Actors Upset Only Some Theaters Planned to Dim Broadway Lights to Honor Gavin Creel

Friends and family of Broadway icon Gavin Creel who died suddenly on Sept. 30, were outraged when the Broadway League announced that only some New York City theaters would be dimming their lights in his honor.

Creel died at only 48 years old, losing a battle to cancer that had only been diagnosed months prior. He won a Tony for his performance in the 2017 revival of “Hello, Dolly!,” and originated the role of Jimmy Smith in 2002’s best-musical winner, “Thoroughly Modern Millie.” In addition to being a replacement lead in both “Book of Mormon” and “Waitress,” Creel performed in Broadway revivals such as “La Cage aux Folles” (2004), “Hair” (2009), “She Loves Me” (2016), and “Into the Woods” (2022).

In fact, he once shared in an interview with Broadway.com that “My dream for when I die, that heaven will be... They’ll walk me in and I’ll know all my lines, and I’ll get to do that play [“Hair”] again ... They’ll walk me into the stage door, and I’ll walk in and everyone will be there, and it will be you and an amazing audience that’s ready to see us, and we’ll get to do it.”

Another similar quote has also been making the rounds, with him being quoted as having said that, “When I die, the Heavens will open and we’ll all go to the Al Hirschfeld Theatre — all the same people — and we’ll do [“Hair”] again.”

This is one of many reasons why so many were angered by The Broadway League’s decision to only have some of Broadway’s theaters dim their lights for the beloved performer—especially since the Al Hirschfeld Theatre, where Creel performed in “Hair,” was not included on the initial list.

That theater has since decided to dim its lights anyway, despite not being one of the listed theaters at first. The Eugene O’ Neil Theatre, where Creel performed in “Book of Mormon,” made a similar decision earlier this week.

Dimming the lights on Broadway is a time-honored tradition, meant to honor those in the theater community after their passings—James Earl Jones, for instance, received this honor just last week. The criteria for theater lights being dimmed is not exactly concrete— essentially, members of the theater community with large impacts on the industry or audiences, based on reports in The New York Times and BroadwayWorld.

Many would argue that Creel fits that criteria, as is especially evident by the love and support he received following the announcement of his death from across the entire theater community. This support can be visualized through a petition, started by Time Out New York theater and dance editor and chief critic Adam Feldman encouraging The Broadway League to have every theater dim their lights, instead of just some.

”I’ve been on social media this past week, and it’s been very clear that this is categorically different ... from the usual response to the death of beloved performers,” Feldman said. “I think part of that is the shock, because it was so sudden, because Gavin was so young. And part of it is a testament to the particular nature of Gavin’s personality and leadership and role in this community.”

With more than 21,000 signatures, the petition is proof of Creel’s wide-reaching impact. In testimonials online and on the petition itself, people feel as though this should not even need to be argued, and that there is no clear reason as to why not all the lights will dim.

“The theater owners, I don’t blame them, exactly, but I think that they misread the room and misunderstood or underestimated the extent to which this has really been a seismic shock to the theater community,” Feldman said. “And every case is different, but this is a clear case.”

Creel’s peers in the theater world have made their voices heard about their anger over the initial decision. Actress Rachel Zegler, who played Maria in 2021’s “West Side Story” remake and is making her Broadway debut as Juliet in “Romeo + Juliet,” wrote on Instagram, “He was a tony award winner and had a 20+ years long career of inspiring his peers and the youth who aspired to be like him. As one of those youth, I feel like I can say this with my whole chest: why not all? This makes no sense.”

Many others—including Judy Kuhn, Sierra Boggess, Orfeh, Laura Benanti, Donna Murphy, and Josh Gad—have expressed similar sentiments.

The petition can be signed at change.org/p/dim-all-broadway-lights-in-honor-of-gavin-creel.