audition for schools that I knew would, uh, for me to keep, uh, you know, keep keep myself busy in the work as well as like learning the work in school. Luckily, Pace was really, uh, good. My program in particular, I was part of a program called, uh, it was actually a brand new program when I was a freshman. It was the first time they had all four years of the program. We call it FTVC, but it was short for, it was a BFA acting for film, television, voiceover, and commercial. And I'd gone into it because it was sort of something, it was another side of the industry that I hadn't really gotten the opportunity to explore as much when I was a kid. So it was something that I wanted to, you know, I wanted to just feel as well-rounded as I could in terms of, you know, every part of this massive, massive industry.

[41:27] Trevor Braun: And you already knew the theater part, so it just felt like you needed to learn that other side of it.

[41:33] Trevor Braun: Yeah, and I think what's great about being an actor is like no matter what you do, you're always learning on the job. So, you know, I will continue to learn about theater. I will continue, I'm learning about it right now. I will continue to learn about film and television, all these, you know, about writing, about directing, just watching these amazing people do their thing. Like I'm always gonna be learning. So, but yes, while I was in, uh, while I was at Pace, I got the audition for Understudied because they were bringing over the cast from the West End. I got the audition for, uh, understudying two, three roles. They were kind of like shaking them around for like the young adult roles in The Ferryman.

And I remember reading the script in my, like, was it my dorm room? It might have been in my dorm room. Uh, and I just remember reading the scripts and saying to myself, I don't care if I'm cleaning up the goose's poop, because there was a goose, a live goose in the show. I don't care if I'm cleaning up the goose poop. I need to be a part of this show.

[42:33] Trevor Braun: Yes. It is un, it is one of the most beautiful pieces of theater I've ever read. It was just, it really had an effect on me. And I was just so grateful to be a part of that production.

[42:45] Marc Tumminelli: Oh my God, when you got that phone call, you must have lost your mind.

[42:48] Trevor Braun: Oh my God. Yeah. And it was my first time, you know, being back on Broadway. And my favorite thing to talk about is like when a kid is back on as an adult past 18. I think it's just like the most amazing thing for your head to be like, oh no, no, no, no. I've always been good at this and I'm still good at this. Do you know what I mean? It's just a little bit of someone, it does, you know, sadly, sometimes we need other people to tell us why we're so great. But you know, it must, it feels like something. Like I really am working at this. I wasn't just a cute kid. I'm a talented actor. And to be in a play like The Ferryman on Broadway with some of the best actors I've ever seen in my life in a Broadway show must have been like an education beyond anything you could have learned in any show.

[43:29] Trevor Braun: Oh yeah. I mean, I was constantly learning and it was, and it was perfect in a way because I was understudying something that I'd, you know, I'd done as a kid, sort of like half the way I'd understudied, but I'd also been performing. But to just kind of like sit back and watch all these people, and also just to have that while I was in school. I still look back now and think about whether, you know, how hard it would have been to handle both, you know, performing every night and being in school. Um, but that's, you know, a different conversation. But getting to understudy and watch these people, I learned so much. And I still, I think back to it constantly. I made some really great friends who taught me, and two of the other like young adult understudies who were in the show with me, they were like two years older, and yet they sort of became almost mentors to me because they just graduated from school.

This was their first big Broadway show. And in a way, it was my first Broadway show as an adult. So I was kind of just, you know, I wasn't lost, but I was just, you know, feeling around, hoping to, you know, hoping that pinching myself, hoping I wasn't dreaming and hoping that I wasn't, you know, totally, you know, out of my, out of my, what's the word? Uh, like depth, you know, that this, yeah, exactly, out of my depth.

[44:48] Trevor Braun: And it was nice to just be able to just like watch.

[44:52] Marc Tumminelli: Just, um, you went on and you performed a lot.

[44:55] Trevor Braun: I yeah, yeah, I got to go on a few times. Uh, there's some crazy stories about that. There was, um, seven minutes. One of my characters had an entrance, like maybe 15 minutes into the show, and about five, six, seven minutes into the show, someone was like, uh, he's not here. And I was in the basement, we were on the fifth floor. I ran upstairs, got into costume, mic, everything in six minutes, seven minutes. And you're like, oh God, what are these lines? What is this accent? It was, it was insane. I remember there was one point on stage we're all singing and they're pouring whiskey for everyone. There were these two glasses in my hands. I was so excited, so nervous, you know, just that crazy feeling.

