Gavin Creel — the celebrated songwriter, singer and stage actor identified for roles on Broadway in Completely Trendy Millie, Hair, She Loves Me and Good day, Dolly! — died on Monday, Sept. 30 on the age of 48 amid therapy for a rare and aggressive form of sarcoma.
His passing was confirmed by his associate, Alex Temple Ward.
Sarcoma is a uncommon most cancers that develops within the physique’s bones or smooth tissues, similar to muscle tissues, fats, blood vessels and nerves. Creel was solely identified in July 2024
The actor’s household and shut buddies are asking for privateness whereas they grieve. They request that presents in Gavin’s reminiscence be made to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.
There will probably be a small non-public gathering for the household and a celebration of life will probably be held for the group at a date to be introduced.
By no means miss a narrative — join PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to remain up-to-date on the most effective of what PEOPLE has to supply, from celeb information to driving human curiosity tales.
Creel was certainly one of Broadway’s brightest stars and was beloved amongst his group of contemporaries, together with shut buddies and costars Sara Bareilles, Andrew Rannells, Sutton Foster, Jane Krakowski, Aaron Tveit, Caissie Levy, Patti Murin, Colin Donnell, Will Swenson, Kate Baldwin, and Joshua Henry.
His soulful tenor voice, effervescent character and good-looking beauty helped him stand out amongst a sea triple threats. The out, homosexual actor additionally used his platform to advocate for racial equality, to name out sexual inappropriateness behind-the-scenes and to struggle for LGBTQ rights — particularly throughout the early days of the hunt for marriage equality as co-founder of the grassroots group Broadway Impact (with Rory O’Malley and Jenny Kanelos).
A local of Findlay, Ohio, Creel really feel in love with musical theater in his sophomore yr of highschool after nabbing a task of their manufacturing of Camelot.
“I knew I acquired bit by the bug as a result of when that present ended, I used to be depressed,” he advised filmmaker Jonathan Theodore Baker in a May 2024 documentary produced by The Broadway Assortment. “The present was enjoyable, the music was nice, however it was concerning the folks I used to be with. We have been all in a standard, passionate objective to inform a narrative. I wished that for a dwelling. I wished to be aside of that for my life.”
Following his commencement from the College of Michigan College of Music, Theatre and Dance, Creel labored at regional repertory theater Pittsburgh CLO. He then moved to New York the place he booked his first function within the touring manufacturing of Fame: The Musical.
“I believed, ‘I am the luckiest man alive,’ ” he recalled, of getting the job. “And from that, I began assembly folks from that present, I began assembly their buddies and their buddies. And I began, just a bit bit, feeling like there’s a spot for me in all this. on this metropolis.”
“It wasn’t he cash, it wasn’t the job, even — what it’s is the folks. That is what it’s,” Creel added. “These buildings haven’t got a heartbeat, these streets haven’t got a heartbeat. It is the folks coming collectively to do one thing, say one thing, after which give it again.”
Fame led to increasingly work Off-Broadway till Creel lastly made his Broadway debut in 2002, starring reverse Foster within the stage musical stage adaptation of the 1967 movie Completely Trendy Millie.
The efficiency, as Jimmy Smith, earned Creel his first Tony Award nomination. A second nomination got here in 2009, for taking part in the function of Claude within the 2009 Broadway revival of Hair.
His first win got here in 2017, after starring as Cornelius Hackl within the celebrated revival of Good day, Dolly! alongside Bette Midler and David Hyde Pierce. He coincidentally obtained the award from Foster, who was presenting, calling it an “absolute dream come true.”
After accepting the trophy, Creel handed alongside his recommendation to actors aspiring to enter the musical theater trade, urging them to “get off social media.”
“Cease dwelling a digital life over an precise life,” Creel advised reporters backstage, together with PEOPLE. “Do not disappear in your telephone right into a endless cycle of neurosis and nervousness. It is the explanation I am off it utterly, which is like, ‘Why am I anxious on a regular basis?’ To be a theater actor, on this enterprise, is not to take a look at your self. It is to look outward to an viewers and to seek out the best way to offer to an viewers. If you happen to’re looking at your self or cultivating a life in your telephone, I’d say get out of your telephones and get on stage.”
Creel had numerous different credit on Broadway, together with the 2016 Tony-nominated revival of She Loves Me (with Benanti, Krakowski, and Zachary Levi), a run in Waitress with Bareillis in addition to the 2022 manufacturing of Into the Woods, which transferred after an acclaimed run at New York Metropolis Heart Encores! That present additionally gained him a Grammy Award for greatest musical theater album.
From 2012 till 2015, Creel additionally led a collection of productions of The E book of Mormon — from the primary nationwide tour to the unique West Finish manufacturing (which gained him the 2014 Laurence Olivier Award, essentially the most prestigious theatrical awards in the UK) to even Broadway.
Amongst his on-screen credit included two episodes of FX on Hulu’s American Horror Tales reverse Matt Bomer and Sierra McCormick.
As a singer-songwriter, Creel produced numerous unique albums and EPs. He appeared on numerous musical theater compilation albums, was a staple of Broadway live performance and was a daily on the LGBT RFamilyVacations cruise with Rosie O’Donnell.
His final stage function was deeply private — a musical he penned and starred in referred to as Stroll on By way of: Confessions of a Museum Novice, that ran Off-Broadway on the MCC Theater from November 2023 to January 2024.
Commissioned by Metropolitan Museum of Artwork, the present introduced a weak Creel who, whereas strolling the halls of the Met, explored his personal place on the planet after a failed relationship in an effort to seek out himself once more.
It is one thing Creel opened up about in a candid interview with The Daily Beast printed in December 2023, through which he revealed that he discovered through the years to not base his happiness on trade success.
“I gained the Tony Award, and I believed, ‘One thing’s going to vary for me.’ It didn’t,” Creel stated, confessing that “the telephone didn’t ring” with gives. “The bloom fell off the rose a little bit bit. New folks are available and change you. The cycle of the enterprise meant I couldn’t adore it any extra. I knew the trade couldn’t be all the things. I couldn’t supply my happiness from it as a result of it doesn’t have a heartbeat. It doesn’t finally care about me.”
One other subject explored within the musical was the affect of faith on Creel’s life, and the trail in direction of his acceptance of God.
“I’m in a spot of therapeutic that I truthfully didn’t assume I’d get to,” he stated. “The enjoyment and sweetness and alternative I’ve in my life has come about by being trustworthy and genuine. … I proudly really feel God’s blessing. I don’t imagine all this luck in my life is not any coincidence.”
“I imagine I’m blessed,” Creel added. “I don’t worry God any extra. I really feel as if I’m collaborating with Him.”
As for the longer term, Creel advised The Each day Beast he was hopeful Stroll on By way of had a protracted future forward.
“With this present I’m doing essentially the most inventive factor I’ve ever been a part of in my life, and I hope it results in extra alternative,” Creel stated. “That’s what I would like. I would like the present to go to Broadway, for it to have a good looking run on Broadway the place hundreds of individuals see it, then tour it to the West Finish, then Australia and the world. I would like to have the ability to serve others with it.”
“If I by no means do movie or TV once more, I might stay with that, however I’m not able to by no means be on stage once more,” stated Creel. “I like to have the ability to inform tales to make folks snigger, cry, and assume.”