Gavin Creel and Jonathan Groff in 2009. Photo: Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic
While speaking at the New Yorker Festival on October 26, Jonathan Groff shared the bittersweet story of his final interaction with Gavin Creel, whom he dated in 2009. The two hadn’t spoken in years but shared a text exchange after Groff mentioned how Creel had positively affected his life in a June 2024 New Yorker interview. “I got a text message a couple of days after the interview came out from Gavin Creel,” Groff told New Yorker journalist Michael Schulman, who wrote the original article. “We had dated 15 years ago. I shared in the interview how he’d changed my life and how that relationship altered the course of my existence.” After reading the quotes, Creel texted Groff that “I think I know now that I mean as much to you as you mean to me.”
Groff revealed that he and Creel had continued to chat “all the way up until the Tonys that year.” When Tony Night came, Groff won Best Actor in a Musical for his work in Merrily We Roll Along. “He texted me congratulations,” Groff said. “And that was the last interaction we ever had.” Creel died of cancer just three months later, on September 24, 2024.
In the interview that caused Creel to text him, Groff recalled coming out publicly to Broadway.com in 2009 after the couple attended the March on Washington for marriage equality together. Groff remembered “looking at Gavin, who was holding a bullhorn, directing people into the march,” and getting inspired to come out. “I was, like, I fucking love him so much,” he said. “I’m coming out.”
“I know it wasn’t your intent to close a loop with a guy I dated who was about to die,” Groff told Schulman. “But I really thank you for that.”
Hi there! I’m Sweta Choudhury, a 25-year-old from Assam who has always had a passion for expressing
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Hi there! I’m Sweta Choudhury, a 25-year-old from Assam who has always had a passion for expressing herself through the creative space. I hold a degree in media and communication from Kingston University, London and pursued my Master’s in journalism and mass communication from Amity University, Noida. With a knack for content writing, content creation, interviewing, public speaking, copywriting, brand management, and social media marketing, I thrive in the world of media.(with significant time spent working and interning with ad agencies and startups). When I’m not busy crafting content or managing brands, you’ll find me seeking solace in traveling, watching crime documentaries, indulging in delicious food, exploring makeup and fashion, and immersing myself in captivating reads. I take a stand for the things that need a voice,believe in authenticity, wear my heart on my sleeve and keep my circle small and tight. I have a keen love for movies and all things media. Let’s connect on LinkedIn, or feel free to reach out to me at swetachoudhury2013@gmail.com for any inquiries. Or you can also connect on Instagram to see my daily life, read posts or simply get to know me, not as an author but rather as a happy-go-lucky girl . ID: swetachoudhury19
Daniel Radcliffe with some of his Merrily costars. Andy Henderson
Lincoln Center was abuzz with celebrity star-studded parties after the 77th Annual Tony Awards Sunday night and Observer was there to witness all the excitement. Across the street from the David H. Koch Theater where the award show was held for the first time, Best Play winner Stereophonic held its party at PJ Clarke’s. When the telecast ended after 11 p.m., guests from inside the 2,500-seat theater quickly filled the restaurant. The crowd cheered as newly minted Tony Award-winning director Daniel Aukin walked in. Sliced steak, salmon and Caesar salad were served along with cocktails with clever names like the mezcal-infused “Mud F*ck”—a nod to the play. Aukin made his way downstairs where he sat down at a round table in a corner with friends and family to eat dinner. Next door at Rosa Mexicano, The Outsiders celebrated its Tony Award win for Best Musical, where producer Angelina Jolie also made an appearance.
A few blocks south at Shops at Columbus Circle, Water for Elephants held its party on the fifth floor at Jazz on Lincoln Center, and Merrily We Roll Along, which won Best Revival of a Musical, celebrated in the Ascent Lounge. Guests were treated to the “Our Thyme” cocktail made with Grey Goose Vodka infused with thyme, elderflower liqueur and watermelon juice as a DJ kicked off the evening with “September” by Earth, Wind & Fire. The young children in the cast were allowed to stay up well past their bedtimes and were dancing up a storm. In a separate roped-off area, Lindsay Mendez and Daniel Radcliffe snapped photos with his new trophy.