And I was like, we were all singing, the kids were all singing together, and I cheered the glasses together, like I, you know, clinked them together. And I was still, I don't know if I was so nervous, but shattered right in my hands. Like the glass in my hand. Luckily, they had like a working sink on the stage. So I just kind of dusted off my hand and kept going. Luckily, there'd be no blood. The things you have learned, my friend.

[45:56] Trevor Braun: Um, it's, it's so incredible. Did you stay through that entire run?

[46:00] Trevor Braun: Yeah, I was, I was with the show for both companies for the one from the UK, uh, the West End Company, and then for, uh, for the American company that came over after I was, yeah, I was there for the whole thing. I, I wouldn't have, yeah, I, I couldn't imagine leaving something like that. Um, and then you had to go back to school and you graduated in 2020, which is, uh, I'm sorry, I'm just, I would like to apologize on behalf of...

[46:26] Trevor Braun: Yeah. It, it definitely was not ideal. I mean, at that point, you know, luckily we'd already started halfway through our semester. So I was, I mean, I was ready to, you know, get out into the world, quote unquote. Although I think the blessing about going into school in New York is that you're already kind of feel like you're part of the world. But, uh, you know, there was only, um, two months left, so I feel like we sort of in a weird way got not the worst end of it. I mean, it definitely could have been better, like not happening, but it is what it is.

[47:01] Marc Tumminelli: Um, we have to talk about Play That Goes Wrong, and obviously want to touch down on some of this TV stuff, but you're currently have the greatest job in New York, I think.

[47:09] Trevor Braun: Uh, Play That Goes Wrong is truly the most fun thing I have ever seen in my life. And I imagine for someone like you to get to do that level of comedy, um, must feel like such a gift to get to do. Tell me about did was that on your radar? How did it come to you? And and tell me what it's been like to take over in that show, uh, and get to do that at New World Stages, which I I know is an incredible blast.

[47:35] Trevor Braun: Oh my god, it's so much fun. Um, I remember when the show first came over from the West End at the Lyceum, we had, um, we got free tickets during The Ferryman. And so I got to the original company and I'd loved it. I thought it was, you know, it was brilliant, hilarious. Um, and then it kind of just, you know, fell out of. I didn't think about it for a while just because it wasn't, you know, something I'd ever gone in for before, something I'd never, you know, it was just never something that I had been.

[48:04] Marc Tumminelli: It was not on your radar in that way.

[48:06] Trevor Braun: Yeah. And, uh, then, like maybe five months, no, no, maybe, or three, five months ago, I got the audition just as I was getting one of my first like survival jobs. Uh, and I remember I, I'd gotten a job. I always wanted to work in the book. Yeah, I, uh, I love books. I'm a big, like I said, I'm a big nerd. So I was like, you know what? I'm gonna work at Barnes and Noble. So I got a job at Barnes and Noble. Uh, shout out Barnes and Noble. I love them.

[48:34] Marc Tumminelli: I'm like, where is there a Barnes and Noble in the city?

[48:37] Trevor Braun: Uh, the Fifth Avenue on Fifth Avenue 46th. Yeah, pretty, pretty busy.

[48:42] Marc Tumminelli: Um, everyone go there and buy your books.

[48:44] Trevor Braun: Yeah, definitely. It's great to do that.

[48:46] Trevor Braun: So you're getting your five books in general.

[48:48] Trevor Braun: And buy books. All right, so you're getting your first survival job, and then...

[48:49] Trevor Braun: Yeah, and then I get this call for this audition. And, uh, me and my roommate who also knows this type of comedy and is, you know, was helping with the self-tape, and we're like, I really want this. This, this would be so much fun. This, this, it would just be a great job. Didn't hear back for like a month. I was like, okay, you know, that's the name of the game. You send in your self-taped. You go on for the audition and you let it go. Maybe a month or two later, I get a call. They're doing in-person callbacks. Also crazy because I haven't done an in-person callback at this point or in-person anything since pre-pandemic. Uh, go in, it's a big fun group of audition. We do like theater games, we do scenes.

Um, then they tell us they're gonna have a final audition then, uh, the next day or something, and, uh, I hear about that, and then nothing. Three, four months go by, still nothing. And then finally I get another call that they're gonna have one more round of final auditions, and, uh, I might be messing up the numbers somehow here, but I just remember that's good throughout my whole process at Barnes and Noble, like my whole time at Barnes and Noble. Whenever I would, you know, I would get angry as you do in survival jobs, get upset about the job I would be. I just remember thinking to myself, like, I could be doing The Play That GOES WRONG right now. Why am I here? I want to be doing that show. And, uh, you know, luckily it worked out.

