Tony Award-winning Broadway star Gavin Creel passed away on Monday, months after being diagnosed with an aggressive rare cancer. He was 48 years old.
Creel was diagnosed with metastatic melanotic nerve sheath sarcoma in July and was being treated at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, a representative for Creel confirmed her death to NBC News. That’s what it means.
Creel’s Broadway career spanned 20 years. He made his Broadway debut in 2002 as Jimmy Smith in Thoroughly Modern Millie, for which he received his first Tony Award nomination. He went on to star in ‘Hair’, which also gave him a nod. “La Cage au Fort”. “She Loves Me” “Book of Mormon”. “Waitress,” according to his website. In 2017, he won a Tony Award for his role as Cornelius Huckle in the Broadway revival of “Hello Dolly!”
The actor, known for his energetic and physical performances, won a Grammy Award in 2023 for his role in the Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods, and in 2014 for his role as Elder in The Book of Mormon. He won an Olivier Award for his role as Pryce. ”
Many people from the theater community, including “Hello Dolly!” co-star Bette Midler, original “Wicked” star Kristin Chenoweth, and “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, reacted to the news on social media. He expressed shock and sadness and described Creel as a beloved legend.
Gavin Creel and the cast of “Hair” perform at the Tony Awards ceremony in New York City on June 7, 2009. Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images File
“Gavin Creel was our first king when we only had 11 songs,” Miranda said in a post on his Instagram. He had the audience wrapped around his finger with just his talent.” “He is so loved that I can’t imagine him not being with us anymore.”
“Book of Mormon” alums Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells also mourned Creel in posts.
“We have lost someone who had too much of an impact on our creative community, too young, too early in his journey. Our thoughts are with his family and his closest friends. My heart is breaking,” Gadd wrote on Instagram. “This is totally unfair.”
“While we sometimes lived big, exciting lives, the moments we were happiest, the moments when we were most ourselves, were the quiet moments,” Runnels wrote. . “We used to call each other ‘soul mate’ or ‘Thule’ for short. It became a nickname in a joke, and in a way it became true, and saying it made us both smile. Today. , my heart is incredibly empty. I know I’m not the only one with this feeling, because after all we all fell in love with Gavin.”
Sutton Foster, who played opposite Creel in Thoroughly Modern Millie, posted an image of the two on Instagram, writing, “My sweet friend. I will love you forever.”
Tom Viola, executive director of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, called the late actor “not just one of the great actors, but one of the best.”
The charity, of which Creel was a board member, provides resources to people suffering from life-threatening illnesses such as AIDS and COVID-19.
Gavin Creel during the curtain call for the Thoroughly Modern Millie reunion concert on February 18, 2018 in New York City. Walter McBride/Getty Images
“Beyond the brilliant talent he shared with all of us on stage, Gavin Creel inspired and mobilized others by sharing the best of himself: a heart full of love and joy. and the ability to inspire,” Viola said in a statement.
The Shubert Organization, America’s oldest professional theater company, wrote in X that after Creel’s death, “the lights on Broadway will dim a little.”
SAG-AFTRA, the actors union Creel belonged to, said in its post that “one of Broadway’s brightest lights has left us.”
The account behind the Tony Awards called Creel’s death a “devastating loss.”
His “extraordinary talent, kindness and passion lit up the stage and our hearts,” the show wrote in the X Post, which shared the star’s acceptance speech.