The cast of Water For Elephants celebrating. The cast of Water For Elephants
For the third year in a row, some of the biggest stars of the night attended Late Night at Pebble Bar, the annual Tony afterparty at the 132-year-old institution in Rockefeller Center. Best Actress nominee Kelli O’Hara and Arian Moayed, nominated last year, hosted the festivities with cocktails by Pernod Ricard—the “Moon Unit Zappa” was a spicy pineapple margarita with Código 1530 Blanco Tequila.
Billy Porter and Mary Martha Ford. Rupert Ramsay/BFA.com
Billy Porter was one of the first people on the fourth floor to start dancing, then we spotted him later talking to O’Hara, dressed in a stunning hot pink peplum gown. Porter’s found phone was a notable addition to the scene—he’d mentioned on TV earlier in the evening during his acceptance speech for the prestigious Isabelle Stevenson Award that he couldn’t find it.
Sarah Paulson at the Carlyle. Little Fang
All eyes in the room turned round as winner Sarah Paulson holding her Tony and her Appropriate co-stars Corey Stoll, Ella Fanning and Ella Beatty walked in and went straight to the bar. Paulson, who changed for the parties into a black slinky ensemble with silver swirl embellishments, took numerous photos with the group before they all noshed on Brooklyn-based Fini pizza topped with Petrossian Caviar. On the other side of the room was Stoll’s West Side Story co-star Brian D’Arcy James chatting it up with Leslie Odom Jr., while his wife Nicolette Robinson sparkled in her strapless glimmery gold A-Line gown among the sundry guests. At around 2 a.m., Elle Fanning headed for the elevator—this was her first Tony Awards ceremony. “I just wanted Sarah Paulson to win,” she was overheard saying on her way out. She said she had to catch an early flight to Norway for work the next morning.
After the individual parties wrap, everyone who’s anyone winds up at the legendary Rick Miramontez DKC/O&M and John Gore after-afterparty at the Carlyle Hotel.
Shaina Taub with her Tonys at the Carlyle. Little Fang
Host Ariana DeBose, wearing the same dress she ended the telecast in, was spotted sitting along a long velour couch gabbing with Julianne Hough, who co-hosted the 6:30 p.m. show on Pluto. Two-time winner for Suffs, Shaina Taub, held a Tony in each hand, leaving her no way to carry a purse or phone. Stereophonic star Sarah Pigeon held her heels in her hand as she strolled through the hotel lobby and into Bemelmans Bar. That’s where Daniel Radcliffe, still holding his Tony, and his Merrily co-star Jonathan Groff were, too, and they were spotted taking in their victories together. Groff, who won Best Actor in a Musical, surprised the crowd and sang “Old Friends” from the show with Billy Stritch on piano. Shrimp cocktail, sliders and mini quiche were among the passed hors d’oeuvres.
On the second floor, a chef was making fresh omelets. In the next room, Ashley Park danced with her former Mean Girls co-star Jonalyn Saxer to Destiny’s Child “Bills, Bills, Bills,” then walked over to the bar for a soda before grabbing a group and heading downstairs.
Alicia Keys and Roy Nachum, co-founder and creative director of Mercer Labs, at the Hells Kitchen afterparty. Mercer
While the Hell’s Kitchen’s party was held all the way in the financial district at Mercer Labs, many in the cast made a point to still show face on the Upper East Side, including winner Kecia Lewis and her nominated co-star Shoshana Bean. Kara Young, who won a Tony Award after being nominated three years in a row, arrived around 2:30 a.m. and changed into a sequin copper mini dress so as not to ruin her long, flowy, green award show gown (someone might have stepped on it). Billy Eichner mosied around the party, too.
