Broadway actor Gavin Creel died Monday at the age of 48.
The Tony-winning star, known for his leading roles in Thoroughly Modern Millie, Hair and the recent revival of Into the Woods as well as his activism and positivity in the Broadway community, died after being diagnosed with metastatic melanotic peripheral nerve sheath sarcoma, a rare and aggressive form of cancer, in July. He underwent treatment at Memorial Sloan Kettering before transitioning to hospice care at home.
His passing was confirmed by his partner, Alex Temple Ward.
Known for his energetic and ebullient performances and his resonant voice, Creel won a Tony for his role as Cornelius Hackl opposite Bette Midler and David Hyde Pierce in the 2017 revival of Hello, Dolly!, directed by Jerry Zaks. Critics praised his portrayal of the enthusiastic shop clerk, with THR critic David Rooney noting that Creel’s voice had “never sounded sweeter,” adding that “Creel and [Taylor] Trensch give such a buoyant liftoff to ‘Put on Your Sunday Clothes’ that by the time the gentlefolk start promenading in their finery, flooding the stage with an explosion of Easter-egg color, we’re all airborne.”
He appeared most recently on Broadway in the 2022 revival of Into the Woods, playing the “gloriously hammy” Cinderella’s Prince and the Wolf in the production starring Sara Bareilles, a friend with whom he also co-starred in Waitress.
Just last winter, Creel appeared off-Broadway in Walk on Through: Confessions of a Museum Novice, a musical that Creel wrote and composed 17 songs for about his own experience of falling in love with the Metropolitan Museum of Art after receiving a commission from the museum.
His breakout role came in 2002 when he played Jimmy Smith opposite burgeoning star Sutton Foster in the Broadway production of Thoroughly Modern Millie. He received a Tony nomination for that role and then carried that momentum on to other roles, including playing Jean-Michel in the 2004 revival of La Cage Aux Folles.
He returned to Broadway as Claude Hooper Bukowski, the midwesterner who runs into a hippie tribe, in the Public Theater’s 2009 revival of Hair, opposite Will Swenson. During that production, Creel became an outspoken voice in the theater community for the passage of the federal Marriage Equality Act and founded the nonprofit organization Broadway Impact with Rory O’Malley and Jenny Kanelos. The group raised money for awareness for LGBTQ+ issues, and Creel convinced Hair’s producers to cancel a performance so the company could attend the Equality March on Washington in 2009.
Creel has also appeared on the West End in 2006 as Bert in Mary Poppins and reprised his role in the West End transfer of Hair in 2010. Creel then went on to win the 2014 Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical for playing Elder Price the The Book of Mormon, which he also played on tour in the U.S. and would play on Broadway.
In addition to his performance in Hello, Dolly!, Creel appeared in the 2016 revival of She Loves Me, opposite Laura Benanti and Jane Krakowski.
Born on April 18, 1976, to James and Nancy Creel, Gavin grew up in Findlay, Ohio, where he showed a gift for singing, performance and directing. He was introduced to musicals by an elementary school teacher, Nancy Glick, and after singing “Gary, Indiana” from Meredith Wilson’s The Music Man, was sold on the medium for life.
After graduating from Findlay High School in 1994, Gavin attended the Department of Musical Theater at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theater, and Dance, where he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1998. There, he met his voice teacher and lifelong friend, Melody Racine, with whom he studied during college and in the years after.
Even after graduating, Gavin regularly returned to Michigan to teach masterclasses, give voice lessons and work with students while workshopping his own material. He and his best friend and fellow Michigan alumna Celia Keenan-Bolger, founded the Celia Keenan-Bolger and Gavin Creel Activist Artist Endowed Scholarship Fund to encourage students to engage in social justice causes while in school. He also organized a retirement celebration at the August Wilson Theater in New York City for Department Chair Brent Wagner in 2016 called Maize & Blue on Broadway.
In addition to his onstage work, Creel played the singing waiter Bill in the films Eloise at the Plaza and Eloise at Christmastime alongside Dame Julie Andrews. In 2021, he was cast in Ryan Murphy’s miniseries, American Horror Stories, opposite Matt Bomer, and in 2022, Gavin’s solo concert was filmed for the premiere episode of PBS’s Stars Onstage at Westport Country Playhouse.
Creel also wrote his own music,including pop songs inspired by artists such as Whitney Houston, and produced several albums with Robbie Roth, including GOODTIMENATION (2006), Quiet (2010), Get Out (2012), and his single Noise (2011), which raised funds and awareness for marriage equality.
In 2019, Creel received a commission from the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s MetLiveArts Department which led to the production of Walk on Through: Confessions of a Museum Novice.
In addition to his partner, he is survived by his parents, Nancy Clemens Creel and James Wiliiam Creel; his sisters, Heather Elise Creel and Allyson Jo Creel and her, wife Jen Kolb; and his dog, Nina.
The funeral service is private. A memorial will be planned at a future date. The family requests that gifts in his memory be made to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids.