[50:15] Trevor Braun: And I, I started, I left Barnes and Noble and started doing this. Uh, it's my first time back on stage since the pandemic, and it just, you know, I keep saying this, but it kind of just feels like coming home. Uh, it, it's also given me a really fun opportunity to play, uh, with comedy, like you said, because comedy is, you know, with a character like Michael in BILLY ELLIOT. Um, comedy, you know, like Ferryman, very funny. No, I'm kidding. Uh, but hilarious. But comedy has always been something that's been really close to my heart. My mom, when she does theater, uh, community theater, she was always a comedic actress. She would always say to me, she would always say, you know, it's fun and it's great to be the ingenue. It's fun and it's great to be the leading man, but people always walk out of the theater and they remember the funny characters. The funny characters are the most fun to play. That's why it's funny, you know.

[51:05] Trevor Braun: It's funny. And so I, uh, I've, it's been a blast. The company is amazing. It is a workout. Every show I get home, I am drenched in sweat, and I'm just, I'm having the best time. And I keep saying, uh, just to be in a room, to be in a big room with a bunch of people post-pandemic, post, you know, politics, everything, just the craziness of the world right now to be in a room with people, all different people, it does not matter. Just laughing, just sharing joy. There's, there's nowhere else I'd rather be. There's, there's nothing more. I feel like I, I want to, you know, give back. I know that that sounds kind of weird, but to give back to the world, just like laughter. Wow, what an amazing thing.

There's also, it also nothing like it exists anymore. It's such an old style of comedy. And, uh, and it's just like sheer com, it's like sheer humor. And every bit and every moment, how hard was it to learn the show? Because there are so many moments of things where you will get very hurt if you're in the wrong spot or all of that.

[52:11] Trevor Braun: Because it is like it is a puzzle like I've almost never seen.

[52:15] Marc Tumminelli: Was it like impossible to learn?

[52:17] Trevor Braun: It was hard. I mean, the creative team, everyone who's involved with the production. Shout out Matt Zagarlo, yes, Matt De Carlo. The greatest. They have such an amazing sense of the show, such an amazing handle on it. I remember the stage manager called me talking like the week before we started rehearsal. She was breaking down the rehearsal schedule, and she was about to hang up. She was like, Do you have any questions for me? And I remember asking her, I said, Wait, Whitney, um, do I only have nine rehearsals? She was like, Yeah. I was like, uh nine? She was like, Yep, nine rehearsals. Um I know, uh, by you know, by rehearsal eight, we were we need an audience because that's the thing about the show is we you know, the audience is the they need to hear people laugh.

Yeah, yeah. People are always saying that the set is the eighth character and the audience is the nine because it really affects it. And what's so great about this show is they have such a solid handle on, you know, where you have to go, how you fit in to everything so you stay safe, so that you're, you know, you're keeping up with the rhythm with the pace of everything, while also giving us such amazing opportunity to really find the character. It never ever felt like we were, you know, just you know, being a cutout of the person who did it before, or you know, the original people from the West End, they really want us to find who these characters are in our body. And although, you know, certain times rhythms need to stay in a certain place, you need to be standing really specifically in certain spots so you don't literally die.

Even amongst all that, there's so much creative freedom. And you know, that's testament to the brilliant writing. That's a testament to the people who are involved. Um, and it's just been so much fun discovering this. Like, that's if there's anything to take away, like, come see the show. You're just gonna have a great, a great time.

[54:11] Marc Tumminelli: I will second it. I can't wait. I'm gonna come back. I mean, I saw it in London, I saw it on R I saw it on Broadway, and I'll come, I have to come see you. Um, because New World Statements is a great venue. It's a perfect venue for the show.

[54:19] Trevor Braun: Yeah.

[54:22] Marc Tumminelli: And uh I'm so glad you get to do that every night. I'm very jealous, actually, because it just looks like and it. It must be like being in a like comedy storm and it's so fun. It must feel like a fever dream when it's over.

[54:34] Trevor Braun: Um yeah, and I realized it was my first time doing eight shows a week. So I yeah. So I finished if there's any show to do eight shows a week and be exhausted, it's like I am pooped every night I come. Everyone go see him. Just know on Sunday, Sunday. Do you have a Sunday Met Night? You're you're tired by Sunday.

[54:49] Marc Tumminelli: We have we have Monday shows too.

