By Mark Kennedy | Related Press
NEW YORK — Gavin Creel, a Broadway musical theater veteran who received a Tony Award for “Hello, Dolly!” reverse Bette Midler and earned nominations for “Hair” and “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” died Monday of a uncommon and aggressive type of most cancers. He was 48.
Publicist Matt Polk mentioned Creel died at his dwelling in Manhattan of metastatic melanotic peripheral nerve sheath sarcoma. He was identified in July 2024.
“I looked forward to working with him every single night. He was fantastic. I can’t believe he’s gone. What a loss,” Midler wrote on X. Idina Menzel shared a photograph of Creel on Instagram, writing, “Sweet sweet Gavin Creel. An angel among the angels.”
Creel had a knack for Golden Age Broadway revivals, however he additionally carried out in trendy fare, like within the function of Dr. Pomatter in Sara Bareilles’ musical “Waitress” on Broadway in 2019 and on the West Finish in 2020. He received an Olivier Award for “The Book of Mormon.”
Composer and playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda recalled on social media that Creel was his first King George III when the soon-to-be-smash “Hamilton” was being workshopped: “He wrapped the audience around his finger with nothing but a Burger King crown and his mind-blowing charisma and talent. He is so loved and it is unimaginable that he’s no longer with us.”
Creel was raised in Findlay, Ohio, and graduated in 1998 from the College of Michigan’s College of Music, Theatre & Dance. He toured and did regional work earlier than touchdown the breakout function of Jimmy Smith, reverse then-fellow newcomer Sutton Foster, within the Broadway manufacturing of “Thoroughly Modern Millie.” He additionally labored on Stephen Sondheim’s penultimate musical, “Bounce,” directed by Hal Prince.
A key function was because the fastidious missionary Elder Worth in “The Book of Mormon.” He starred within the present’s first nationwide tour in 2012 and took the function to London’s West Finish, the place he received a Olivier Award in 2014.
He performed Jean-Michel within the revival of “La Cage Aux Folles” in 2004 and returned to Broadway in 2009 as Claude Hooper Bukowski within the Public Theater’s revival of Hair.
The Related Press’ critic Michael Kuchwara was filled with reward: “Gavin Creel, besides possessing a powerhouse voice, brings a sweet-tempered poignancy to Claude, the most anguished member of the tribe. It’s Claude who has the most back story in the show: a conventional, middle-class upbringing in Queens; a total fascination with all things British, expressed in the song ‘Manchester, England;’ and an uneasy sense of duty that eventually gets him drafted and into the Vietnam War. Creel handles it all with assurance.”
Creel performed Steven Kodaly within the 2016 manufacturing of “She Loves Me” at Studio 54. The next season, Creel was tapped for the function of Cornelius Hackl, reverse legends Midler and David Hyde Pierce, within the smash 2017 revival of “Hello, Dolly!” directed by Jerry Zaks, profitable the Tony for greatest featured actor in a musical.
On the podium to simply accept his trophy, Creel thanked his school and added: “If you’re out there and you have money — and I know some people in this room have a lot of it — start a scholarship fund. Change someone’s life.”
Creel turned a main voice throughout the theater trade by working to cross the federal Marriage Equality Act. He teamed up with buddies Rory O’Malley and Jenny Kanelos to co-found the nonprofit group Broadway Impression.
Offstage, he performed the singing waiter Invoice within the movies “Eloise at the Plaza” and “Eloise at Christmastime” alongside Julie Andrews. In 2021, he was solid in Ryan Murphy’s miniseries “American Horror Stories” reverse Matt Bomer. His 2022 solo live performance was filmed for the premiere episode of PBS’s “Stars Onstage at Westport Country Playhouse.”
In 2022, Creel was solid in an off-Broadway live performance manufacturing of Sondheim and James Lapine’s fractured fairy story musical “Into the Woods” — Creel performed the roles of Cinderella’s Prince in addition to the Wolf. The present later transferred to Broadway and was prolonged a number of instances, incomes a Tony nomination for greatest revival of a musical.
He’s survived by his mom, Nancy Clemens Creel, and father, James William Creel; his sisters, Heather Elise Creel and Allyson Jo Creel; and his accomplice, Alex Temple Ward.Story Particulars
Initially Printed: October 1, 2024 at 3:11 p.m.