At 3:45 a.m., Groff made his way outside with a group of friends posing for photos outside the hotel as other guests waited for their Ubers, and most of us called it a night.
Eddie Redmayne
Eddie Redmayne. Little Fang
Grant Gustin and LA Thoma Gustin
Grant Gustin and LA Thoma Gustin. Marcus Middleton
Sue Wagner
Sue Wagner. Valerie Terranova Photography
Sarah Pidgeon
Sarah Pidgeon. Valerie Terranova Photography
Elle Fanning and Natalie Gold
Elle Fanning and Natalie Gold. Rupert Ramsay/BFA.com
Kelli O’Hara and Leslie Odom Jr.
Kelli O’Hara and Leslie Odom Jr. Rupert Ramsay/BFA.com
Lindsay Mendez
Lindsay Mendez. Andy Henderson
Will Brill
Will Brill. Little Fang
Eli Gelb and Sarah Pidgeon
Eli Gelb and Sarah Pidgeon. Valerie Terranova Photography
Observer correspondent Leigh Scheps with her husband
Observer correspondent Leigh Scheps with her husband. Rupert Ramsay/BFA.com
All the cool film girlies just came back from Berlin. Specifically, they are fresh from the 74th Berlin International Film Festival, and they still smell like cigarettes to prove it. Between anecdotes about how Berghain is ruined, they’re telling me how they watched Cillian Murphy (my father, emotionally) give another masterful, award-worthy performance in the Enda Walsh adaptation of Claire Keegan’s novel Small Things Like These. This is apropos of nothing, except that I was not in Berlin, so I will have to wait alongside everyone else to see one of my favorite books on screen later this year.
But how can I be bitter? This week, half of Los Angeles will flock to Texas for South By Southwest in Austin, and I’ll be delightfully distracted by a whole new slate of upcoming releases premiering at this year’s festival. There are so many new films to be excited about premiering at the festival — even without Cillian Murphy’s cheekbones.
Let’s get into it.
What is SXSW?
I’m in for a week of acronyms: SXSW in ATX FTW – LFG!! South By Southwest (aka SXSW or SX or South By) is a film festival, music festival, and industry conference all rolled into one. Fueled by Texas BBQ and Torchy’s Tacos, creative people in the tech, film, music, education, and culture industries swarm from theater to concert hall and conference room networking (allegedly), writing pretentious reviews about the future of culture (guilty), and being menaces to the residents of Austin by causing even worse traffic jams than the city is used to— and I can’t wait.
When is SXSW 2024?
SXSW 2024 will be held from March 8 – 16 2024. Highly anticipated events include Rolling Stone’s Future of Music Series (my artists to watch are Flo Milli and Faye Webster), and the SXSW Music Festival (which, this year, includes The Black Keys, Bootsy Collins, and many more). Of course, the highlight is the insane 2024 SXSW movie lineup. I can’t wait to laugh, cry, and contemplate my very existence while staring up at a screen at SXSW. In the words of Nicole Kidman, “We come to this place to dream.” And this week, the dreamers are all in Austin, Texas.
Here are the films at SXSW 2024 we’re most excited about – starring an assortment of all our favorite actors (even though Cilian won’t be making an appearance). Still, we’re excited to see new performances from faves like Ayo Edebiri, Jake Gyllenhaal, Ryan Gosling, Aaron Taylor Johnson, Jonathan Groff, Hunter Schafer, Rachel Zegler, Anne Hathaway, Nicholas Galitzine, and a whole lot more.
