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.

(Image via BCEFA)

ABOVE: Broadway Cares now has official videos from Broadway Bares #32 online.

BELOW: Keep reading for Jason Stuart, Dominique Jackson, Julia Duffy and more ...

The naked truth — the show always ends up aces. (All images by Matthew Rettenmund)

NOTE: If you recognize anyone I should name, and/or if you were in the show and wonder if I have photos to share, hit me up.

Another Pride Month, another installment of Broadway Bares — this one the 32nd.

The program and — for the first time ever — the full, untorn ticket they let us keep

The stage was set. The set was a stage.

A deck of gaying cards

Keep reading for the story on this naked Elvis.

The show, directed by Kellen Stancil, had all the usual verve, clever song choices and revealing reveals, all as part of a Vegas theme. Yes, Broadway Bares: Hit the Strip hit all its marks, even if a raunchy parody of the Rat Pack called the Six-Pack was one I had prayed for, only to have my hopes dashed.

Jelani's first jam

Green room

Shaking a heads-or-tails feather

We need a sequel: Showboys.

Top that!

The cheerful opening number, an original song with music by Lynne Shankel and lyrics by Amanda Green and a spirited performance by Jelani Remy (Back to the Future: The Musical), set up the Vegas theme admirably.

Well-hung poster (Image via BCEFA)

Sunday marked my umpteenth year at Broadway Bares, the annual charity burlesque show put on at NYC's Hammerstein Ballroom by Broadway Cares. This year's edition, Broadway Bares: Pleasure Park, was a creative highpoint among recent years on every level. If I can avoid coming down with COVID soon, it will be an even huger improvement over last year!

DONATE TO BROADWAY CARES/EQUITY FIGHTS AIDS HERE ANYTIME

Directed by Laya Barak and Kellen Stancil, Pleasure Park sent up the national obsession with Disney by presenting an alternate-world version where it's more than okay to say “gay.” A world of laughter, a world of tears ... and a world without so many clothes.

GET BROADWAY BARES MERCH HERE

Spotted in the crowd: songstress Mila Jam & actor Robin de Jesús

Turns out it pays to be gay/do crime — the event raised $1,887,014 for Broadway Cares.

With lighting by Joel Shier and scenic design by Jason Lee Courson, shit looked like the Tron Mahal!

Jay & Jonathan, a fantasy pair giving looking-for-a-third energy

OPENING NUMBER (Choreographers: Laya Barak, Jonathan Lee & Kellen Stancil)

Stringing production numbers together was a plot involving boyfriends who lose track of each other, played by Jay Armstrong Johnson (Parade) and Jonathan Burke (The Inheritance, TV's Harlem), who poured on the charm during the show's truly spectacular opening number:

Willkommen! (All images by Matthew Rettenmund)

Jordan Vasquez coming, Jordan Vasquez going

The show's opening set the tone for the riot of color and innovative stage design to come, not to mention the best dancing on any NYC stage, as always. “Get ready for the ride of your life!” we were warned by Jessica Vosk's big, big voice (music by Lynne Shankel, lyrics by Amanda Green), and she was not kidding.

A-dayum! and Eve (Image via video still)

ABOVE: Happy 8.5" — I mean, 85th! — to eternally studly Jorge Rivero. More of him here.

pic.twitter.com/Dp8k0AmtKX

— Matthew Rettenmund (@mattrett) June 15, 2023

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BELOW: Keep reading for Broadway Bares news, a banning of the Pride flag, the best damn LGBTQ-rights speech since Harvey Milk and more ...

Happy #PrideMonth — and remember: READING IS FUNDAMENTAL! pic.twitter.com/STWMu5qxWB

— Matthew Rettenmund (@mattrett) June 1, 2023

ABOVE: A reminder to never try to match wits with a drag queen — happy Pride!

What haters SAY it'll be like vs. what gay boys THINK it'll be like vs. what it IS like (Images via covers)

BELOW: Keep reading for nothing but positivity ...

Broadway Bares is back!

Sunday night's dual performances of Broadway Bares XXX — which celebrated the annual (give or take a pandemic) fundraiser's 30th anniversary — fishnetted $1,893,715 for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

Donate to BC/EFA Here!

The creation of super choreographer Jerry Mitchell had been sidelined by COVID concerns in 2020 and 2021, but came roaring back to the Hammerstein Ballroom in NYC under the direction and choreography of Laya Barak.

I am what I Tam ...

The opener was a preemptive showstopper, featuring vocals from Jason Tam and Bonnie Milligan as a cast of thousands tens razzledazzled us, providing a recap of 30 years of Bares.

ABOVE: Tan lines will do it for me every time.

BELOW: Keep reading for Joe Manganiello's manspread, the sexiest sketch from Broadway Bares and more ...