Profile of Steve Barton on Famous Like Me

Steve Barton (June 26, 1954 - July 21, 2001) was an actor, singer, dancer, choreographer, stage director and teacher.

Short biography

Steven Neal Barton was born on June 26, 1954 in Hot Springs, Arkansas, as youngest from 3 children of his parents, Tom and Mary Barton. He grew up in Nederland, Texas.

Later he won a scholarship to the University of Texas at Austin, where he majored in theatre and dance, appearing in over 30 productions with the University of Texas and with the Ballet of Austin. After graduation he went to Europe, getting his first job at St. Gallen, Switzerland and then playing in major Swiss, German and Austrian theatre companies.

He played leading roles in West Side Story, Godspell, Romeo and Juliet, The Fantasticks, The Threepenny Opera, Oklahoma!, Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Guys and Dolls, and Camelot, before playing the role of Munkustrap in the Original Vienna Cast of Cats, at the 'Theater an der Wien'. At the 'Theater des Westens' in Berlin, he played roles in Guys and Dolls, Jesus Christ Superstar (as Jesus), La Cage aux Folles (as both Jean Michel and Albin/Zaza) and was playing Robert in Company when he got the audition news for Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera in London.

Steve Barton was married to dancer and choreographer Denny Berry, (Dance Supervisor for the North American productions of The Phantom of the Opera), who he met at college. They have a son, Edward, who was born in Vienna, in 1984. Steve and Denny had a Presidental Scholarship at the University of Texas named for them. Steve Barton has also been named an Honorary Chairperson for the Steadman/Hawkins Sports Medicine Foundation and was an honorary member of the Board of Education at the University of Texas, in Austin.

In 1996 Steve Barton returned to Vienna, where he took over the part of the Beast in Disney's Die Schöne und das Biest. He originated Graf von Krolock in Roman Polanski's Tanz der Vampire, (Music: Jim Steinman, Lyrics: Michael Kunze), a role which brought him in 1998 an IMAGE (International Music Award Germany). He played Graf von Krolock until January 17, 1999. In 1997 Steve Barton during this role would be in his 30-year onstage anniversary to celebrate. Tanz der Vampire was also the last musical in which Steve Barton stood on a stage. He died on July 21, 2001 at the age of 47 years in Bremen, Germany because of suicide, though official sources still claim it was problems with his heart. His ashes were buried in his native country in Texas, USA, in August 2001.

Stage roles

• Broadway
  • Phantom of the Opera, Original Cast, (1988), as Raoul and as Phantom ( from March to October 1990)
  • The Red Shoes, as Boris Lermontov, (1993)
• Off-Broadway
  • Cats, 1983 and 1984, in Vienna, Austria, (as Munkustrap/Dance Capitan)
  • Phantom of the Opera, 1986, in London, UK, (as Phantom in turn with Michael Crawford and as Raoul)
  • Anastasia - The Musical, 1991 and 1992, (as Prince Paul)
  • Six Wives, 1993, (as Henry VIII)
  • The Hunchback of Notre Dame, 1993, (as Quasimodo)
  • Die Schöne und das Biest, 1996/97 in Vienna, Austria, (as Biest)
  • Tanz der Vampire, 1997 - 1999 in Vienna, Austria, (as Graf von Krolock)
• Regional
  • Phantom of the Opera, 1990 and 1991, Los Angeles, (as Raoul)
  • Kiss me Kate, 1994, (as Fred Graham and Petruchio), Goodspeed Opera House, CT
  • Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd, (as Sweeney Todd), Jan. and Feb. 1996, in Pittsburgh
  • Let's do it, a new A. R. Gurney Show with Cole Porter music and lyrics which workshopped at the Long Wharf Theater, New Haven, CT, USA, April and May 1996, (as Nick Cameron, alias the Count of Luxemburg).

Television guest roles

• Tatort, 1992, guest role as FBI Agent Mike Haller, ORF, Austria
• The Young and the Restless, 1994, guest role and Another World, 1994, guest role as Bailey Thompson

Discography

Cats, 1983, (as Munkustrap), Original Vienna Cast, in German, Meisterstuecke, 2 duets with Angelika Milster, 1985, OLC, Highlights from The Phantom of the Opera, 1987, OLC, Complete Recording The Phantom of the Opera, 1987, (as Raoul), OLC The Phantom of the Opera (as Raoul), Show Boat, 1988, (as Steve Baker), Cole Porter Centennial Gala Concert, 1991, Living Water, with Mother Teresa and duet with Brian Sutherland, "Reach Out", 1995, Anastasia - The Musical, 1998, (as Prince Paul), Tanz der Vampire, Highlights 1998, (as Graf von Krolock), in German, Tanz der Vampire, Complete Recording (as Graf von Krolock), Original Vienna Cast, 1998, Aria2 - new horizon, 1999, "Leiermann", Danke, 1999, duet with Brian Sutherland, "Reach Out", Now and Forever - The Andrew Lloyd Webber Box Set, November 2001, duet with Sarah Brightman "All I Ask of You", More Broadway's Greatest Love Songs, January 2002, duet with Sarah Brightman "All I Ask of You", Encore, Sarah Brightman, April 2002, duet with Sarah Brightman "Think of Me", Steve Barton – Memorial Concert, spring 2002, 2 songs, "Simply Flying" from 1984 and "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" from 1995, with Pia Douwes, Caroline Vasicek, Jan Merchant and Gordon Bovinet. Best of Musical!, November 2004, 2 songs from Tanz der Vampire, "Totale Finsternis" with Cornelia Zenz and "Unstillbare Gier". BROADWAY'S FABULOUS PHANTOMS, December 2004, a CD featuring eleven of the stars who have performed the role of "Phantom of the Opera" on Broadway, "I've got you under my skin". LOVE CHANGES EVERYTHING - The Andrew Lloyd Webber Collection Vol. 2, Sarah Brightman, duet with Sarah Brightman "Think of Me", (released on: 2005-10-25)

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