Dealing with ‘loss’ is never ever that easy to accept and deal with even when its for icons like Dame Maggie Smith who reached the ripe old age of 89. However just following thwe announcement of her death this weeks comes news of the passing of Award winning Broadway star GAVIN CREEL aged just 48 .
The Tony Awards office said “Today, we mourn the devastating loss of Tony Award winner Gavin Creel, whose extraordinary talent, kindness, and passion lit up the stage and our hearts,”
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 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
In 2017, he received a Tony Award for his performance as Cornelius Hackl in Broadway’s Hello, Dolly!. The star of that show was Bette Midler who said today “He played Cornelius Hackl to my Dolly in “Hello Dolly” and I looked forward to working with him every single night. He was fantastic. I can’t believe he’s gone. What a loss,”
Kristin Chenoweth summed it up beautifully on X.” I’ve been thinking all day about our beloved Gavin Creel. And although one prepares, one is never ready to lose someone like him. Weren’t we blessed to know him? His legacy and talent and VOICE lives on forever. Gavin, you are SO LOVED. See you in heaven. RIP sweet angel,”
Off the stage Creel 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.
Gavin died from a very rare form cancer : he leaves behind his boyfriend Alex Temple Ward
Labels: 2024, Gavin Creel, obit, Tony Winner
