Gavin Creel, Tony Award-winning Broadway star, dies at 48

Gavin Creel – the acclaimed songwriter, singer and stage actor, known for roles on Broadway in Thoroughly modern Millie, hair, She loves me And Hello, Dolly! — died on Monday, September 30, at the age of 48, while receiving treatment for a rare and aggressive form of sarcoma.

His death was confirmed by his partner Alex Temple Ward.

Metastatic melanotic peripheral nerve sheath sarcoma is a rare cancer that develops in the bones or soft tissues of the body, such as muscles, fat, blood vessels, and nerves. Creel wasn't diagnosed until July 2024. Before transitioning to home hospice care, he was treated at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.

The actor's family and close friends are asking for privacy as they mourn. They request that gifts in Gavin's memory be made to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

There will be a small private gathering for the family and a celebration of life for the community at a date to be announced.

Creel was one of Broadway's brightest stars and was beloved by his contemporaries, including his close friends and co-stars Sara Bareilles, Andrew Rannells, Sutton Foster, Jane Krakowski, Aaron Tveit, Caissie Levy, Patti Murin, Colin Donnell, Will Swenson and Kate Baldwin, and Joshua Henry.

His soulful tenor voice, bubbly personality and handsome looks helped him stand out from the crowd of triple threats. The out gay actor also used his platform to advocate for racial equality, denounce behind-the-scenes sexual impropriety and fight for LGBTQ rights – particularly in the early days of the push for same-sex marriage as co-founder of the grassroots organization Broadway Impact (with Rory O'Malley and Jenny Kanelos).

A native of Findlay, Ohio, Creel fell in love with musical theater his sophomore year of high school after securing a role in the production of “The Musical.” Camelot.

“I knew I was bitten by the bug because when the show was over I was depressed,” he told filmmaker Jonathan Theodore Baker in a May 2024 documentary produced by The Broadway Collection. “The show was fun, the music was great, but it was about the people I was with. We all had a common, passionate goal to tell a story. I wanted to make a living doing this. I wanted to be separate from my life.”

After graduating from the University of Michigan School of Music, Theater and Dance, Creel worked at the regional repertory theater Pittsburgh CLO. He then moved to New York, where he landed his first role in the touring production of ” Fame: The Musical.

“I thought, 'I'm the luckiest man in the world,'” he remembers when he got the job. “And from there I started meeting people from that show, I started meeting their friends and their friends. And I kind of felt like there was a place for me in all of this. in this city.”

“It wasn’t the money, it wasn’t even the job – what it is is the people. That’s it,” Creel added. “These buildings have no heartbeat, these streets have no heartbeat. It’s the people coming together to do something, say something and then give back.”

fame led to more and more off-Broadway work until Creel finally made his Broadway debut in 2002, appearing opposite Foster in the stage musical adaptation of the 1967 film Thoroughly modern Millie.

The performance as Jimmy Smith earned Creel his first Tony Award nomination. A second nomination came in 2009 for the role of Claude in the 2009 Broadway revival Hair.

He achieved his first win in 2017 after landing the role of Cornelius Hackl in the acclaimed revival of ” Hello, Dolly! alongside Bette Midler and David Hyde Pierce. He happened to receive the award from Foster, who presented the award, and called it an “absolute dream come true.”

After accepting the trophy, Creel shared his advice for actors looking to break into the musical theater industry, urging them to “get off social media.”

“Stop living a virtual life over an actual life,” Creel told reporters, including PEOPLE, backstage. “Don’t disappear into a never-ending cycle of neuroses and anxiety on your phone. That's why I completely distance myself from it, which is, 'Why am I anxious all the time?' Being a theater actor in this business is not about looking at yourself, but about looking outward and giving something to the audience, I would say: take out your phones and get on stage.”

Creel has made a number of other appearances on Broadway, including the 2016 Tony-nominated revival of ” She loves me (with Benanti, Krakowski and Zachary Levi), a run-in waitress with Bareillis as well as the 2022 production Into the forestwhich was broadcast after an acclaimed performance at the New York City Center Encores! This show also earned him a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.

From 2012 to 2015, Creel also directed a number of productions of The Book of Mormon – From the first national tour to the original West End production (which won him the Laurence Olivier Award in 2014, the most prestigious theater award in the UK) to Broadway.

His on-screen appearances included two episodes of FX on Hulu's American horror stories opposite Matt Bomer and Sierra McCormick.

As a singer-songwriter, Creel produced a number of original albums and EPs. He appeared on a number of musical theater compilation albums, was a fixture at Broadway concerts, and was a regular on the LGBT RFamilyVacations cruise with Rosie O'Donnell.

His final stage role was deeply personal – a musical he wrote and starred in Move On: Confessions of a Museum Newbiewhich ran Off-Broadway at the MCC Theater from November 2023 to January 2024.

Commissioned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the exhibition featured a vulnerable Creel who, while walking the halls of the Met, explored his own place in the world to find himself again after a failed relationship.

Creel spoke about this in a candid interview with him The Daily Beast published in December 2023, in which he revealed that over the years he has learned not to base his happiness on industry success.

“I won the Tony Award and thought, 'Something's going to change for me.' “That wasn’t the case,” Creel said, admitting that “the phone didn’t ring” when there were offers. “The blossom has fallen off the rose a little. New people come and replace you. The cycle of the business meant I couldn't love it anymore. I knew the industry couldn't be everything. I couldn't find my happiness because it doesn't have a heartbeat. Ultimately I don't care.

Another theme explored in the musical was the influence of religion on Creel's life and the path to his acceptance of God.

“I’m in a place of healing that I honestly didn’t think I would ever get to,” he said. “The joy, beauty and opportunities I have in my life have come from honesty and authenticity.” … I proudly feel God's blessing. I don’t think all the luck in my life is a coincidence.”

“I think I’m blessed,” Creel added. “I am no longer afraid of God. I feel like I’m working with Him.”

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As for the future, Creel said The Daily Beast he was hopeful Keep going through had a long future ahead of him.

“With this show, I’m doing the most creative thing I’ve ever been a part of in my life, and I hope it leads to more opportunities,” Creel said. “That's what I want. I want the show to go to Broadway, to have a beautiful run on Broadway where thousands of people see it, and then to tour the West End, then Australia and around the world. I want to be able to serve others.”

“If I never do film or television again, I could live with that, but I'm not prepared to never be on stage again,” Creel said. “I love telling stories that make people laugh, cry and think.”