'U' alum gains 'Fame' in national tour spotlight

University alum Gavin Creel couldn't decide whether he should paint his sublet. His third audition after moving to New York City, a tryout for the lead in the North American tour of "Fame - The Musical," had landed him four callbacks. If he got the part he would move right away, so he called his agent to find out if he would need to fix up his sublet. When the agent returned his call, he told Creel not to buy the paint because he had a contract.

That contract will bring Creel to Detroit next week as part of the tour that began in Toronto last November. He plans to stay in Ann Arbor during that time and catch up with his teachers and friends. Due to his involvement in "Fame," Creel's life has undergone major changes since his graduation from the University's musical theater program less than a year ago. "It's like a great, huge, amazing first step," he said.

Courtesy of Carol Rossegg Jennifer Gambatese listens to Gavin Creel explain his dreams of an acting career.

His future wasn't so certain at the beginning of last fall. After a couple of jobs in summer stock groups, Creel arrived in New York at the end of August. "I got off the train with my luggage and no idea where I was going to live," he said.

He found an apartment quickly and started going to auditions, even though he said he wasn't too sure what he was doing. He walked into the "Fame" audition without being on the call list. Creel said his college experiences, some of the best times in his life, helped give him the courage to do that. "Michigan prepared me to go to New York and just go for it," he said.

Taking that chance turned out to be very worthwhile. Now Creel's playing Nick Piazza, one of the acting students at New York's High School of the Performing Arts, eight times a week. Creel sings the opening lines of the musical as well as a solo, "I Want to Make Magic."

Creel also got the chance to sing on the musical's CD, made in one day during their six week long stay in Toronto at the kick-off of the tour. The cast woke up early one morning to record the album, a task that took 10 hours. Creel recalled one of his friends saying he listened to the CD at Borders here in Ann Arbor. "Of course, we hear all the problems, but it's such an honor to be on a cast recording," Creel said.

The tour also has its ups and downs, including living out of a suitcase and moving nearly every week. Since Creel misses his college friends and family, he received a cell phone as a Christmas gift to keep in touch. "AT&T One Rate, baby," he said. "It's a beautiful thing."

He does have companionship, since the whole cast usually stays in the same hotel. Working and living together can be a strain, however. "You go through days where you want everyone to leave you alone, and then you have days where you want someone to come to you and no one does," Creel said. But "For the most part, the cast really works well together."

Creel said he feels that being on tour is actually less stressful than some of his previous performing experiences. At the University, he appeared in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "Sweeney Todd" in addition to directing last spring's MUSKET show "Pippin." "There's less pressure on the road than at Michigan," he said. At University productions, "All the most influential people in your life are sitting there and watching you."

Part of the pressure stemmed from the fact that the University shows only had four performances, all of which had to be perfect. With "Fame," Creel instead worried about getting bored with playing the same role many times. "At first I thought, 'How the hell am I going to sustain this for six months?'" he said. Yet, "Every night I step on stage, and I challenge myself."

He uses the scenes where he is having a conversation with other actors in the background for this purpose. During each performance, Creel tries to have new discussions with different characters.

Even though he spends it on the fringes of the action, he especially enjoys the musical number "There She Goes!/Fame." "I'm only in that for the first minute and a half," he said. But, "I could watch that every night."

That scene holds court as his favorite due to his costars' energetic dance moves. Although his part in "Fame" consists predominantly of singing, Creel also studied dancing during his college career. "I love to dance, but there's no way I can do half the things those people do," he said. "They're fierce."

In spite of the cast's spirit, reviewers criticized the musical's script. Creel deals with the reviews by remembering the positive feedback on the actors from the audiences and critics. "When you get a job, you have to treat it like it is Shakespeare," he said.

Even with all the new experiences in his life, Creel has become used to the routine of being in a national tour. He compared it to when he worried about getting a job at Einstein's Bagels right after it opened and realized later, through experience, that slicing bagels was simple. "Now that I'm in it, I sort of take it for granted," he said. "Sometimes I feel like, 'Why me?' For me, it's not any different than trying to get a part my freshman year in high school."

"Fame" is already booked through the year 2001, but Creel's contract expires in November. He could leave anytime after that to pursue his other ambitions, including directing and acting in Broadway shows, TV and movies. He has an interest in films that feature actors his age such as "Go," which he saw twice, and period dramas similar to "Shakespeare in Love." "I'm trying to learn about what kind of actor I want to be," Creel said. "Eventually I'm going to have to say goodbye to 'Fame' and hit the pavement again to take the next step."

That step could be starring in the Broadway show "Footloose," which currently stars Jennifer Thompson, another 1998 University alum, as the female lead. Right now, however, Creel is still focusing on the upcoming West Coast leg of the tour and the importance of "Fame" as the first step in his career. "This has been a huge part of the plan," he said. "Whereas college was the root ... everything's going to grow from here."

04-20-99