When this sentence became a fact I felt so incredibly happy for this amazing performer, artist, and person. However, I checked the tag of his name today, and found a lot of negativity around it, and honestly, I canāt believe it. A lot of this seems to purely revolve around the fact that there are so many people whoĀ are so passionateĀ about Falsettos andĀ really donāt knowĀ that much about Gavin Creel just because they havenāt been following Hello, Dolly!. So now we haveĀ a list of why Gavin undoubtedly deserved this tony and you shouldnāt say anyone else was robbed (this year or ever).
I beg that if you think that anyone was robbed this year, that Gavin shouldnāt have won, or just donāt know much about Gavin Creel that youĀ continue reading.
The whole point of nominating people and not just choosing one person is that ALL of the nominees deserve recognition for their work. so to say that one is not deserving (especially the one who won) is sort of fighting an uphill battle.
A lot of people were saying that Gavin robbed the award from the other nominees. The truth for Mike FaistĀ is that he just debuted and is still young. He has a lot of chances to win later in life, and may even be too young to have garnered enough attention for his performance this year. As for Lucas Steele, this is only first major role on Broadway anyway, so it makes sense that he may not be as well known in the community yet either. Obviously, a lot of the attention went to Ben Platt and Rachel Bay Jones for DEH, but Mikeās performance still earned a nomination, so clearly heās not doing terribly.
The Andrew Rannells argument is a bit more complex sinceĀ a lot of people are saying that he āshould have won his first tonyā for a plethora of reasons. Letās go into them.
Andrew Rannells made his Broadway debut in 2006, so heās been working his way up to a Tony. Well, Gavin Creel made his debut in 2002 for originating his role in Thoroughly Modern Mille. He didnāt win that year and that may have been partly becauseĀ the title role earned Sutton Foster her first Tony (and this year she literally presented his. COME ON, IT WAS PERFECT), and one for Harriet Harris as well in the featured actress category. Thatās almost a DIRECT parallel to DEH. (Iām telling you guys, itās really all about timing.)
So, of course, we all know Andrew Rannells was also nominated for a Tony in 2011, so that furthers the argument that he deserved one this year. Unfortunately, following that argument again leads to the fact that Gavin Creel has been nominated twice before this year anyway,Ā so he wins by tally, if that mattered. But it doesnāt.
One of those nominations for Gavin went to his work in Hair, which as far as Iām concerned, is sort of when Gavin was ārobbedā by the boys who played Billy Elliot. However, it was the year for them, and Hair was a bit of an underdog that year anyway, but itās all about timing.
Last year, Gavin was in She Loves Me along with Laura Benanti, Jane Krakowski, and Zachary Levi, who were all nominated for Tonys. Gavin was not. To me, this qualified as a snub, but it made sense that he wasnāt nominated since his performance really kept the attention on Janeās, which is partly why I thought it was so brilliant, but I digress. It wasnāt the right time.
A lot of the disappointment was towards the fact that Falsettos didnāt win anything, but the truth is that Tony Awards usually goes to shows that are still running. It helps sell tickets and gain attention. A lot of Broadway fans saw Falsettos, and considerably less have seen Hello, Dolly!, which is still sold out every night. This is because those seats are going to the critics, Tony voters, and the āinsidersā of the community that decide who the award goes to. Those people chose Gavin as a winner, but they also chose Andrew and all the other men as nominees.
Also, a lot of fans were so surprised that Gavin won, but really, it was predicted by a lot of notable sources. I think Tumblr and social media in general sometimes create a vacuum of only fans and similar perspectives on theatre. To add to that, Gavin doesnāt use social media (he prefers to be in the moment. Guys, you really canāt hate him) so it makes sense that some fans may not be familiar with him, since that is a lot of fanās only access to Broadway.
Another fact of the matter is that Gavin has been working in the theatre essentially his entire career. For sake of comparison, Andrew has made some transition to television, which I think is awesome. Something toĀ keep in mindĀ is that Gavin has been making his way through the theatre community for a while, meeting people who could vote for him to win an award, and actually did when he played Elder Price in London.
I believe Andrew Rannells deserves a Tony, and I believe each nominee deserve a Tony. I believe lots of people do. One of those people is also Gavin Creel.Ā The truth is, careers are not built on or for Tonys. SomeĀ careers are helped byĀ winning awards, but the bestĀ people really are not in it for the awards, so the fans shouldnāt be either.
In conclusion, go listen to Gavin Creel on the Millie, Hair, or Hello, Dolly! recording. Better yet, listen to one of the performances for which he wasnāt nominated, such as She Loves Me, or Bounce. If you still donāt trust that heās deserving, go watch a bootleg of Hair, or even just the Tony performance. And if you still donāt believe it, go watch one of his interviews. When thereās a solid interview of Gavin talking for 30+ minutes you can tell just how intelligent, kind, and artistic he is, and just why those Tony voters trust that he deserves an award.
Have I won you over? Has he won you over? Okay, now go discover artists that you donāt know about and respect all the art that so many people have cultivated. That art is so much more interesting than any award, but when someone who is so great at it does get one, celebrate it.
