Gavin Creel — celebrated songwriter, singer and theater actor known for his Broadway roles in the A thoroughly modern Millie, Hair, She loves me and Hello Dolly! — died on Monday, September 30 at the age of 48 in the middle of treatment for a rare and aggressive form of cancer called sarcoma.
His death was confirmed by his partner, actor Alex Temple Ward.
Metastatic melanotic sarcoma of the peripheral nerve sheath is a rare cancer that develops in the body’s bones or soft tissues, such as muscles, fat, blood vessels, and nerves. Creel was not diagnosed until July 2024. Before transitioning to home hospice care, he was treated at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.
The actor’s family and close friends are asking for privacy as they grieve. They ask that gifts in Gavin’s memory be made to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.
There will be a small private gathering for the family and a celebration of life for the community at a date to be announced.
Gavin Creel performs during the 2019 Princess Grace Awards Gala on November 25, 2019 in New York City.
Jamie McCarthy/Getty
Watch Joshua Henry and Gavin Creel film ‘Agony’ from the Broadway revival of ‘Into the Woods’
Creel was one of Broadway’s brightest stars and was beloved by a community of his contemporaries, including close friends and colleagues Sara Bareilles, Andrew Rannell, Sutton Foster, Jane Krakowski, Aaron Tveit, Caissie Levy, Patti Murin, Colin Donnell, Will Swenson, Kate Baldwin and Joshua Henry.
His deep tenor voice, flamboyant personality and good looks helped him stand out among a sea of triple threats. Out, the gay actor also used his platform to advocate for racial equality, call out sexual inappropriateness behind the scenes, and fight for LGBTQ rights — especially during the early days of the quest for marriage equality as a co-founder of the grassroots organization Broadway Impact (with Rory O’Malley and Jenny Kanelos). .
A native of Findlay, Ohio, Creel fell in love with musical theater his sophomore year in high school after being cast in their production Camelot.
“I knew I was bitten by the bug because when that show ended, I was depressed,” he told director Jonathan Theodore Baker in a May 2024 documentary produced by The Broadway Collection. “The show was fun, the music was great, but it was about the people I was with. We all had a shared, passionate goal to tell a story. I wanted that for a living. I wanted to be apart of that for my life.”
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Gavin Creel and the cast of ‘Hair’ perform at the 2009 Tony Awards.
Andrew H. Walker/Getty
After graduating from the University of Michigan’s School of Music, Theater and Dance, Creel worked at the Pittsburgh CLO regional repertory theater. He then moved to New York where he booked his first role in a touring production Glory: the musical.
“I thought, ‘I’m the luckiest man in the world,'” he recalled of getting the job. “And from that, I started meeting people from that show, I started meeting their friends and their friends. And I started, just a little bit, to feel like there was a place for me in all of this. in this town.”
“It wasn’t the money, it wasn’t the job, it wasn’t even — what it is, it’s people. That’s what it is,” Creel added. “These buildings don’t have a heartbeat, these streets don’t have a heartbeat. It’s people coming together to do something, say something and then give it back.”
Glory it led to more and more off-Broadway work until Creel finally made his Broadway debut in 2002, starring opposite Foster in a stage musical stage adaptation of the 1967 film. A thoroughly modern Millie.
His performance as Jimmy Smith earned Creel his first Tony Award nomination. A second nomination came in 2009, for the role of Claude in the 2009 Broadway revival. Hair.
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Gavin Creel kisses his Tony Award moments after winning it in June 2017.
Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic
He achieved his first victory in 2017, after playing Cornelius Hackl in the celebrated restoration of the film Hello Dolly! with Bette Midler, Beanie Feldstein and David Hyde Pierce. He happened to receive the award from Foster, who was presenting the award, calling it “an absolute dream come true”.
After accepting the trophy, Creel offered his advice to actors looking to break into the musical theater industry, urging them to “get off social media.”
“Stop living a virtual life instead of a real life,” Creel told reporters backstage, including PEOPLE. “Don’t disappear into your phone in an endless cycle of neurosis and anxiety. That’s why I turned it off completely, which is like, ‘Why am I anxious all the time?’ Being a theater actor, in this business, is not about looking outward and finding a way to give yourself to the audience if you’re staring at yourself or nurturing life on your phone, I’d say get off your phone and get on stage.”
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Jane Krakowski and Gavin Creel from ‘She Loves Me’ perform on stage during the 2016 Tony Awards.
Theo Wargo/Getty
Creel has had numerous other Broadway credits, including a 2016 Tony-nominated revival of the song. She loves me (with Benanti, Krakowski and Zachary Levi), running Waitress with Bareillis as well as production in 2022 Into the forestwhich transferred after an acclaimed performance at the New York City Center Encores! That show also won him a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.
From 2012 to 2015, Creel also directed a number of productions The Book of Mormon— from the first national tour to the original West End production (which won him the Laurence Olivier Award in 2014, the UK’s most prestigious theater award) and even to Broadway.
Among his on-screen appearances were two episodes of FX on Hulu American horror stories opposite Matt Bomer and Sierra McCormick.
As a singer and songwriter, Creel has produced a number of original albums and EPs. He has appeared on numerous musical theater compilation albums, headlined Broadway concerts and was a regular guest on the LGBT RFamilyVacations cruise with Rosie O’Donnell.
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Gavin Creel bows after ‘Into the Woods’ in downtown New York in May 2022.
Bruce Glikas/WireImage
His last stage role was a deeply personal one – a musical he wrote and starred in called Walk Through: Confessions of a Museum Rookiewhich ran Off-Broadway at the MCC Theater from November 2023 to January 2024.
Commissioned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the show featured a vulnerable Creel who, while walking the halls of the Met, explored his place in the world after a failed relationship in an attempt to find himself again.
That’s something Creel talked about in a candid interview The Daily Beast released in December 2023, in which he revealed that he’s learned over the years not to base his happiness on success in the industry.
“I won a Tony and I thought, ‘Something is going to change for me.’ It didn’t,” Creel said, admitting that “the phone wasn’t ringing off the hook” with offers. “The bloom fell off the rose a little bit. New people come and replace you. The business cycle meant I couldn’t love him anymore. I knew the industry couldn’t be everything. I couldn’t find my happiness from it because it has no heartbeat. He doesn’t care about me.”
Another theme explored in the musical was the influence of religion on Creel’s life and his journey towards accepting God.
“I’m in a place of healing that I honestly never thought I’d get to,” he said. “The joy, beauty, and opportunity I have in my life have come from being honest and authentic. … I am proud to feel God’s blessing. I do not believe that all this happiness in my life is not a coincidence.”
“I believe I’m blessed,” Creel added. “I’m not afraid of God anymore. I feel like I’m cooperating with him.”
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Gavin Creel in ‘The Book of Mormon’. Copyright 2012 Joan Marcus
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As for the future, Creel said The Daily Beast he was full of hope Walk on had a long future ahead of him.
“With this show, I’m doing the most creative thing I’ve ever been a part of in my life, and I hope it leads to new opportunities,” Creel said. “That’s what I want. I want the show to go to Broadway, to do well on Broadway where thousands of people see it, then to tour the West End, then Australia and the world. I want to be able to serve others with it.”
“If I never do film or TV again, I could live with that, but I’m not ready to never be on stage again,” Creel said. “I love being able to tell stories to make people laugh, cry and think.”
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Source: HIS Education