Broadway Cares' Tom Viola Remembers Gavin Creel- 'We Lost the Best One'

As BroadwayWorld reported earlier today, Broadway has suffered a terrible loss today with the death of Gavin Creel, who lost a battle with cancer at the age of 48. Gavin, a trustee for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, asked that donations in his name be made to BC/EFA.

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS Executive Director Tom Viola has since released the following statement in memory of Creel and his legacy. 

Today we lost not just one of the good ones, but the best one. Beyond the shining talent Gavin Creel shared with us all onstage, he mastered the ability to galvanize, mobilize and inspire others by sharing the best of himself which was simply, his loving, joyful heart.

Gavin once said: “What I love about being in the theater is the sense of family and belonging to a community that takes care of one another. We are made better by giving back.”

Gavin certainly lived by example. His selfless resolve to channel his talents and gifts into tangible, lifesaving help challenged us to be better, do more and rise up, always with a smile that was welcoming, flirty and just a tad mysterious with some kind of surprise.

Gavin was one of the most vibrant voices in our National Grants Program committee meetings and on our Board of Trustees, on which he served since 2015. His was an undeniable light that leaves a heartfelt glow across our theater community and in the lives of countless people he never met, who have received meals, medication, support and hope through his work with Broadway Cares. 

I remember watching Gavin leap onto the theater lobby bar with a Red Bucket in hand during the national tour of The Book of Mormon, enthusiastically cajoling, encouraging and convincing audiences into making a donation. He implored people to donate with such cheerful passion. He’d enlist anyone he spoke to do more, to make a greater impact - always returning to the question, “Why wouldn’t we help people?” 

Last spring, Gavin hosted Broadway Cares’ donor celebration Hats Off to You. Before jumping into a performance of “Trouble” from The Music Man, he stepped back and reflected on his connection to Broadway Cares.

“The world at the moment is fractured, and it feels to me like it’s falling apart,” he said. “Broadway Cares is one of the things that I look to as a light on the horizon.”  As we now will forever look to him.

At the Easter Bonnet Competition in April 2015, Gavin – then starring in The Book of Mormon on Broadway - sang our anthem, “Help Is on the Way,” in a way that had never been heard before or since. His voice was a gentle, brilliant beacon of activism that offered hope for many.  His heartsong will be a part of our lives forever, especially when it reminds us to reach out with hope and beyond ourselves with love.