Watch: Chess Star Aaron Tveit Sings ‘I Know Him So Well�� in Tribute to Gavin Creel

As the theatre community continues to mourn the late, great Gavin Creel, some solace can be found in a touching tribute from Aaron Tveit at MCC's Miscast last month, now available to watch online. The annual benefit concert, where performers take on songs from roles for which they would not traditionally be cast, was held April 7.

Tveit opened his performance anecdotally recounting past duets with Creel in Miscasts of years past, revealing that they very nearly chose "I Know Him So Well" from Chess for their second performance together, but decided to save it for the their third later down the line. With that duet no longer coming to fruition, the forthcoming Chess star performed the two-hander alone. The tribute brought a sobering new perspective to the song as the lyrics echo the collective grief within the theatre community for beloved Creel, with lines (from lyricist Tim Rice) like: "Looking back, I could have played it differently, won a few more moments, who can tell?" and "Nothing is so good it lasts eternally." See Tveit's heartfelt performance in the video above.

Creel was an avid participant in Miscast, performing five times in the annual one-night-only event. Though he did not get the chance to perform a Chess song with Tveit, his final performance in Miscast was, ironically, a medley of ABBA standards, mashing up "The Winner Takes It All," "Mamma Mia," and "Dancing Queen." Watch below.

Tony winner Creel passed away September 30, 2024, after a battle with cancer at the age of 48. Creel was a fixture of the theatrical community, notorious for versatile acting performances in a career that saw him often alternate between comedy and drama, leading man and character actor. Yet, performing was only one facet of Creel's life. Blessed with a virtuosic voice in every sense of the word, Creel also used his gifts as a skilled writer to be a devoted activist for the theatre community.

His most recent Broadway role was starring as Cinderella's Prince and the Wolf in the 2022 revival of Into the Woods, first at New York City Center Encores! and later in the production's Main Stem transfer and North American national tour.

His final stage performance was at MCC Theater in Walk On Through: Confessions of a Museum Novice. With a book, music, and lyrics by Creel, Walk On Through was developed at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's 2022 National Music Theater Conference before making its world premiere Off-Broadway at MCC Theater in 2023. With a series of original songs set to a journey through the museum and engaging with its collection, Creel gave audiences a look inside his own existential crisis, how he'd gotten to where he was at the time, and what kept him moving forward.

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