Gavin James Creel (April 18, 1976 – September 30, 2024) was an American actor, singer, and songwriter best known for his work in musical theater. Over his career he received a Grammy Award, a Tony Award, a Drama Desk Award and a Laurence Olivier Award. Creel made his Broadway debut in 2002 in the leading role of Jimmy in Thoroughly Modern Millie before starring as Claude in the 2009 Broadway revival of Hair, both Tony Award–nominated performances. From 2012 to 2015, he starred as Elder Price in The Book of Mormon; he received a Laurence Olivier Award for originating the role in the West End version of the musical and played the role in the U.S. National Tour and on Broadway. He received a Tony Award in 2017 for his performance as Cornelius Hackl in Hello, Dolly! on Broadway. Creel's other stage credits include La Cage aux Folles (2004), She Loves Me (2016), Waitress (2019), and Into the Woods (2022) on Broadway; Mary Poppins (2006), Hair (2010) and Waitress (2020) in the West End; and the national tours of Fame (1998) and Into the Woods (2023). Primarily a theater actor, his most notable screen acting role is as Bill in Eloise at the Plaza and its Christmas-themed sequel.

Early life and education

Creel was born in Findlay, Ohio, on April 18, 1976. He was raised in a devoutly religious environment which he found highly alienating, and was drawn to theater as a way to escape it. He attended Findlay High School, graduating in 1994. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in musical theatre at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance in 1998.

Career

1997–2001: Early career

Creel began his professional career in regional theater. Some of his earliest credits are as part of the resident cast of Pittsburgh CLO, a repertory theater, for their 1997 and 1998 seasons; mostly ensemble roles, some of his eight productions there included Kiss Me Kate, La Cage aux Folles, and On the Town. Following college graduation, Creel played Nick Piazza in the opening cast of 1998 national tour of Fame. In 1998–1999, the tour performed in cities including Toronto, Washington, D.C., and Chicago. Following the tour, he continued to perform in regional theater before moving to New York City in the early 2000s. In 2001, he was the swing in the original off-Broadway production of ''Bat Boy: The Musical. He also took part in the 2001 workshop of Spring Awakening''.

2002–2012: Broadway debut and breakthrough

In 2002, Creel made his Broadway debut in the original production of Thoroughly Modern Millie, originating the role of Jimmy Smith opposite Sutton Foster's Millie Dillmount. A breakthrough performance, he was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical. In February 2003, Creel played Prince Eric in a workshop for Disney's stage adaptation of The Little Mermaid. After he departed Thoroughly Modern Millie in April 2003, he performed in the original Chicago production of Stephen Sondheim's Road Show, then titled Bounce, recorded the original cast album for Bright Lights, Big City, among other productions and workshops. Of note, he made his screen acting debut in the 2003 film Eloise at the Plaza and its follow-up Eloise at Christmastime as Bill. He returned to Broadway in 2004 in the revival of La Cage aux Folles, playing Jean-Michel throughout the production. In 2006, he made his West End debut in Mary Poppins, replacing the original Bert in the production. Also in 2006, he released his debut studio album Goodtimenation. In 2008, Creel was set to star as Jesus alongside Joshua Henry as Judas/John the Baptist and Diana DeGarmo in a Broadway revival of Godspell at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, but on August 19, it was announced that the show was postponed indefinitely due to the loss of an investor. He returned to Broadway in 2009 in the revival of Hair. For his starring role of Claude, he received his second Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical. He and the rest of the cast performed in London through 2010 when the production transferred to the West End. Following Hair, he starred in the world premiere of Prometheus Bound at the American Repertory Theater.

