Gavin Creel Honored at Broadway Memorial Service Filled With Music, Humor and Heartbreak: ‘He Was Everyone’s Favorite Person’
Gavin Creel, the Tony Award-winning star of “Hello Dolly!” and “Hair” who died in September at the age of 48, was celebrated Monday as a passionate artist and activist in an emotional memorial service filled with music and memories that brought out much of New York City’s tight-knit theater community.
“Tonight is going to be both joyful and there’s going to be some sorrow,” Heather Creel, Gavin’s sister, said. “It’s going to have both tears and laughter, and it’s going to have excitement and quiet.”
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And there was indeed plenty of humor and heartbreak, starry moments and profound sadness, over the course of the nearly two hour service. Creel, who died after battling an aggressive form of cancer, was honored by his partner, Alex Temple Ward, as well as former co-stars like Sara Bareilles and Celia Keenan-Bolger. There were also performances by Broadway icons like Kelli O’Hara, Phillipa Soo and Joshua Henry of songs such as “How Glory Goes,” “Sunday” and “Children Will Listen” that held special significance for Creel. The service concluded with a rousing rendition of “Let the Sunshine In,” one of the numbers that Creel sang when he appeared in the 2009 revival of “Hair.” In between, there were stories about Creel’s love of gadgets, obsession with Pixar movies, pancake-making abilities, impromptu dog adoptions, on-stage flatulence, and “long arms” and soaring voice.
Those were the lighter moments. Friends and colleagues praised Creel’s activism on behalf of marriage equality and organizations like Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, while Ward remembered the “gargantuan amount of radical acceptance” with which he processed his terminal diagnosis. “I witnessed a fortitude of spirit in that man unlike anything I have ever witnessed in my entire life,” he said.
The memorial service was held at Broadway’s St. James Theatre, where Creel appeared as a vain prince in the 2022 revival of “Into the Woods,” earning characteristically glowing notices for his comic turn. Bareilles quipped that some of the hundreds of people in the audience had inadvertently showed up thinking they were there for a matinee of “Sunset Blvd.”
“Into the Woods” wasn’t the only time that Creel’s work was singled out for praise and awards. In a career that spanned two decades, Creel won a Tony Award in 2017 for best featured actor in a musical for “Hello, Dolly,” and he was nominated prior to that in 2009 for “Hair” and in 2002 for “Thoroughly Modern Millie.” He also won a Grammy for best musical theater album as part of the cast of “Into the Woods.” Other credits included revivals of “She Loves Me” and “La Cage aux Folles,” as well as appearances in the replacement casts of “The Book of Mormon” and “Waitress.” In addition to his stage work, Creel wrote the musical, “Walk On Through: Confessions of a Museum Novice,” which opened Off-Broadway in 2023.
Many of his eulogizers focused as much on Creel’s personal qualities as on his undeniable theatrical talent. Dubbing him “perfectly imperfect,” Bareilles praised Creel’s “wandering childlike wonder” and his “optimism,” but also his honesty about the darkness he sometimes felt. That candor made him a valuable support system, who “shone the great supernova of his love on so many people,” she said. Keenan-Bolger, a former classmate from the University of Michigan, recalled their early days sharing an apartment on the Lower East Side (the shower was in the kitchen), along with trips to France and Italy when they were both starting out. She also talked about Creel’s final days, where he showed bravery amidst pain. “I have no regrets,” Keenan-Bolger remembered Creel telling her. “I did everything I wanted to do. It was a pretty amazing life — I just wish I had more time.”
A photo of a smiling Creel graced the LED marquee of the St. James Theatre on Monday afternoon. By 3:15, the line of attendees stretched all the way down West 44th Street and curled around onto 7th Avenue. Among the Broadway names spotted while waiting to enter were Tony winners like Jonathan Groff, Stephanie J. Block and Ben Platt, as well as agents, press reps and other industry types.
“He just has such an unparalleled light and and an unparalleled heart,” said Groff.
“He was really present in all of our lives,” added fellow performer and former Equity president Kate Shindle.
“He was everyone’s favorite person,” said another attendee, Jessica Ward, a former front-of-house staffer at two Broadway theaters where Creel had appeared in shows. “He made everyone feel like they were incredibly special.”
A Playbill distributed to the audience showed photos of Creel throughout his life, along with a note from the Creel family. “His light has the power to continue to shine by reflecting off each of us,” read the note in part. Just before the service started, the crowd quieted when a recording of Creel performing “Put On Your Sunday Clothes” in “Hello, Dolly!” played in the auditorium.
In addition to the memorial service, Creel will be honored on Tuesday when Broadway theaters will dim their lights. There was ferocious blowback, as well as a petition that attracted 20,000 signatures, after it was initially announced that only certain venues would perform this tribute to Creel. Bowing to pressure, the Broadway League later announced that every theater will have their marquees dimmed.
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