HE ADDS BOUNCE TO SONDHEIM
If you caught the incredible original cast of Thoroughly Modern Millie at the Marquis, it’d be hard to "forget about the boy" who played Sutton Foster’s young beau. With his good looks and glorious tenor voice, Gavin Creel made a brilliant Broadway debut as Jimmy Smith. But only days into previews, he blew out his knee and had to have surgery. The 6-foot-2 actor bounced back two weeks later, just in time to open on his birthday, April 18, and later earn a Tony nomination for Best Actor in a Musical.

Talk about a close shave. There must be someone up there watching over him because since then, Creel has "got it good." The 27-year-old native of Findlay, OH, wrapped up a year-long run in Millie in April; made his cabaret debut singing his pop-soul songs (co-written with David Cook) at Fez, and appeared in the ABC-TV movie "Eloise at the Plaza" opposite Julie Andrews ("She’s royalty to me"), the original Millie Dillmount from the 1967 movie of "Thoroughly Modern Millie."

Now, Creel is co-starring in Bounce, the new Stephen Sondheim-John Weidman musical, directed by Hal Prince. It just opened and runs through Aug. 10 at the Goodman in Chicago. In it, he plays Hollis Bessemer, an idealistic and artistic young man who befriends Addison and Wilson Mizner (Richard Kind and Howard McGillin), two brothers renowned as cunning con men and enterprising entrepreneurs, in Florida.

There, as Addison sells Palm Beach matrons on his vision of building them Spanish-tiled and Moorish-styled mansions, Hollis realizes he’s found his creative soulmate in Addison. Hollis bursts into song, "You, where have you been all my life?," and that simple, heartfelt solo of "You" turns into a rhapsodic duet for the younger man and the older one as they declare their love for each other. It builds to a thrilling crescendo and becomes one of Bounce’s most magical moments.

Q: What did you think when you first heard "You"?
Creel: It was amazing. It’s the simplest thought and Steve has written the most beautiful melody for it. I’m so proud to be part of that moment.

Q: How’s it feel working with Sondheim?
Creel: I pinch myself. The other night we were eating pizza, cracking jokes, and he was telling me that he counts how many people walk out of his shows! It’s been a dream of mine to be in a Sondheim show since college [University of Michigan].

Q: You did Company there when you just 20, right?
Creel: Yeah, after my sophomore year, my friend Jonathan Baker and I started the Schalin Theater Company. It was the most brilliant, dysfunctional summer of our lives. We were a bunch of horny college students willing to experiment. We did Company and I played Bobby, but we gave it a homosexual twist. During the "Tick Tock" ballet, "Kathy" was dancing around me when a light came up and there was "Peter" standing there. We got very close and whoa! The whole ending was about Bobby discovering, "Maybe I’ve been searching for the wrong [sex]." We even took Company to my conservative hometown in Ohio and sold out. They loved it!

Q: Prince originally directed Company and now Bounce.
Creel: And I love Hal. He doesn’t tell you how to do every little thing or give line readings, so I thanked him for trusting me to find Hollis. He says, "I don’t believe in drama class." In rehearsals, I’d try something and he’d say, "Ah, good boy!" He’s so supportive, so your performance feels like your performance.

Q: Looking back, Millie put you on the map. How’s it feel?
Creel: I’ll be honest. Millie was a roller coaster. It wasn’t all peaches. The best part of the show were the people. If I ever get to play opposite someone who fits me as perfectly as Sutton Foster, I’ll be lucky. Marc Kudisch has a heart of gold, and the whole cast, crew and stage management were all great. And the fact that both of my songs were Jeanine Tesori-Dick Scanlan originals was very special. But the rehearsals weren’t easy for me. I had a hard time getting my "legs." Literally. It was super-stressed and it was mainly me, my own insecurities. I finally got my confidence back, but I didn’t do a show I was proud of until six months into the run.

Q: After Bounce closes in Chicago, you head Oct. 21-Nov. 14 for the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. What else would you like to do?
Creel: I hope to make a CD of my songs within the next year. I love music. I love theatre. And I love acting. I’m like Hollis. I want this and that. I don’t know where I’m heading, but I’m on the right path. But no matter what success I have, I hope to grab my friends and bring them along because they mean everything to me.

For more information, visit www.angelfire.com/musicals/gcreel.

HE’S WAITING FOR THE LIGHT TO SIGN
Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is returning to Broadway, and this time it’s offering a raft of opportunities for deaf and hearing actors and audiences alike. If you thought those worlds were destined never the Twain to meet, wait’ll you see this inspiring American Sign Language adaptation, produced by the Roundabout Theatre Company and Deaf West Theatre, along with the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. Directed and choreographed by Jeff Calhoun, this award-winning revival will begin previews on July 1 and open July 24 at the American Airlines Theatre.

Sign-language interpreters usually work from the sidelines, but here everyone signs and takes center stage. For instance, the beaming and bright-eyed Tyrone Giordano, who’s deaf, will play Huck Finn and sign his lines and lyrics. Meantime, Daniel Jenkins, who originated this role and received a Tony nomination for it in 1985, will now play Mark Twain and provide Huck’s speaking and singing voice.

Giordano, who was born deaf, told us — through interpreter Stephanie Feyne — that "Dan’s a great guy to work with and a fantastic signer, too!" The curly-haired native from Terryville, Conn., who resembles a younger Michael Feinstein in his twenties, is thrilled to make his Broadway debut and says, "Huck is all about heart." His other co-star, Michael McElroy (Rent), will sing and sign as Jim, his Huckleberry friend.

Though the deaf actor can’t hear the music, he can feel the tempo. Recently, he’s seen Nine, La Bohème and Movin’ Out. So is he a fan of musicals? "Right now I am," Giordano says with a smile as wide as the Mississippi.

For more information, visit www.roundabouttheatre.org. Continued...