2012–2024: Continued theater roles

From 2012 until 2015, Creel starred in a series of productions of The Book of Mormon. He first starred as Elder Price in the First National Tour of the show in 2012. He subsequently originated the role in the musical's original West End production; for this performance, he was awarded Best Actor in a Musical at the 2014 Laurence Olivier Awards, the most prestigious theatrical awards in the United Kingdom. Following his West End run, he returned to the touring production for a number of months before joining the Broadway cast in 2015. Creel played the suave salesman Steven Kodaly, opposite Jane Krakowski, in the 2016 Broadway revival of She Loves Me. The show was a critical success and the production became the first Broadway show ever to be live-streamed. Since then, the recording has been part of the PBS series Great Performances. In 2017, he began playing Cornelius Hackl in the Broadway revival of Hello, Dolly! starring Bette Midler. For his role, Creel was awarded the 2017 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical. In 2019, Creel assumed the role of Dr. Pomatter in the Broadway production of Waitress. He subsequently played the role in the West End production of the musical starring alongside Sara Bareilles. In 2021, Creel appeared in two episodes of American Horror Stories opposite Matt Bomer and Sierra McCormick on FX on Hulu. On August 29, 2021, Creel was featured in the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) network's aired concert for the musical Wicked which was hosted by Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel. Other featured artists were Rita Moreno, Cynthia Erivo, Ariana DeBose, Ali Stroker, Amber Riley, Mario Cantone, Jennifer Nettles, Stephanie Hsu, Alex Newell, Isaac Cole Powell, and Gabrielle Ruiz performing many of the musical's numbers. In May 2022, Creel appeared as The Wolf and Cinderella's Prince in the New York City Center Encores! production and subsequent Broadway revival in June of Into the Woods. He left the production July 23 for two weeks and was filled in for by Cheyenne Jackson and understudy Jason Forbach. He came back for a month and then left again on September 4 for 10 days and was filled in for by Andy Karl, He returned to the production September 16 and stayed with the cast through its closing date January 8, 2023. During the Broadway run he would star opposite Bareilles, Karl, Joshua Henry, Phillipa Soo, Brian d'Arcy James, Patina Miller, Stephanie J. Block, Krysta Rodriguez, Denée Benton, Julia Lester, Sebastian Arcelus, Montego Glover, Diane Phelan, and Joaquina Kalukango. He reprised these roles in the 2023 national tour opposite Glover, Block, Arcelus, Forbach, Phelan, Rodriguez, and Karl. The first time Creel performed a song from his self written musical was at Elsie Fest in 2019, where he debuted the song "The Only One". In 2021, Creel performed two shows of a self-described 'concert-cal' called Walk on Through: Confessions of a Museum Novice, for which Creel was commissioned to write and perform the book, music, and lyrics by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In December 2022, two industry readings of Walk on Through were held at Pershing Square Signature Theatre Center. Creel spoke at length about working on this piece before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. It had its world premiere Off-Broadway in November 2023, running from November 13 to January 7, 2024.

Personal life

Creel was gay and was heavily involved in gay rights activism. He was one of the founders, with Rory O'Malley and Jenny Kanelos, of Broadway Impact, an LGBT activist group that mobilized the New York theatre community in the pursuit of marriage equality. He was also a regular on the LGBT RFamilyVacations cruise with Rosie O'Donnell. From 2015 till his death, Creel was part of Board of trustees for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. In 2009, Creel dated fellow actor Jonathan Groff. He also dated actor Henry Gottfried for several years, whom he mentioned in his Tony acceptance speech. At the time of his death, he was in a relationship with Alex Temple Ward. Creel divided his time between residences on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and in Carmel, New York. Creel took a temporary leave from Hello, Dolly! in March 2018 to recover from back surgery.

Illness and death

In July 2024, Creel was diagnosed with metastatic melanotic peripheral nerve sheath sarcoma, a rare form of cancer. He died from the disease under hospice care at his home in Manhattan on September 30, 2024, at the age of 48. Numerous actors who had worked with Creel publicly paid tribute to him. Theaters in Toronto, the West End and on Broadway announced that they would dim their lights as a tribute to Creel. Initially, only one-third of Broadway's 41 theaters planned towards dimming their lights in honor of Creel, but after public outcry, the tribute was announced to be extended to all Broadway venues which took place on December 3, 2024. A candlelight vigil was also held in Creel's memory in London, at the Actors' Church in Covent Garden. A public memorial service was also held at the St. James Theatre in New York City on December 2, 2024.

Acting credits

Theatre

Adapted from About The Artists and Broadway World.

Television

Other works

Discography

Solo discography

Cast recordings

Source:

Awards and nominations