Online video clips offer plenty of proof that seeing Tony Award-winning performer Gavin Creel croon a tune is watching a natural, effortless performance.
So maybe those looking to find down-to-earth, common ground with such an enviable talent should hear him carry on during a more everyday task — as he’s taking his 10-year-old rescue pooch Wally for some afternoon exercise in New York City. Creel, who acknowledged that he’s a softie with animals, also offered that that role might be one of his toughest, with no real script to follow.
“He has had loads of behavioral problems,” Creel said of the dog while on his cellphone during a walk with the mixed-breed hound. “I love him, and I know I kept him alive. But he has to wear a muzzle (outside), because he’s bitten a few people and other dogs.”
Creel aims to be sensitive to his audiences, too. So he is tailoring an all-new concert for the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic’s ever-popular Cabaret at The Commons performance Feb. 14 at the downtown venue. Though theater critics laud Creel’s professional polish, the 42-year-old vocalist hardly expects the show to be a walk in the park.
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In fact, he wants the yet-to-be-finalized, approximate 15-song mix to be so fresh that he and pianist/music director Mary-Mitchell Campbell feel free, on a moment’s notice, to roam from stage numbers to varied covers to some of his original material from three studio albums.
“We have committed ourselves to sort of dancing on the edge, which keeps things exciting for us as well as for the audience,” Creel said. “You can’t fake those (spontaneous) moments.”
Told that other artists with a bent toward the impromptu or the surprising have been popular with locals, excitement rose in Creel’s voice.
“Then I might be the biggest hit they’ve ever seen,” he said, breaking into laughter.
He entertained a query about hearts-and-flowers tunes in time for the holiday with a you’d-better-believe-it response.
“Oh, come on,” he said. “I AM romance. So let’s get it on.”
Pause. Laughter.
“For me, everything I do is about love, even if it’s a concert on St. Patrick’s Day,” he said, stopping to greet a couple of apartment neighbors on the street. “Everything is love and joy. For me, if it’s not about love and joy, then there’s really no reason to sing. So I think that what we’ll have will line up beautifully for Valentine’s Day.”
Considerably more than 300 tickets already have been sold for a 400-seat layout. The series averaged 338 people for the 2018 calendar year, enough success to draw attention from ticket buyers even in nearby metro areas such as Cincinnati.
Creel, who won a Tony in 2017 for his role of Cornelius Hack in “Hello Dolly!” also was nominated twice before. He is also known for his Broadway roles in “Thoroughly Modern Millie” (opposite Sutton Foster), “Hair,” “She Loves Me (with Laura Benanti)” “Mary Poppins” and “The Book of Mormon.”
At cabarets, he loves the chance to directly interact with an audience.
“I want every show to be like I asked you to come over to my living room, and I rolled out a great spread of crudités and some warm olives and good wine,” he said. “And then we’ll sing some songs and talk about it.”
Columbus resident Pam Lego, a member of the local cabaret board and a frequent Broadway ticket buyer, caught Creel last month on Broadway in “Waitress,” in which he plays a physician alongside the show’s songwriter and star Sara Bareilles. It marked the fifth stage show with Creel that Lego has seen.
“He was so incredibly adorable, charming and just downright hysterical,” Lego said. “He is one of Broadway’s most expressive character actors. His voice will keep you completed engaged while his smile melts your heart. His gestures and facial expressions are brilliant.”
He grew up in Findlay, Ohio, as what he termed a “pophead” grooving to cassettes of Whitney Houston, Billy Joel, George Michael and Michael Jackson. He figures some pop may work its way onto the set list.
“I want people to leave my shows feeling a little lighter,” he said. “And I want them to walk away thinking ‘Wow, I can do anything.’”
Even if that’s controlling an unruly dog.
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Who: Broadway performer Gavin Creel in concert as part of the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic’s Cabaret at The Commons series. With him will be Mary-Mitchell Campbell, his pianist and music director who he says "can sound like an orchestra."
When: 7:30 p.m. Feb. 14
Where: The Commons, 300 Washington St. in downtown Columbus
Tickets: $40 and $55
Information: 812-376-2638 or thecip.org
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