Gavin Creel has passed away — Page 5

peace, love, and strength to all of Gavin's family, friends, and the theater community. A true reminder of how special life is. The stars will forever be brighter above.

Mirvish productions just announced they will be dimming the marquees of the Princess of Wales and Royal Alexandria Theaters in Toronto tonight in honor of Gavin.

Updated On: 10/2/24 at 03:55 PM

Jay Lerner-Z said: "I remember Charlotte St.Martin arguing that dimmings should be rare, and if everybody got one they would lose their specialness. A-Listers only. Also that she would not be bullied by social media into doing it their way. I think the Joan Rivers dimming changed course. Anyway, Gavin Creel… how could anybody argue with that?"

There is no process of standardization and the League has been historically weird about it and has gone back and forth throughout the years. But now St. Martin is gone.

A partial dimming (one from each owner) is somewhat common now for lesser known artists and allows people to congregate in front of select houses. (I wish they'd just do 44th or 45th between 7 & 8 for the select dimmings so all the houses in that area are out, but that's just me)

If Adrian Bailey (who appeared in 15 Bway shows but never originated a lead role) is getting a partial dimming, then it seems clear to me that Gavin Creel would get a full dimming (he appeared in 8 shows in principal roles, won a Tony & was a 2x nominee, and was recently active on Bway). The grey area is someone like Ken Page: maybe he's partial, maybe he's full.

Determining the "worth" of a given person isn't a job that anyone should want to have

Anything is possible with the right amount of money!

If someone wanted to donate 7-8 figures to his Alma mater or to a nonprofit in exchange for naming a venue after him, I’m sure it would be an easy yes.

I work in a theater office and when one person found out, the news swept the office and everyone was just gathered around computer screens and the room fell silent, which on a Monday morning is not typical.

I can't really say why this loss hits me so hard, but I just think he was one of the kindest, most talented performers to ever do it. His voice was smooth as butter, and to lose him so young, and SO FAST! It's crushing.

I was lucky enough to see him in every NY stage role he did from 2009 on (Hair (2x), She Loves Me, The Book of Mormon, Hello Dolly (3x), Waitress, Into the Woods (at City Center and on Bway) and Walk on Through at MCC, which ended up being one of my favorite things I think I've ever seen. Shame it didn't at least get an album. I specifically saw BOM and Waitress BECAUSE he was in it at the time.

It's been a couple days, and multiple times throughout each day I just find myself realizing (almost in real time) over and over again that he's gone. I am going to cherish the few brief opportunities I had to meet him at Stage Doors over the years, and the photos I luckily took with him. There won't be another person like him ever. At least we'll always have his music.

Miss10036 said: "I've also had a tough time processing this one. I was just thinking about Walk on Through over the weekend when I was at the Met. I had only gone there once in my life before WOT and now visit pretty regularly after his show admittedly inspired me to get out and see more art. I enjoy the recognition whenever I spot pieces he sang about in the show and this Sunday, I was working through European Paintings when I spotted Judith. And I remembered how that painting had spoken to him, and I hoped that whatever he was up to, he was still refining WOT so that more people could experience it and hear that incredible score.

I saw the show last fall on a night when he did a talkback with his director Linda Goodrich (also one of his college teachers), and his family and a number of his friends were in the audience. I remember how the man was just radiating energy, talking about his process of creating after jumping around the stage for an hour and a half. It felt so special to be in that room the two times I saw WOT and to watch him get vulnerable and tap into his powers. I'd known he was talented, obviously, but I didn't realize he could do allthat. It made me think how lucky we are as theatre lovers to have people like him who devote themselves to theatre and who we can follow as they grow and show new parts of themselves over the years. I couldn't wait to see what else he'd do. A treat in any show he performed in and a gifted storyteller, composer, and lyricist who had so much more to give... RIP, his portamento will always be my favorite."

I wonder if this’ll have more of a life now - like a Tick Tick Boom. This was beautiful music and I’d like his legacy to live on through it.

Partial dimming, same as they’re doing for Adrian Bailey. Gotta save that money, them union electricians are expensive.

It is still disrespectful for them to "partially" dim the lights. When we lose a valued member of this community, we dim ALL the lights! I really hope the West End does the same thing, as he was very loved here, too!

Those who feel mad about this might be better off channeling that into activism as a way of honoring Creel –– fighting for democracy and LGBTQ+ rights –– which by all accounts Creel himself might feel is a better use of time than yelling about a lightswitch.

As with funerals, these are really things for the living to help them process and honor the deceased, and it surely won't be the only memorial for him. I can't get mad about a partial-dimming for ~95% of Broadway deaths, but that's just me.

Once again proposing an annual Broadway Memorial Celebration (in a Broadway house + streamed) for all those who passed within a given year, that can have speeches and performances honoring everyone from stagehands to actors to producers to authors and everyone in between, followed by a full dimming/moment of silence for all in the community. AND for the Broadway League to implement standardization guidelines for individual dimmings (and publish those rules), which would probably be based on number of weeks employed on Broadway contracts, awards, and stature within respective unions/guilds. As it stands now, individual dimmings favor those who had front-facing roles, disincentivizing those who might have spent 30 years backstage or in an office or contributed millions to fund shows.

Updated On: 10/4/24 at 12:05 PM

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "Those who feel mad about this might be better off channeling that into activism as a way of honoring Creel –– fighting for democracy and LGBTQ+ rights ––which by all accounts Creel himself might feel is a better use of time than yelling about a lightswitch.

As with funerals, these are really things for the living to help them process and honor the deceased, and it surely won't be the only memorial for him.I can't get mad about a partial-dimming for ~95% of Broadway deaths, but that's just me.

Once again proposing an annual Broadway Memorial Celebration (in a Broadway house + streamed) for all those who passed within a given year, that can have speeches and performances honoring everyone from stagehands to actors to producers to authors and everyone in between, followed by a full dimming/moment of silence for all in the community. AND for the Broadway League to implement standardization guidelines for individual dimmings (and publish those rules), which would probably be based on number of weeks employed on Broadway contracts, awards, and stature within respectiveunions/guilds. As it stands now, individual dimmings favor those who had front-facing roles, disincentivizingthose who might have spent 30 years backstage or in an office or contributedmillions to fund shows."



Sure... by all means lets "regulate" this once meaningful and time honored tradition even more -- so that it turns into a chore/obligation rather than something meaningful from the heart. Also do you really think that even if they do an "Annual Memorial" (which they already do on the Tonys), there won't be people left out and there won't be faux outrage from those "fans" who seem to feel it's all about them in the first place (you know who you are).?

Not to take away from the wonderful discussions and stories about Gavin - but I wonder if these new partial dimmings are the result of all these new LED marquees that seem to be taking over the theatre district, maybe causing it to be more difficult to just “flip a switch” than it used to be?

in any case, I hope his memory is honored in the highest regards because he truly was the best of the best and I do hope they do all 41 theatres.

Here we go again. Look, all I’ll say is what I said last time when they didn’t dim the lights for Marin Mazzie - it’s highly offensive that they should even have to make us have to ask or beg to dim all the lights. F*CK them.

Huss417 said: "SelectBroadwaytheaters will dim their lights for the lateGavin Creelat a date and time being coordinated with his family, the Broadway League said today.

https://deadline.com/2024/10/gavin-creel-broadway-lights-dimming-1236107552/"

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