Gavin Creel Talks Upcoming Role and Activism Ahead of Florida Concert

For the first time since 2011, Gavin Creel is headed to South Florida later this week with Seth Rudetsky to open the third season of Parker Playhouse's Broadway Concert Series. Ahead of the performance, he sat down with the Miami Herald to talk about his career, the current state of the country, and where he sees his role in future activist efforts.

It's been a busy year for Creel, which included his star turn in the Roundabout Theatre Company's revival of She Loves Me, which was filmed with Broadway HD for a theatrical release. When asked his opinion on filming live theatre, Creel responded, "It's a new territory for the art form, certainly. People are likely nervous about what it will do: Will it help or it hinder? But I think it's all a good thing right now. The more exposure we can get to people, to get excited about musical theater, the better...When I was young, I couldn't afford to pay $189 to go see a "Hamilton" or whatever, so I would have welcomed an opportunity to go to my favorite movie theater and pay 20 bucks and see a big Broadway musical starring Jane Krakowski, Laura Benanti and Zach Levi."

Creel's following up on She Loves Me with the long-awaited Hello, Dolly! revival starring Bette Midler, which is one of the reasons you won't see him leading the charge for LGBT activism on Broadway, the way he did in 2008. "I'm not 33, not young anymore. I'm a little exhausted and have other responsibilities," the actor told the Miami Herald.

The upcoming Broadway revival of Michael Stewart (book) and Jerry Herman's (music and lyrics) Hello, Dolly!, will star Bette Midler, David Hyde Pierce (Horace Vandergelder), two-time Tony Award® nominee Gavin Creel (Cornelius Hackl), Tony Award nominee Kate Baldwin (Irene Molloy), Taylor Trensch (Barnaby Tucker), Will Burton (Ambrose Kemper), Melanie Moore (Ermengarde), Tony Award nominee Jennifer Simard(Ernestina), and an ensemble of twenty-seven. Directed by four-time Tony Award winner Jerry Zaks and choreographed by Tony Award winner Warren Carlyle, Hello, Dolly! will begin performances at Broadway's Shubert Theatre (225 West 44th Street) on March 15, 2017, with an official opening night of April 20, 2017.

For the original Miami Herald article, click here.