SXSW 2024 Official Opening Night Selection
Road House
This is not Patrick Swayze’s Road House (1989) — but by the time Jake Gyllenhaal is done with you, you’ll love it as much as the original. Gyllenhaal stars as an ex-UFC fighter-turned-bouncer at a Florida Keys roadhouse, owned by Frankie (Jessica Williams). Facing threats from a criminal gang led by Brandt (Billy Magnussen), Dalton’s violent past emerges. When he is confronted by Knox (Conor McGregor), a lethal gun-for-hire, the escalating brawls and bloodshed become more dangerous than his days in the Octagon. Fans of real-life, ex-UFC fighter Conor McGregor are excited to see him in this film, even if he is the villain. Road House is coming to Prime Video on March 21st.
SXSW 2024 Official Closing Night Selection
The Idea of You
This film is like if your mom stole your Wattpad moment. Created by two-time SXSW Audience Award Winner Michael Showalter, it’s his great return to SXSW and it’s sure to be a riot. Allegedly based on Harry Styles (and a little bit of Prince Harry, too), The Idea of You is the salacious story of a 40-year-old single mom who begins an unexpected romance with her daughter’s favorite popstar. She goes from begrudgingly chaperoning her daughter to Coachella to meeting, and falling for, 24-year-old Hayes Campbell, the lead singer of a band based on One Direction. This odd couple romance promises to be more than meets the eye. The couple is played by Red White & Royal Blue’s Nicholas Galitzine alongside Anne Hathaway so I am ready and willing to go on this ride. I’m expecting something that feels like a mix of After, A Star is Born, and How Stella Got Her Groove Back. Watch the trailer HERE. And listen to the first song from the Original Soundtrack by fictional boy band August Moon HERE.
Other films to watch at SXSW 2024
I Wish You All The Best
I am unspeakably excited for Tommy Dorfman’s queer coming-of-age drama. Written and directed by Dorfman and starring Corey Fogelmanis, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Alexandra Daddario, Cole Sprouse, Lena Dunham, Amy Landecker, Lexi Underwood, and more (wow!) it’s an adaptation of Mason Deaver’s novel of the same name. A queer tale of chosen family, it follows Ben DeBacker, a non-binary teen who is thrown out of their house and forced to move in with their estranged older sister, Hannah, and her husband, Thomas. Struggling with anxiety, they come out only to Hannah, Thomas, and their art teacher, Ms. Lyons, while trying to keep a low profile at their new school. Ben’s attempts to survive junior year unnoticed are thwarted when Nathan, a funny and charismatic student, decides to take Ben under his wing. With the help of Nathan, and his friends Sophie and Mel, Ben discovers themselves, and what started as a disastrous turn of events looks like it might just be a chance to start a happier new life.
A Nice Indian Boy
A Nice Indian Boy
I’ll watch Jonathan Groff in anything — and this original odd-couple comedic drama would have taken me no convincing anyway. Self-effacing doctor Naveen Gavaskar meets Jay Kurundkar, a white man adopted by two Indian parents, when Jay takes his picture at the hospital. Despite initial skepticism on Naveen’s part, the two quickly fall in love. Naveen avoids telling his traditional family—parents Megha & Archit and sister Arundhathi—who accepted his sexuality years earlier and are close to him but increasingly don’t know much about his life. Eventually, inevitably, Jay, with no family of his own, has to meet the Gavaskars, who have never met a boyfriend of Naveen’s.
The Fall Guy
The Fall Guy
Don’t fret, Barbie fever is over, but Ryan Gosling will be back on your screens soon enough with this comedic action blockbuster. Ryan Gosling stars as Colt, a stuntman who, after a near-career-ending accident, is drafted back into service when the star of a mega-budget movie—being directed by his ex, Jody (Emily Blunt)—goes missing. Now, this working-class hero has to solve a conspiracy and try to win back the love of his life while still doing his day job. Certified heartthrob Aaron Taylor Johnson is also in this — giving me something to look forward to as I wait patiently for his role in Kraven: The Hunter later this year. I’m sat.
