The stunning and sad news is that Gavin Creel, one of Broadway’s most popular and critically acclaimed leading actors, died today in Manhattan, just two months after being diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of sarcoma. He was 48.

His death was confirmed by his partner Alex Temple Ward. Creel had undergone treatment at New York’s Memorial Sloan Kettering for metastatic melanotic peripheral nerve sheath sarcoma after being diagnosed in July. After his hospital treatment, he transitioned to hospice care at his home.

One of Broadway’s top musical theater performers, Creel made his Broadway debut in 2002 in a leading role of Thoroughly modern Millieearning a Tony Award nomination, a feat he would repeat seven years later in what would become a signature performance as Claude in the 2009 Broadway revival Her.

From 2012 to 2015 he played the role of Elder Price The Book of Mormona role he would reprise in an Olivier-winning performance for the West End production of the musical.

In 2017, he received a Tony Award for his performance as Cornelius in Broadway’s Hello, Dollie! opposite Bette Midler.

His other stage credits include La Cage aux Folles (2004), She loves me (2016), Waitress (2019), and In the forest (2022), among many others. TV credits include American horror story And Central Parkboth in 2021.

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Born Gavin James Creel on April 18, 1976, in Findlay, Ohio, Creel showed musical talent from an early age, often singing along while his grandmother, a music teacher, played the piano. He sang his first solo – “Gary, Indiana”. The music man – in a primary school production.

After graduating from high school, Creel attended the Department of Musical Theater at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre, and Dance, where he eventually received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1998. There he met his singing teacher and lifelong friend, Melody. Racine, with whom he studied during his training and long afterwards.

In 2002, after performing regionally and touring the country, Creel landed the breakout role of Jimmy Smith, opposite fellow newcomer Sutton Foster, in the Broadway production of Thoroughly modern Millie. His performance earned a Tony Award nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical.

After MillieCreel originated the role of Hollis Bessemer out of town in Stephen Sondheim’s penultimate musical Bouncedirected by Hal Prince. From there, Creel continued his Broadway career playing Jean-Michel in the revival of La Cage Aux Folles.

Creel returned to Broadway in 2009 as Claude Hooper Bukowski in the revival of The Public Theater Herearning a second Tony nomination for Best Lead Actor in a Musical.

Around this time, Creel became a leading activist and organizer in the Broadway community, lobbying for the federal Marriage Equality Act, co-founding the nonprofit Broadway Impact and, with castmates in Herraising money and awareness for LGBTQ+ issues. He convinced the revival’s producers to cancel a performance so the company could participate in the historic Equality March on Washington DC in 2009.

Creel made his West End debut in 2006 as Bert in Disney and Cameron Mackintosh’s Maria Poppins and resumed his Her role in the West End transfer in 2010. Creel then won the 2014 Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical for playing Elder Price the The Book of Mormona role he had already toured the United States and would then play on Broadway.

In 2016, Creel played Steven Kodaly in the 2016 production She loves me in Studio 54, and the following season he played the role of Cornelius Hackl, opposite Midler and David Hyde Pierce, in the popular 2017 revival Hello, Dollie!directed by Jerry Zaks. That year he took the awards circuit by storm, winning the Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk and Tony Awards for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical.

Creel appeared opposite his girlfriend Sara Bareilles in two productions: he played the role of Dr. Pomatter in the Bareilles musical Waitress on Broadway in 2019 and on the West End in 2020, and in 2022 he and Bareilles were cast in the hugely popular Encores! Sondheim and James Lapine’s production In the forest. The sold-out run quickly moved to a limited run on Broadway and was extended several times by popular demand before heading out on a national tour in 2023.

Although primarily a stage star, Creel also ventured into television and film, playing the singing waiter Bill in the films Eloise on the Plaza And Eloise at Christmas time alongside Dame Julie Andrews. In 2021, he was cast in Ryan Murphy’s American horror stories opposite Matt Bomer, and in 2022 his solo concert was filmed for the premiere episode of PBS’ Stars on stage at Westport Country Playhouse.

Creel also wrote music and began producing albums with his friend and collaborator Robbie Roth, the first of which was titled Good time (2006). Creel’s other musical releases include Calm (2010), Go away (2012), and his single Noise (2011), which raised money and awareness for marriage equality.

In 2019, Creel received a commission from the MetLiveArts department of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and began work on what would become an ambitious song cycle based on pieces from the Met’s collections and the impressions they left on him. After debuting at the Met in 2021, he hosted a residency and development workshop at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in 2022 and an industry presentation at the Signature Center Theater in New York City later that year. Creel’s debut musical was released in November 2023. Walk through: Confessions of a museum novicepremiered on Broadway at the MCC Theater, featuring 17 original songs written, played and performed by Creel, under the direction of Linda Goodrich and musical collaboration with dear friends Madeline Benson and Chris Peters.

Creel is preceded in death by his maternal grandparents Homer and Mildred Clemens, by his paternal grandparents James and Elizabeth Creel; and by his cousin Amy P. Walker.

In addition to his partner Alex Temple Ward, he is survived by his mother Nancy Clemens Creel and father James Wiliiam Creel, and sisters Heather Elise Creel and Allyson Jo Creel and her wife Jen Kolb.

The funeral service will be private, but a memorial service will be planned at a future date. The family requests that gifts in Creel’s memory be made to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids.