How Gavin Creel Transformed His Mental Health Journey into Art

Summary

---

Podcast Summary: All Of It with Alison Stewart

Episode: How Gavin Creel Transformed His Mental Health Journey into Art
Date: May 18, 2026
Host: Alison Stewart (WNYC)
Guest: Harris Schwartzberg (Founder of Two Bridge)

---

Episode Overview

This special "Mental Health Monday" episode pays tribute to the late Broadway star Gavin Creel, who passed away in 2024. The conversation centers on Creel’s powerful contribution as the inaugural guest for the new video series "Common Denominator," which merges mental health advocacy with art and storytelling. Alison Stewart is joined by Harris Schwartzberg, founder of Two Bridge, to explore Creel’s openness about his mental health journey, the transformative nature of art, and the importance of honest conversation and human connection.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Origin and Purpose of "Common Denominator"

• Series Creation: Born from Schwartzberg’s personal loss (his brother's struggle with bipolar disorder and love for theater), the series seeks to create a space for candid mental health discussions without leading with heaviness or sadness.
• Format: Blends music, art, and deep conversations, allowing lighter moments to emphasize healing and connection. Hosted by Maurice Dubois.
  • Quote:
    • Harris Schwartzberg (02:53):

      "Everything starts from a place of personal pain...let's mix music, art and mental health...And we use the art portion to sort of drive the conversation."

Gavin Creel’s Approach and Openness

• Creel’s honesty about his coming out, loneliness, and vulnerabilities shaped the first "Common Denominator" episode.
  • Quote:
    • Gavin Creel (01:40):

      "We're all in those lines of desks and we're all trying to figure out who we are and what we are. I wish I could tell that little dude. Look around. Everybody's trying to find the same thing."

• Creel’s coming out experience—initially daunting—became a lesson in empathy and the power of vulnerability.
  • Key Moment:
    • When he came out to his sister, expecting a dramatic response, she simply said "okay," and then began sharing about herself.
      • Harris Schwartzberg paraphrasing (04:59):

        "When you open up and talk to other people, it gives them the opportunity to do the same thing with you."

The Impact of Creative Life on Mental Health

• Creel faced the constant rejection inherent in the arts, which amplifies feelings of loneliness and the desire for approval.
  • Quote:
    • Schwartzberg on industry challenges (06:18):

      "The problem that we discussed at length...was the constant rejection, the constant judging, and always wanting people's approval."

• The pandemic worsened his isolation—cutting him off from the "oxygen" of human connection, something vital for artists.
  • Quote:
    • Schwartzberg (08:21):

      "For people that do what he does for a living, human connection is his oxygen. And to have that cut off, they're just lost."

Gavin Creel’s Artistic Process: "Walk on Through"

• During the pandemic, Creel developed "Walk on Through," a theater/music piece inspired by his exploration of the Met Museum.
  • Creel describes the project’s genesis (10:18):

    “I can only tell the truth. And the truth is I’ve never been in this building before. And it’s embarrassing to admit...I’m hoping the show explains why.”

• Instead of writing songs strictly about paintings, Creel wrote music connecting the paintings to pivotal moments in his own life—coming out, moving to NYC, relationships.
  • Schwartzberg (12:17):

    "He picked 10 paintings...and decided to actually write a song about each one...and how it related to his story in life."

Community, Belonging, and Legacy

• Gavin used art and conversation to break the silence around loneliness and mental health. Even after his passing, he brought people together—his memorial and birthday walk are examples of this communal spirit.
  • Quote:
    • Schwartzberg (08:21):

      "His answer to the loneliness and the things that he was dealing with was as much human connection as possible."

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• [01:40] Gavin Creel:

  "Everybody's trying to find the same thing. I wish I could tell that little dude. Look around."

• [04:59] Harris Schwartzberg (about Creel’s coming out):

  “He thought it was going to be this incredibly difficult conversation. Then [his sister] just looked at him and said, 'okay.' ...When you open up and talk to other people, it gives them the opportunity to do the same thing with you.”

• [06:18] Schwartzberg:

  "The problem...was the constant rejection, the constant judging, and always wanting people's approval."

• [08:21] Schwartzberg:

  “For people that do what he does for a living, human connection is his oxygen. And to have that cut off, they're just lost."

• [10:18] Gavin Creel:

  “I can only tell the truth. And the truth is I’ve never been in this building before. And it’s embarrassing to admit. ...I'm hoping the show explains why.”

• [12:17] Schwartzberg (about Walk on Through):

  "He picked...paintings and decided to actually write a song about each one and how it related to his story in life."

---

Important Timestamps

• 01:00 — Alison Stewart introduces the mental health theme and series “Common Denominator;” tribute to Gavin Creel.
• 01:40 — Gavin Creel reflects on the phrase "common denominator" and the universality of seeking self-understanding.
• 02:53 — Schwartzberg describes the personal motivations behind creating the series.
• 04:44 — Discussion of Gavin Creel’s coming out story and its impact on his worldview and empathy.
• 06:18 — Insight into the emotional highs and lows of Gavin's mental health journey as an artist.
• 08:21 — Analysis of the pandemic’s effect on Creel’s mental health and the broader loneliness epidemic.
• 10:18 — Gavin recounts the origins of "Walk on Through" and his introduction to the Met.
• 12:17 — Schwartzberg explains how “Walk on Through” became a self-revelatory project.
• 13:09 — Information on how listeners can stream the Gavin Creel episode of “Common Denominator.”

---

How to Watch and Additional Resources

• Exclusive Screening: The "Common Denominator" episode with Gavin Creel is available to listeners for a limited time at wnyc.org and at 2-bridge.com.
  • Schwartzberg (13:09):

    "Just go on. There's on our landing page. It'll tell you where to put your email in and it'll send you a link to the Gavin episode."

---

Tone & Takeaway

The episode maintains a heartfelt, conversational tone—balancing the sadness of loss with the inspiration of Gavin Creel’s creativity and openness. Listeners are encouraged to seek connection, be vulnerable, and use art as a channel for self-discovery and healing.

---

For those who haven’t listened:
This episode is a moving portrait of an artist who channeled personal struggles into art that fosters community and understanding. Through stories, music, and honest dialogue, both Gavin Creel and Harris Schwartzberg highlight that openness—and art—can be powerful catalysts for healing and connection.

Transcript

[Progressive Insurance Announcer]

All of it is supported by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game? Well, with the Name youe Price tool from Progressive, you can find options that fit your budget and potentially lower your bills. Try [e-mail] Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates Price and coverage match Limited by state law not available in all states. WNYC Studios is supported by Odoo. When you buy business software from lots of vendors, the costs add up and it gets complicated and confusing. Odoo solves this. It's a single company that sells a suite of enterprise apps that handles everything from accounting to inventory to sales. Odoo is all connected on a single platform in a simple and affordable way. You can save money without missing out on the features you need. Check out odoo@o d o o.com that's o d o o.com.

[Alison Stewart]

This is all of it on wnyc. I'm Alison Stewart. May is Mental Health Awareness Month and we've returned to our series we call Mental Health Mondays. A new series titled Common Denominator features talented folks who discuss their mental health journeys to bring various issues to light. The inaugural episode of the series is bittersweet because it features a beloved member of the Broadway community, the late Gavin Creel. Gavin passed away from a rare form of cancer in 2024 at the age of 48. He had just completed the inaugural episode of Common Denominator. The series is hosted by Maurice dubois. Let's listen to a sample of the episode with Gavin.

[Gavin Creel]

My first instinct of what Common Denominator means takes me back to 8th grade algebra and fractions and equations. I sort of see a classroom of students all trying to figure out the same thing when we're all just kids. We're all in those lines of desks and we're all trying to figure out who we are and what we are. I wish I could tell that little dude. Look around. Everybody's trying to find the same thing.

[Alison Stewart]

This series was created by two Bridge, a company that advocates for mental health through community, connection and storytelling. With me now to talk about the Common Denominator series and remember Gavin Creel is Harris Schwartzberg, founder of two Bridge. Hi Harris.

[Harris Schwartzberg]

How are you?

[Alison Stewart]

I'm doing well. And listeners, two Bridge is granting the all of it audience exclusive access to watch the episode with Gavin. If you go to our show page [e-mail], you can find information on how to watch the episode. It's available to screen through this Friday. Trubridge created the series the Common Common Denominator, Excuse me, What was the purpose of the show and how did it start?

[Harris Schwartzberg]

So it obviously, anybody that does anything in the world of mental health, everything starts from a place of personal pain. I lost my brother about 18 years ago who dealt with bipolar disorder his whole life and was a lover of theater, Broadway, et cetera. So we said, how are we going to put something together that allows people to talk openly about mental health but not bang you over the head and make you really sad? And. And we came up with the concept of common denominator by saying, let's mix music, art and mental health. And we use the art portion to sort of drive the conversation. The music generally comes out when we want to cut down the seriousness and break the episode down a little bit. And then we have the through line is very deep conversations that Maurice Dubois so beautifully runs.

[Alison Stewart]

So when did you first meet Kevin Creel?

[Harris Schwartzberg]

So Gavin and I met. I have three daughters who are all Broadway fans. And I was asked, we both went to the University of Michigan. Gavin was about 10 years younger than me. And I was asked by the president of the university to help Gavin on a big fundraising thing he was doing for the university for the School of Music, Theater and Dance. And we had lunch. He was. If you ever met Gavin, he was as engaging as you could imagine. I had no idea who he was. Didn't know he was famous, didn't know he was a big Broadway star, until I came home and told my daughter and she freaked out. And honestly, since that day, Gavin and I became very, very close friends because he's just one of those great listeners, open dialogue people. And that's why he was the perfect first guest for what we were trying to put together here.

[Alison Stewart]

Gavin is really honest in the episode about his journey, about coming out to his family. He grew up in a religious household in Ohio. How much did his coming out experience weigh on Gavin as a young man? And how do we see it in common denominator?

[Harris Schwartzberg]

It's pretty amazing because I didn't know it was as difficult. And then Gavin and I had spoken about it even before we filmed it, and he told me so sort of the life changing pieces that happened, so it sort of formed his entire view of the world. And he said once, he actually says some beautiful things in the episode where he said he came out actually to his sister and he explained that it was so hard, but what was so beautiful about it for him was when he came out to her, he thought it was gonna be this incredibly difficult conversation. Then she just looked at him and said, okay. And then she started talking about herself. And he says something along the lines of, when you. When you open up and talk to other people, it gives them the opportunity to do the same thing with you. So it was. It was really a beautiful story. Some of it's in the episode. Some of it was. It was just too long, and we. We took it out. But it, you know, is his. It defined who he was, and it defined why he was so great to other people going through similar things, whether it was coming out or a marriage breakup or something. It just taught him empathy.

[Alison Stewart]

During the filming of this episode and subsequent, what did you discover about Gavin Creel's mental health journey?

[Harris Schwartzberg]

Well, what was interesting was, so we didn't give Gavin any heads up on what we were doing. We just told him, come into New York. We're gonna film this thing. I didn't give him any background, really. And what we did to start the day was when we filmed with Gavin was I told a story about my brother, and I explained to people that we're not here to make a TV show or a movie or music. We're here to save people. And immediately, as I said that, we had members of the crew coming up telling us their mental health stories, their stories of loss. And that's when you kind of saw. I looked over and I saw Gavin with tears in his eyes. And he then kind of just sat down with. I believe it was the assistant director explaining, we've all got things. You know, we all are on a journey. And Gavin had it just like everybody else. You know, just like anybody specifically in the arts, he has his ups and downs. The problem that we discussed at length, doing what he did for a living, was the constant rejection, the constant judging, and always wanting people's approval. And, you know, he. Gavin, again, was dealing with things the way everybody else was dealing with it. He was sort of hiding a little bit. He would talk openly to his closest friends, which he talks about in the episode, but there was nothing, you know, nothing diagnosed. It was just. He had a lot of loneliness and sadness, which comes out in the episode.

[Alison Stewart]

Actor Gavin Creel was a beloved member of the Broadway community before he passed away from cancer at the age of 48 in 2024. As part of our Mental Health Monday series, we're discussing an episode about Gavin from a series called Common Denominator, created by two Bridge. My guest is two Bridge founder Harris Schwartzberg. All of it. Listeners can see an exclusive screen screening of the episode go to our show [e-mail] to find out how to watch. Gavin talks in the episode about how hard the pandemic was for him, how the industry just shut down and he was living alone. What did he tell you about why it was so challenging for him specifically? And how does hearing about his challenge help other folks?

[Harris Schwartzberg]

Well, it was interesting that that particular issue about the loneliness and the pandemic, we discussed it at length during the pandemic. And what pointed out to me was people that do what he does for a living human connection is his oxygen. And to have that cut off, they're just lost. Gavin was also in the middle of actually writing Walk on through and preparing for what was supposed to be the kickoff of Walk on through at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. And because of the pandemic, didn't have the ability to test it out with people, sing with his band, et cetera. But it was really an issue of loneliness, especially for creatives. And that creatives, again, they live off of human connection. And to have that cut off. And he had other things he was going through. Lost his dog, broke up with his then boyfriend. He was going through a lot of life changes. And the problem was he was doing it alone. And we spent a lot of time talking about that's the biggest problem, especially now if you fast forward that the loneliness epidemic that everybody's dealing with, some of that can be solved by spending time with people. And Gavin was one of those people that even actually, in his passing, brought tons of people together, as you know, from his memorial service. And then honestly, as recently as his 50th birthday, about 20 of us, 25 of us, people from the industry, friends, all got together just to go for a walk to celebrate his birthday. So his answer to the loneliness and the things that he was dealing with was as much human connection as possible.