Omni Loop
Omni Loop
The more Ayo Edebiri in the zeitgeist, the better. Alongside Mary Louise Parker, Steven Maier, Eddie Cahill, and more, she stars in this existential sci-fi feature. Zoya Lowe, a 55 year old woman from Miami, FL, has been diagnosed with a black hole inside her chest and given a week to live. But what the doctors and her family don’t know is that she has already lived this week before. She’s lived it so many times, in fact, that she doesn’t even know how long it’s been. Until one day she meets Paula, a young woman studying time at a lab in the local university, and together they decide to try and solve time travel so Zoya can actually go back— back into her past, back to a time before she settled, back to when her whole future was still wide open in front of her—back so she can do it all over again, and finally be the person she always wanted to be. It’s this year’s Everything Everywhere All At Once so I have high hopes.
The Greatest Hits
The Greatest Hits
Harriet (Lucy Boynton) finds art imitating life when she discovers certain songs can transport her back in time – literally. While she relives the past through romantic memories of her former boyfriend (David Corenswet), her time-traveling collides with a burgeoning new love interest in the present (Justin H. Min). As she takes her journey through the hypnotic connection between music and memory, she wonders if she can change the past. Think Yesterday, but … no, pretty much just exactly Yesterday.
Y2K
Y2K A24 Movie
The children are our future! This A24 disaster comedy, Y2K, stars Rachel Zegler, Jaeden Martell, Julian Dennison, Lachlan Watson, Daniel Zolghadri, Mason Gooding, The Kid Laroi (yes, from that Justin Bieber song), and more as high schoolers who crash a NYE party in 1999 and end up fighting for their lives. But doesn’t all high school feel like that?
I Love You Forever
I Love You Forever
Directed and written by Cazzie David and Elisa Kalani and starring Sofia Black-D’Elia, Ray Nicholson, Jon Rudnitsky, Cazzie David, and Raymond Cham Jr, this film portrays the sad reality of the dating landscape. It follows Mackenzie, a disillusioned 25-year old law student tired of the apps — because who isn’t. When she has a “real life meet-cute” with a charming journalist who makes her believe true love may actually exist. Ultimately, it starts to go left and Mackenzie finds herself trapped in a tumultuous and depleting cycle of emotional abuse.
Doin It
Doin It
Starring internet sensation-turned-host-turned-actor Lilly Singh, Doin It is a comedy of errors about an Indian woman trying to lose her virginity. Fans of Never Have I Ever, which also starts with that premise, should flock to this film. After teenage Maya is caught in a sexually compromising position, her mom moves the family back to India so Maya can learn proper discipline. Years later, she returns to the US to find funding for her teen-focused app, and gets a job as a substitute high school teacher so she can research her target demo. But when the principal assigns her to teach sex ed, Maya —who’s still a virgin— sets out on a quest with her best friend to make up for the high school experience she lost out on. It also stars Ana Gasteyer, Sabrina Jalees, Stephanie Beatriz, Mary Holland, Utkarsh Ambudkar, and Sonia Dhillon Tully.
Civil War
Civil War
No, not the Marvel film. Much more chilling and dystopian — especially since it’s set in a plausible, near-future. It stars Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Sonoya Mizuno, and Nick Offerman taking us on an adrenaline-fueled thrill ride through a fractured America balanced on the razor’s edge, going through a civil war.
Birdeater
Birdeater
A bride-to-be is invited to join her own fiancé’s bachelor party on a remote property in the Australian outback. But as the festivities spiral into beer-soaked chaos, uncomfortable details about their relationship are exposed, and the celebration soon becomes a feral nightmare. I’m imagining part Saltburn and part Get Out from this feature debut.
Babes
Babes
After becoming pregnant from a one-night stand, Eden leans on her married best friend and mother of two, Dawn, to guide her through gestation and beyond. Starring lana Glazer, Michelle Buteau, John Carroll Lynch, and Hasan Minhaj, this comedy about friendship and motherhood is sure to be both belly-busting and heartwarming
Musica
Musica
Based on writer, director and star Rudy Mancuso, Música is a coming-of-age love story that follows an aspiring creator with synesthesia, who must come to terms with an uncertain future, while navigating the pressures of love, family and his Brazilian culture. Alongside Mancuso are Camila Mendes, Francesca Reale, Maria Mancuso, and J.B. Smoove.
