Gavin Creel: 'I miss having afternoon tea'

Gavin Creel has returned to New York following his WhatsOnStage and Olivier Award-winning stint as Elder Price in the West End production of The Book of Mormon. He recently caught up with Bethany Rickwald at TheaterMania to talk about his new concert show with Seth Rudetsky, and what he misses about London…

What do you like about Seth's format?
The casual nature of it. And also Seth is just funny. I sort of sit onstage as an audience member and then I just happen to be an audience member who's given a microphone. So I get to enjoy Seth and give anecdotes. He's also a beautiful musician and he has a real taste for great and off-the-wall music.

Is it nerve-racking that there will be elements [of the show] that you haven't rehearsed?
Oh my gosh, yes. I will never have sung through the whole show until the night of. But I also like that challenge. I've been singing The Book of Mormon for two years and it's such a demanding show that I haven't done any concerts of my own… So I thought it would be good to have the challenge of learning some material, thinking about new lyrics, [and] about how to present them. That's why I did this in the first place – being able to communicate and connect through the music.

After spending significant time in both New York and London, where would you like to be next?
I want to be home. Out of the last eight years of my life, I've spent almost four of them in London. And it's time to stay home. I miss Broadway. I miss New York. I miss America. I miss my friends and my family. I've had amazing opportunities and experiences over there but it's my second home, not my first. So I'm putting down roots and I'm buying an apartment uptown and I'm staying put.

Do you have a dream role now that you're back in New York?
I want to be above the title in something new. It's a total dream because I don't know what it would be. But I want it to be in something that plays on all of my abilities. And I'd like somebody to write it for me. That's kind of what I want. I mean, it's every actor's dream, but I figure why not put it out there and hopefully one of these great writers [who] I love will read your article and go, "I've got an idea!" and call me up.

What do you think you'll miss about London?
Tea. High tea. That was my favourite thing. I love going to afternoon tea… Any time somebody from America would come over, I would take them to tea in the afternoon. You'd go and you'd have the scones and the biscuits and the tea and the clotted cream and jams and champagne, and it's just heaven.

Well, you can implement that here
Mmm hmm. I won't. I put on a lot of weight eating all that clotted cream. But I'm gonna miss the people. I mean, I miss them now. I miss my cast and my friends that I made over there… I wish there was a universe where I could combine them all and be together, but that isn't the case so I'm grateful for what I had.

Read the full interview on TheaterMania.com