Olivier Award winner Gavin Creel. Picture: Pamela Raith
Sutton Foster, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Idina Menzel, Hannah Waddingham, Kristin Chenoweth and Bette Midler are among the many stage and screen stars paying tribute to Tony and Olivier Award-winning Broadway and West End star Gavin Creel who has passed away at the age of 48 following a battle with an aggressive form of cancer.
Writing on Instagram, Miranda said he was ‘shattered’ by the news, adding: ‘Gavin Creel was our first King [in Hamilton] when all we had was 11 songs and he wrapped the audience around his finger with nothing but a Burger King crown and his mind-blowing charisma and talent. He is so loved and it is unimaginable that he’s no longer with us. My heart goes out to all the friends and family and collaborators lucky enough to be in his orbit. We love you and we’ll always love you Gavin.’
Menzel also used Instagram to express her reaction to his loss, posting ‘Sweet Gavin Creel. An angel among the angels. I love you so much.’
Jared Gertner and Gavin Creel in The Book of Mormon. Picture: Johan Persson
Writing on X, Hannah Waddingham said: ‘I’ve just had to sit down. I keep rereading his name thinking everyone’s got it wrong. Not this man, not this beautiful, smiley, talented man. The absolute real deal, talent pouring out of every pore. I’m heartbroken you’ve gone Gavin. I hope to see you again my friend. God I’m shaken to my core.’
Chenoweth also paid tribute on X, writing: ‘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.’
Midler who appeared alongside the well-loved actor in the recent hit revival of Hello, Dolly! said: ‘Beloved by the Broadway community, the radiant actor Gavin Creel has died from a rare form of cancer. 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.’
A Tony nominee for his Broadway debut in 2002 when he originated the role of Jimmy Smith in Thoroughly Modern Millie, Creel won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical in 2017 for his performance alongside Midler in Hello, Dolly!
Gavin Creel and Sara Bareilles in the West End production of Waitress. Picture: Matt Crockett for Dewynters
He originated the role of Elder Price in the hit West production of The Book of Mormon – a performance that earned the actor an Olivier Award and WhatsOnStage Award in 2017.
Creel’s many stage credits also included playing Dr Pomatter opposite Sara Bareilles in Waitress on Broadway in the West End; playing Bert in Mary Poppins in the West End in 2006; starring as Nick Hurley in the original US production of Flashdance; playing Stephen Kodaly in the acclaimed Roundabout Theater Company’s production of She Loves Me; and giving a Tony Award-nominated performance in the Broadway revival of Hair in 2009 and the production’s West End transfer in 2010.
Most recently he reunited with Bareilles for the Encores! production of Into the Woods and its limited Broadway transfer season and in late 2023 his first musical Walk On Through: Confessions of a Museum Novice premiered Off-Broadway.
Angela Thomas
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