Freaknik: The Wildest Party Never Told
Freaknik: The Wildest Party Never Told
If anyone else has heard about Freaknik endlessly without hearing about Freaknik, your time has come. This documentary feature is a celebratory exploration of the boisterous times of Freaknik, the iconic Atlanta street party that drew hundreds of thousands of people in the 80s and 90s, helping put Atlanta on the map culturally. At its height, Freaknik was a traffic-stopping, city-shuttering, juggernaut that has since become a cult classic. This documentary will, too.
The Black Sea
The Black Sea
Immersive and inspired by Derrick B. Harden’s travels to Bulgaria, The Black Sea details the transformative journey of a man who finds unexpected connections in a small coastal Eastern European town even as he finds himself to be the only black person around.
Pet Shop Days
Pet Shop Days
I love a very serious thriller with a whimsical title. Starring Jack Irv, Darío Yazeb Bernal, Willem Dafoe, Peter Sarsgaard, and more, you know this one’s going to be good. In an act of desperation, impulsive black sheep Alejandro flees his home in Mexico. On the run from his unforgiving father, Alejandro finds himself in New York City where he meets Jack, a college age pet store employee with similar parental baggage. Together the two enter a whirlwind romance sending them down the rabbit hole of drugs and depravity in Manhattan’s underworld.
Toll
Toll
This Brazilian feature is definitely going to chill me to my core, I’m calling it now. Suellen, a Brazilian toll booth attendant and mother, falls in with a gang of thieves in an attempt to keep her family afloat. In doing so, she realizes she can use her job to raise some extra money illegally for a so-called noble cause: to send her son to an expensive gay conversion workshop led by a renowned foreign priest.
My Dead Friend Zoe
My Dead Friend Zoe
My Dead Friend Zoe follows the journey of Merit, a U.S. Army Afghanistan veteran who is at odds with her family thanks to the presence of Zoe, her dead best friend from the Army. Despite the persistence of her VA group counselor, the tough love of her mother and the levity of an unexpected love interest, Merit’s cozy-dysfunctional friendship with Zoe keeps the duo insulated from the world. That is until Merit’s estranged grandfather—holed up at the family’s ancestral lake house—begins to lose his way and is in need of the one thing he refuses… help. It stars Sonequa Martin-Green, Natalie Morales, Ed Harris, Morgan Freeman, Utkarsh Ambudkar, and Gloria Reuben.
A House Is Not a Disco
A House Is Not a Disco
Directed by Brian J. Smith, this documentary shows a year-in-the-life in the world’s most iconic “homo-normative” community: Fire Island Pines. Situated fifty miles from New York City, this storied queer beach town finds itself in the midst of a renaissance as a new generation of Millennial homeowners reimagine The Pines for a new, more inclusive era. Filmed like a Wiseman movie on magic mushrooms, a large cast of unforgettable eccentrics, activists, drifters, and first-timers reflect on the legacy of The Pines while preparing their beloved village for the biggest challenge it has faced since the AIDS crisis: rising seas caused by climate change.
Brandy Hellville & the Cult of Fast Fashion
Brandy Hellville & the Cult of Fast Fashion
My eighth-grade self, experiencing all the stages of grief in the Brandy Melville changing room, is ready for this expose. It examines how Brandy Melville developed a cult-like following despite its controversial “one size fits all” tagline. Hiding behind its shiny Instagram façade is a shockingly toxic world, a reflection of the global fast fashion industry. Fast fashion isn’t all glitz and glamor – it’s a business that sacrifices humanity and pollutes the planet for the sake of profit.
