Gavin with Sigourney Weaver at the GLAAD Media Awards (2010), onstage for Broadway Bares (2009) & with me at the Drama Desk Awards (2017) (All images by Matthew Rettenmund)

I'm so stunned to read that Gavin Creel, who appeared in so many shows here in NYC over the years, has died of cancer just two months after a diagnosis of a rare sarcoma. He was only 48.

I first met him in 2008, when I interviewed him while I was minding Towleroad for a week, and first said hello in person when he appeared in an installment of Broadway Bares. Ever after, he recognized me any time I saw him at an event, something I found baffling considering all the people he had to have encountered. Our last meet-up was probably at the Drama Desk Awards in 2017. He was so dapper but stopped to chat with me. He'd never forgotten that nice interview on Towleroad, even though he was a legit Broadway star.

He made his Broadway debut in 2002 in Thoroughly Modern Millie — he was terrific and was Tony-nominated. He was also nominated as Claude in Hair (2009), which was an amazing version of that show. I would call it his signature performance.

But he's even more famous for some of his other performances — Elder Price in The Book of Mormon (2012-2015), Cornelius in Hello, Dolly! (2017) and the phenomenally popular Waitress (2019). He won his Tony for his work as Cornelius, and I'm so glad he received the top honor in his field before his untimely death.

I'm so sorry to his partner, family and friends. Just unbelievable.