NEW YORK – Gavin Creel, a Broadway musical theater veteran who won a Tony Award for “Hello, Dolly!” opposite Bette Midler and earned nominations for “Hair” and “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” died Monday of a rare and aggressive form of cancer. He was 48.
Publicist Matt Polk said Creel died at his home in Manhattan of metastatic melanotic peripheral nerve sheath sarcoma. He was diagnosed in July 2024.
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“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 photo of Creelm on Instagram, writing, “Sweet sweet Gavin Creel. An angel among the angels."
Creel had a knack for Golden Age Broadway revivals, but he also performed in modern fare, like in the role of Dr. Pomatter in Sara Bareilles’ musical “Waitress” on Broadway in 2019 and on the West End in 2020. He won 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 University of Michigan's School of Music, Theatre & Dance. He toured and did regional work before landing the breakout role of Jimmy Smith, opposite then-fellow newcomer Sutton Foster, in the Broadway production of "Thoroughly Modern Millie." He also worked on Stephen Sondheim’s penultimate musical, “Bounce,” directed by Hal Prince.
A key role was as the fastidious missionary Elder Price in “The Book of Mormon.” He starred in the show’s first national tour in 2012 and took the role to London’s West End, where he won a Olivier Award in 2014.
He played Jean-Michel in the revival of “La Cage Aux Folles” in 2004 and returned to Broadway in 2009 as Claude Hooper Bukowski in the Public Theater’s revival of Hair.
The Associated Press' critic Michael Kuchwara was full of praise: “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 played Steven Kodaly in the 2016 production of "She Loves Me" at Studio 54. The following season, Creel was tapped for the role of Cornelius Hackl, opposite legends Midler and David Hyde Pierce, in the smash 2017 revival of “Hello, Dolly!” directed by Jerry Zaks, winning the Tony for best featured actor in a musical.
At the podium to accept his trophy, Creel thanked his college 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 became a primary voice within the theater industry by working to pass the federal Marriage Equality Act. He teamed up with friends Rory O’Malley and Jenny Kanelos to co-found the nonprofit organization Broadway Impact.
Offstage, he played the singing waiter Bill in the films “Eloise at the Plaza” and “Eloise at Christmastime” alongside Julie Andrews. In 2021, he was cast in Ryan Murphy’s miniseries “American Horror Stories” opposite Matt Bomer. His 2022 solo concert was filmed for the premiere episode of PBS’s "Stars Onstage at Westport Country Playhouse."
In 2022, Creel was cast in an off-Broadway concert production of Sondheim and James Lapine’s fractured fairy tale musical “Into the Woods” -- Creel played the roles of Cinderella’s Prince as well as the Wolf. The show later transferred to Broadway and was extended multiple times, earning a Tony nomination for best revival of a musical.
He is survived by his mother, Nancy Clemens Creel, and father, James William Creel; his sisters, Heather Elise Creel and Allyson Jo Creel; and his partner, Alex Temple Ward.