[54:53] Trevor Braun: Oh, oh we have all on Tuesday. Tuesday of the day. Just know Monday night he'll be pretty tired, but brilliant. Um, in recent years, you've been doing a lot more film and TV, Dash and Lily, and you're on Mazel and I remember you, and of course you're on Curb. Um, does that feel like where you want to focus your attention like as you move forward here or balancing everything? Tell me where you want to go now.

[55:16] Trevor Braun: Yeah, I mean, I uh I feel like that's such a such a big question. People are always constantly asking, like, what's your favorite? Where do you want to go? Um, I would love to, you know, look in that direction, uh, to explore, like I said, to explore what I learned in school to just explore a new part of the craft because you know there they're different the techniques are so different while also you know retaining that element of like you're always playing the truth, you know, you always want that to be, you know, the kind of kernel that you're fighting you know that you're working toward. But it is so different. So I I would love to to explore film TV, all that stuff to you know to see how it sits in my body. But you know, I also just I just I love you just want to work. I love acting.

[56:01] Trevor Braun: Yeah, I love I love acting. I I what whatever you tell me to do, I'll I'll do it. I I I love it, you know. You know, it's not like I I got this job and I was like, oh, I wish, you know, wish it was on a you know, like I wish I was on a TV show.

[56:14] Marc Tumminelli: Yeah.

[56:15] Trevor Braun: Yeah. It's great. It would be nice, yeah. But I I get to act. I am amazing.

[56:21] Marc Tumminelli: If you ask me to act, I'll be happy.

[56:22] Trevor Braun: Oh my god, I love you. All right, Trevor, we're gonna do Broadway Workshop Quick Fire Questions. Are you ready?

[56:27] Trevor Braun: Yes.

[56:27] Marc Tumminelli: Okay, just go with it. Don't overthink it. Just go with your first instinct.

[56:31] Trevor Braun: That's hard for me.

[56:32] Marc Tumminelli: Okay. Your first audition song.

[56:37] Trevor Braun: Um, first Broadway show you saw.

[56:40] Trevor Braun: Funnily enough, Beauty and the Beast. And I walked out of the theater saying I want to be on Broadway, and my parents said, be quiet, you're three years old.

[56:46] Marc Tumminelli: And you were in Beauty of the Beast like five minutes later. Um the last Broadway show you saw.

[56:52] Trevor Braun: Last Broadway show I saw. Uh I saw does Shakespeare in the Park count? I saw Richard the third.

[56:57] Marc Tumminelli: Yeah, that counts. Um what is your go-to album for car trip?

[57:01] Trevor Braun: For car trip. Oh my god. Uh Siza's Control.

[57:05] Marc Tumminelli: Okay.

[57:06] Trevor Braun: She's incredible. I'm in love with her. She's amazing.

[57:10] Marc Tumminelli: I want blank movie to be a musical.

[57:13] Trevor Braun: Oh my gosh. Uh oh, I remember I used to say this as a kid, Valley of the Dolls.

[57:18] Marc Tumminelli: I'm like very upset, Trevor. Like, I'm very upset.

[57:20] Trevor Braun: This is my Valley of the Dolls.

[57:22] Marc Tumminelli: Oh my god. What you're not seeing at home, friends is my Valley of the Dolls coaster that is on my desk.

[57:28] Trevor Braun: I wouldn't be great. It's beyond. We we'll we'll work on it together.

[57:33] Marc Tumminelli: Okay. Um all right. Uh I know you have a very long history with Charlie Chaplin, and I watched your impression. Tell me one fun fact you know about Charlie Chaplin.

[57:43] Trevor Braun: Uh oh, this is a lot of people know this one, but I do love this one. Charlie Chaplin. I think he he lost a Charlie Chaplin look like contest. He that's a great fun one. He entered it and he did he didn't win.

[57:53] Marc Tumminelli: Now, did you get to do the musical like in school? Is that yeah?

[57:56] Trevor Braun: That's so cool. So we I I reached out to the producers and we got permission before anyone else was allowed. I was determined. My senior year, I was like, I want to do this show. So I sent out emails all summer and I got in contact with the original writers, and he sent us the newest draft of the script. Have you do you know Rob McClure at all? Or like we came in, yeah.

[58:14] Marc Tumminelli: I'm sure he showed I mean another great, another like wonderful person in this business. There are three three of them, and we mentioned them all on this podcast.

[58:23] Trevor Braun: Um, all right, can you name two real housewives?

[58:26] Marc Tumminelli: No, I'm that's okay.

