Stage star Gavin Creel has died aged 48

Gavin Creel, star of Waitress, The Book of Mormon and many more, has died aged 48.

Creel is said to have suffered from a rare and aggressive form of sarcoma, first diagnosed in July.

He made his Broadway debut in 2002’s Thoroughly Modern Millie, originating the role of Jimmy Smith and earning his first Tony nomination. He followed that up on Broadway as Jean-Michel in the 2004 revival of La Cage aux Folles. His second Tony nomination came in 2009 for playing Claude in Diane Paulus’s revival of Hair, and he won the award for co-starring as Cornelius Hackl opposite Bette Midler and David Hyde Pierce in Hello, Dolly!. 

In the UK, he won a WhatsOnStage Award and an Olivier Award for originating the role of Elder Price in The Book of Mormon, going on to star in Waitress before the Covid lockdowns. In 2006, he made his West End debut as Bert in Mary Poppins. 

His Broadway successes were mostly in revivals; namely, playing the Wolf/Cinderella’s Prince in the 2022 revival of Into the Woods and the dashing Steven Kodaly in She Loves Me. 

The Book of Mormon producer Sonia Friedman said: “Gavin Creel was one of the greatest actors and musicians I have ever worked with. I admired and revered him not only as an artiste but also as a deeply beautiful person. My time working with him on The Book of Mormon in London remains one of the joys of my producing career.”

With Rory O’Malley and Jenny Kanelos, Creel cofounded the nonprofit Broadway Impact, a voice within the theatre industry to advocate for the passing of the Marriage Equality Act. A graduate of the University of Michigan, Creel and friend Celia Keenan-Bolger founded the Celia Keenan-Bolger and Gavin Creel Activist Artist Endowed Scholarship Fund to encourage students to engage in social justice causes while at the school.

Creel’s most recent stage credit was a concept musical he wrote titled Walk On Through: Confessions of a Museum Novice. It premiered off-Broadway in 2023 and ran until early 2024.

Producer and venue owner Cameron Mackintosh said: “It was a truly heartbreaking shock to hear of the unexpected loss of Gavin Creel at barely the midpoint of his glorious life.

“Gavin was both brilliant in every way, and the rare American actor who was equally at home starring in the West End and on Broadway.

“Gavin loved London and London loved Gavin – whether singing “I Got Life” in Hair, “It’s a Jolly Holiday” to Mary Poppins or “You and Me (But Mostly Me)” in The Book of Mormon, Gavin melted your heart and made you smile with his consummate talent and genuine commitment to both his work and doing good in life.

“He was adored by everyone in the profession wherever he worked and for those of us who were lucky enough to also be his friend, he was an endless source of joy who carried an incandescent light with him that is very hard to believe has been so prematurely extinguished.”

He is survived by his mother Nancy Clemens Creel and father James Wiliiam Creel, his sisters Heather Elise Creel and Allyson Jo Creel and her wife Jen Kolb, his partner Alex Temple Ward, and his dog Nina.