Hottie Gavin Creel may
not take it all off in the Broadway revival of
Hair
, but he does put it all out there in his first interview with
Advocate.com. Yep…he's gay.
Following a wildly
successful run last summer at Central Park's Delacorte Theater,
Hair
has returned to Broadway for the first time in more than 30
years. Electrifying and enlightening a whole new generation,
Galt MacDermot, Gerome Ragni, and James Rado's 1967 "American
tribal love-rock musical" officially opens March 31 at the Al
Hirschfeld Theatre.
Tony-nominated for his
2002 Broadway debut in
Thoroughly Modern Millie
, 32-year-old Ohio native Gavin Creel stars as Claude, the
conflicted apex of a bisexual love triangle within
Hair
's tribe of Vietnam-era bohemians. Aside from appearing in the
Broadway revival of
La Cage aux Folles
and the London production of
Mary Poppins
, Creel released a debut pop CD,
Goodtimenation
, in 2006.
Inspired by the passing
of Prop. 8, Creel also cofounded Broadway Impact, a grassroots
movement led by the theater community to promote marriage
equality. His affection for activism is even evident in his
Hair
program bio: "Gavin has no patience for people who perpetuate
inequality in the guise of 'religious belief.'" Yet while
Creel's passion for gay rights is obvious, his own sexuality
has remained rather ambiguous -- until now.
Advocate.com: Because you weren't involved in this past summer's
incarnation of the show in Central Park, you joined the
Hair
tribe pretty late in the game. What was it like being the new
kid?
Gavin Creel:
It was a little daunting at first, but the cast made me feel
totally welcome. There was work to be done, so there wasn't a
whole lot of time for touchy-feely worrying about how I could
feel better. I had to get down to business, learn these crazy
words, and start figuring out who my character is.
Did you see Jonathan Groff or Christopher J. Hanke play
Claude in the Central Park production?
No, and I'm glad I didn't see them, because I would've just
stolen everything they did. [
Laughs
] It's like if I'm going to do a play based on a movie, I don't
like to see the movie first, because then I get too in my head.
And doing a revival, it's hard enough playing a character that
so many people think they know how it should be done. If people
are like, "Jonathan was this way," or, "Chris was this
way," I'm not really concerned. They're both amazing actors
and what they do is awesome, but what I do is too.
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