[58:28] Trevor Braun: It's okay. Actually, 90% of my guests cannot go ahead.

[58:31] Marc Tumminelli: What is it?

[58:31] Trevor Braun: Okay, is there is there is there's a there's a Nene.

[58:31] Marc Tumminelli: Nene, Nene.

[58:37] Trevor Braun: Damn.

[58:38] Marc Tumminelli: It's fine. You're just not a garbage person. That's okay.

[58:41] Trevor Braun: Um pancakes or waffles.

[58:44] Trevor Braun: Ooh, waffles.

[58:46] Marc Tumminelli: Okay, unpopular opinion. Tell me one stage door experience.

[58:51] Trevor Braun: Oh my gosh, stage door experience. Um, Jennifer Hudson. Uh, I was seeing the best little um house in Texas.

[59:01] Marc Tumminelli: Um you could say whorehouse on my podcast.

[59:03] Trevor Braun: Okay, the best little okay, the best little whorehouse in Texas. Um, and uh this is right before Dream Girls came out, and we she we came out, we met her, and she was like, Oh my gosh, so nice to meet you. Thank you for coming to the show. Go see my movie, Dream Girls, as if it was like this little tiny movie, girl girls want to win the Oscar. Like, come on.

[59:17] Marc Tumminelli: That's amazing. Normally the stage door experiences are about people with you, but I'm happy to hear your own stage.

[59:24] Trevor Braun: Because I'm such a I'm a nerdy fan.

[59:25] Marc Tumminelli: I know, I love it. Everyone, um, who makes you laugh the most in your current show, the play that goes wrong?

[59:32] Trevor Braun: Oh Maggie Weston. She she she kills me. She has this one line that it just kills me every day.

[59:40] Marc Tumminelli: Just kills you every day. Um, do you have a secret talent?

[59:45] Trevor Braun: Secret talent, secret, secret, secret. Um, I can I don't know if I I'm pretty open book everything. I uh everything. All the talent, none of them are none of them are okay.

[59:57] Marc Tumminelli: Um I always ask you, do you any impressions? So you can answer that question.

[1:00:00] Trevor Braun: I can I can do a Charlie Chaplin impression, although on a podcast I don't know how to do it. Not gonna work.

[1:00:07] Marc Tumminelli: So can you, just for my own enjoyment, can you give me one ferryman line with that amazing accent?

[1:00:12] Trevor Braun: Oh yeah, let me see if I remember any line. Uh any lines on the show. Uh so your mom, father, or mulligan is welcome. I don't remember the exact line. Or uh I'm glad you came here tonight, Mr. Molden. Because there's something I've been wanting to see to you for a long time.

[1:00:26] Marc Tumminelli: I love it so much. I love it so much.

[1:00:29] Trevor Braun: Okay.

[1:00:29] Marc Tumminelli: What is the credit your family is most impressed by?

[1:00:33] Trevor Braun: Oh my goodness. My family. Hmm. Probably. Oh, that is a good one. That's hard. Um Beauty and the Beast.

[1:00:48] Marc Tumminelli: Okay.

[1:00:48] Trevor Braun: I think it'll always stand out to them as something that really just, you know, was important to them. So I think for them it'd be the it'd be the biggest. Either that or Mazel, because all right.

[1:00:58] Marc Tumminelli: I I was thinking it would be possible because that's the game, too. That's what I would be most proud of. It's so cool. You're so good in it.

[1:01:04] Trevor Braun: All right. Um, okay.

[1:01:05] Marc Tumminelli: Uh where am I?

[1:01:08] Trevor Braun: Um, something you really wanted as a kid that you did not get, but it sounds like you've got everything.

[1:01:13] Trevor Braun: Oh, I want to marry Poppins and I wear it a bunch of times. I really love it.

[1:01:16] Marc Tumminelli: Thank you. If you can go back in time and see any Broadway show, what would it be?

[1:01:22] Trevor Braun: Oh my goodness. Probably I know it tanked, but that's part of the reason why I want to see it. I want to see the original Marilyn we roll along.

[1:01:31] Marc Tumminelli: Yes. Well, you'll get to see it later this year on Broadway.

[1:01:34] Trevor Braun: I know.

[1:01:35] Marc Tumminelli: So exciting. Well, that hasn't been announced yet, but we all know what's happening.

[1:01:40] Trevor Braun: All right.

[1:01:41] Marc Tumminelli: What is your favorite Disney movie?

[1:01:44] Trevor Braun: Uh Little Mermaid. We covered it.