[Alison Stewart]

And for people who don't know, Walk on through was inspired by months he spent wandering the Met as part of Met's Live Art Commission. And he was on our show talking about it in 2023, and I want to play a little bit of that interview. This is Gavin. He had never been to the Met before, and here he is telling us how the show came about.

[Gavin Creel]

My friend Matt Kwam works in the development department at the Met, and he said, hey, there's this department, this curatorial department, the Met Live Arts Series. Hadn't heard of it. I didn't even know there was a. There's a 700 seat theater inside the Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium in the Met. I didn't know that either. I didn't know anything. And he said, you should meet Lee Moore Tomer, who runs the department with Erin Flannery, who's one of our associate producers on the show now. And these women are doing really amazing stuff at a major museum in the world. It's a performance based curatorial department, and if they like you, they'll give you a membership card. And then they just set you free and they say, go. And then I just explored and they liked me, thank God. And they said, do you want this quote unquote job? And I spent about a year and a half before I really knew what I wanted to do. And they called me and said, what's the goal? And I said, I can only tell the truth. And the truth is I've never been in this building before. And it's embarrassing to admit. And hearing you read that and say that right now, I was like, people are like, what is wrong with you? I'm hoping the show explains why he

[Alison Stewart]

was such a fabulous guy. What do you think Walk on through captured about Gavin as an artist?

[Harris Schwartzberg]

Well, what was beautiful was so during the dark times, as Gavin would call it, the pandemic, when he was getting ready to do Walk on through at the Met, he called me in a panic saying, I'm doing this thing at the met in 10 weeks or eight weeks, and we've yet to rehearse as a band and as a group in person together. So what we did was we hosted Gavin and the entire band and crew up at Two Bridge, and we let them rehearse together for three or four days. And then on the last day, they did their first run through with all of Gavin's friends and some of his friends from the industry. And it was really, it was beautiful to watch it because we'd been watching it from the day he wrote the first song.

[Alison Stewart]

Wow.

[Harris Schwartzberg]

It was, you know, as simple as telling his story, because if you not to get in too deep. But it was originally supposed to be. He was supposed to write some songs about paintings that he saw at the Met. And because he was who he was, he instead picked 10 paintings or nine paintings, I forget how many, and decided to actually write a song about each one of those paintings and how it related to his story in life. So whether it was his moving to New York, meeting a boyfriend, breaking up with a boyfriend, he really told stories using those paintings.

[Alison Stewart]

And.

[Harris Schwartzberg]

And if you watch Walk on through, which I would suggest everybody do, it's really a beautiful way to see how somebody tells their life story and by the end of it, you kind of know who he is.

[Alison Stewart]

Before I go, can you tell people again how they can watch Common Denominator?

[Harris Schwartzberg]

Yeah. Our first episode obviously is Gavin. Our second episode is an artist, Noah Khan. It is the Gavin episode because of your show and the work you do is available on our website, which is 2bridge2-bridge.com just go on. There's on our landing page. It'll tell you where to put your email in and it'll send you a link to the Gavin episode.

[Alison Stewart]

And thank you so much for letting us host that through the end of the week. We really do appreciate it. My guest has been to Bridge founder Harris Schwartzberg. All of it. Listeners can see an exclusive screening of the episode featuring Gavin Creel go to our show [e-mail] thank you so much for the work you do.

[Harris Schwartzberg]

Thank you. Thanks for doing this. Amazon presents Laura vs Fruit Flies. Swarming your fruit and terrorizing your kitchen, these little freaks multiply at a rate that would make a rabbit say yo, Chill. But Laura shopped on Amazon and saved on cleaning spray, countertop wipes and fly traps. Hey fruit flies. Your baby boom ends here. Save the everyday with Amazon. This is Modelo Especial, a full flavored golden lager. Crisp and refreshing from start to finish. Brewed with time, effort and determination to get the balance right. Modelo Especial, the model for everyday beer. Drink responsibly. Beer imported by Crown and Port Chicago, Illinois.