Gavin Creel, a Broadway musical theatre veteran who won a Tony Award for Hello, Dolly! and nominations for Hair and Thoroughly Modern Millie, has died of a rare and aggressive form of cancer at the age of 48. Publicist Matt Polk said Creel died at his home in Manhattan of metastatic melanotic peripheral nerve sheath sarcoma. He was diagnosed in July 2024.
Creel had a knack for Golden Age Broadway revivals, but he also performed in modern fare like the role of Dr Pomatter in Sara Bareilles’ musical Waitress on Broadway in 2019 and on the West End in 2020. He won an Olivier Award for The Book Of Mormon. Gavin Creel accepts the award for Hello, Dolly! (Michael Zorn/Invision/AP) Creel was raised in Findlay, Ohio, and graduated from the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance.
He toured and did regional work before landing the breakout role of Jimmy Smith, opposite then-fellow newcomer Sutton Foster, in the Broadway production of Thoroughly Modern Millie. He also worked on Stephen Sondheim’s penultimate musical, Bounce, directed by Hal Prince. He played Jean-Michel in the revival of “La Cage Aux Folles” in 2004 and returned to Broadway in 2009 as Claude Hooper Bukowski in the Public Theatre’s revival of Hair.
The Associated Press’ critic Michael Kuchwara was full of praise: “Gavin Creel, besides possessing a powerhouse voice, brings a sweet-tempered poignancy to Claude, the most anguished member of the tribe. “It’s Claude who has the most back sto.