[1:01:46] Marc Tumminelli: Um Billy Elliott or Billy Joel?

[1:01:49] Trevor Braun: Uh Billy Elliott.

[1:01:51] Marc Tumminelli: Um, your favorite childhood Halloween costume was Oh, the Energizer Bunny.

[1:01:57] Trevor Braun: Okay.

[1:01:58] Marc Tumminelli: Are you into true crime? And if so, what case would you like to have solved?

[1:02:02] Trevor Braun: Um, I don't know true crime too much. I do watch only murders in the building.

[1:02:07] Marc Tumminelli: So good. You know, that's that's been like the third person's answer to that question on this podcast this season. Like nobody is a murderino like myself.

[1:02:15] Trevor Braun: Okay.

[1:02:16] Marc Tumminelli: Favorite song to sing when nobody is home.

[1:02:19] Trevor Braun: Oh my gosh, when nobody's home, what do I like to sing? Uh well, recently it's been uh once on this island, uh waiting for life. I've been I've been blasting that.

[1:02:29] Marc Tumminelli: Listen, you love a Black Diva song. You love a dream girl.

[1:02:31] Trevor Braun: Who doesn't?

[1:02:33] Marc Tumminelli: I know it's true. We all we're all singing them at home.

[1:02:36] Trevor Braun: Okay, have you ever left a show at intermission?

[1:02:39] Trevor Braun: No, I I don't believe in it. No shade to anyone who does. I I could change. I I think like, you know, you can see it. You should stay.

[1:02:46] Marc Tumminelli: Yeah, you owe it to the you just owe it to the people there. Everyone's working so hard.

[1:02:51] Trevor Braun: Yes, that's true. But you did probably not see Amazing Grace on Broadway, did you?

[1:02:55] Marc Tumminelli: Okay.

[1:02:56] Trevor Braun: I don't even know about that.

[1:02:57] Marc Tumminelli: Okay, that's that's fine.

[1:02:58] Trevor Braun: Um, all right, and um what do you want on your bagel?

[1:03:02] Trevor Braun: Oh, okay. Uh, everything bagel with cream cheese, locks, a little bit of onions and capers.

[1:03:10] Marc Tumminelli: Great.

[1:03:11] Trevor Braun: Um, all right.

[1:03:12] Marc Tumminelli: What movie can you watch over and over again?

[1:03:16] Trevor Braun: Oh.

[1:03:19] Trevor Braun: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

[1:03:21] Marc Tumminelli: Great.

[1:03:21] Trevor Braun: And what advice do you have for young performers?

[1:03:25] Trevor Braun: Oh. Oh, that's a good one. I want to make sure I'm giving a good answer to people. Uh, you know, looking back at all of this, like that little kid who auditioned for You and the Beast, what what would you tell him now?

[1:03:38] Trevor Braun: Um enjoy every second and know that there are no rules. There's no set path that you have to follow because you're your own person. You're your own unique individual. So just you know, forge that path on your own.

[1:03:55] Marc Tumminelli: I love it. You're a star. Tell the people where they can follow you and see what's up with uh you and your career and all the things you're doing.

[1:04:02] Trevor Braun: Yeah, I uh you can follow me on uh on Instagram at Trevor HarrisonBrawn. Uh and you can come see me in the play that goes wrong at New World Stages. Uh I'm on eight shows a week.

[1:04:17] Trevor Braun: Yeah, it's a great, you'll have a great time. You're gonna have a great time. And also happy birthday to you and happy Halloween to all the people who are listening. Be safe out there this weekend.

[1:04:26] Trevor Braun: Marc, thank you so much for taking the time. It's such a pleasure to get to chat with you and hear your growing up Broadway story. I so appreciate you.

[1:04:34] Marc Tumminelli: Thank you. And uh everyone, remember to follow us at Little Me Podcast. We'll be back next week with an all-new episode.

[1:04:40] Trevor Braun: Bye, Trevor.

[1:04:41] Marc Tumminelli: Bye.

[1:04:41] Trevor Braun: Thanks for having me.

[1:04:43] Marc Tumminelli: Thank you, listeners. This podcast is produced by Alan Seals, Dory Berenstein, and the Broadway Podcast Network, and edited by Derek Gunther. For more information on the Little Me podcast, go to bpn.fm slash little me. And follow me on Instagram at Marc Tumminelli or on Twitter at thatTTuminelli. And for more information on workshops, classes, and everything Broadway Workshop, go to BroadwayWorkshop.com. Thank you for listening.