A ‘bright-voiced Broadway charmer’: Gavin Creel’s cause of death, confirmed

Tony Award-winning Broadway star Gavin Creel died in his Manhattan home on Monday, according to Creel’s partner, Alex Temple Ward, via a publicist. Creel’s cause of death was also confirmed. He was 48.

According to Creel’s publicist, Creel learned that he had peripheral nerve sheath sarcoma, a rare and aggressive form of cancer, in July, and less than three months later, he died. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Creel was treated at Memorial Sloan Kettering after his diagnosis, but he transitioned to hospice care not long before his death.

Creel, a celebrated tenor, performed on Broadway for over 20 years, winning an Olivier Award for Best Actor in 2014 for the part of Elder Price in The Book of Mormon and a Tony Award three years later for the role of Cornelius Hackl in Hello, Dolly! Creel received two other Tony nominations for Hair and Thoroughly Modern Millie. On finally taking home the Tony in 2017, Creel told The San Francisco Chronicle, “The Tony really felt like a hug from the community I’ve been in for 20 years. That feels good. I can literally do nothing else in my life and I’m still a Tony winner. I will never not have done that.” Creel also recorded music and appeared in several films and TV shows.

Most recently, he appeared off-Broadway in Walk on Through: Confessions of a Museum Novice, with music Creel wrote and composed. He also returned to Broadway in a production of Into the Woods alongside singer-songwriter Sarah Bareilles, Creel’s friend.

Creel was a ‘bright-voiced Broadway charmer,’ according to theater critic Adam Feldman

News that Creel had died drew a quick and emotional response from Broadway fans and the theater community. Theater critic Adam Feldman called Creel a “bright-voiced Broadway charmer” on social media, adding, “This one is just a heartbreaker.” Meanwhile, Broadway legend Bernadette Peters wrote on X, “Gavin Creel. What a beautiful soul what a fine person, a great performer and voice. RIP. We are all so sad 💔”

English musical theater star Rob Madge also recalled working with Creel in a Mary Poppins production. ” … [H]e was my Bert in Mary Poppins and took this theatre loving kid under his wing. Will never forget him buying Krispy Kreme’s for all the kids every single Saturday.💔,” Madge wrote on X.

Creel’s legacy of gay-rights advocacy

Off the stage, Creel ⏤ who was born in Ohio and graduated from the University of Michigan’s School of Music, Theater & Dance ⏤ founded Broadway Impact, advocating for the right to same-sex marriage before gay marriage was legal in much of the United States.

Creel is survived by his partner, Alex Temple Ward, his parents, Nancy Clemens Creel and James William Creel, and his two sisters. In the past, he dated Hamilton star Jonathan Groff. Groff told Interview Magazine just a few months before Creel’s cancer diagnosis that the relationship helped him come out publically.

Meanwhile, Josh Gad, who starred in The Book of Mormon with Creel, captioned an Instagram photo, “Sometimes, I don’t have the right words to describe my sadness. Today is one of those days … My heart breaks for his family and his closest friends. This is just not fair. We will never forget you.”