Steven Neal Barton (June 26, 1954 – July 21, 2001) was an American actor, singer, dancer, teacher, choreographer, and stage director. He worked internationally in the United States, London, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. He is most well known for originating the role of Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny in the West End and Broadway productions of

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948) is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End theatre, West End and on Broadway theatre, Broad ...

’s '' The Phantom of the Opera'', and later taking over the title role of The Phantom of the Opera in the Broadway production. He also originated the starring role of Graf von Krolock in '' Dance of the Vampires''.

Early life

Barton was born on June 26, 1954, in

Hot Springs, Arkansas Hot Springs is a resort city in the state of Arkansas and the county seat of Garland County, Arkansas, Garland County. The city is located in the Ouachita Mountains among the U.S. Interior Highlands, and is set among several natural hot springs ...

, the youngest of three children of Tom and Mary Barton. He was raised in

Nederland, Texas Nederland ( ) is a city in Jefferson County, Texas, Jefferson County, Texas, United States. The population was 18,856 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The city was settled in 1897 along what became Boston Avenue and was incorporated ...

. He won a scholarship to the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

(UT), where he majored in theater, dance and voice, and appeared in over 30 productions with UT and the Ballet of Austin. A UT endowed Presidential Scholarship is now named for him. After graduation he went to

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Career

He landed his first professional role in St. Gallen,

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, then performed in several major Swiss, German and Austrian theater companies. He played leading roles in ''

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a Musical theatre, musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a Book (musical theatre), book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo an ...

'', ''

Godspell ''Godspell'' is a musical in two acts with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by John-Michael Tebelak. The show is structured as a series of parables, primarily based on the Gospel of Matthew, interspersed with music mostly set t ...

'', ''

Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...

'', ''

The Fantasticks ''The Fantasticks'' is a 1960 musical with music by Harvey Schmidt and book and lyrics by Tom Jones. It tells an allegorical story, loosely based on the 1894 play ''The Romancers'' (''Les Romanesques'') by Edmond Rostand, concerning two ne ...

'', ''

The Threepenny Opera ''The Threepenny Opera'' ( ) is a 1928 German "play with music" by Bertolt Brecht, adapted from a translation by Elisabeth Hauptmann of John Gay's 18th-century English ballad opera, '' The Beggar's Opera'', and four ballads by François V ...

'', ''

Oklahoma! ''Oklahoma!'' is the first musical theater, musical written by the duo of Rodgers and Hammerstein. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs's 1931 play, ''Green Grow the Lilacs (play), Green Grow the Lilacs''. Set in farm country outside the town of ...

'', ''

Jesus Christ Superstar ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' is a sung-through rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Loosely based on the Life of Jesus in the New Testament, Gospels' accounts of Passion of Jesus, the Passion, the work interprets ...

'', '' Evita'', '' Guys and Dolls'', and '' Camelot'', before playing the role of ''Munkustrap'' in the original

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

cast of ''

Cats The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...

'', at the Theater an der Wien. At the Theater des Westens in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

he played roles in '' Guys and Dolls'', ''

'' (as Jesus), '' La Cage aux Folles'' (as both Jean Michel and Albin/Zaza) and Robert in ''

Company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether Natural person, natural, Juridical person, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members ...

''. In 1986, Barton originated the role of Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny in

's '' The Phantom of the Opera'' in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. He also understudied the title role and notably played the role when Michael Crawford was sick in April 1987. In 1988, he reprised the role of Raoul in the original Broadway cast. In 1989, Barton reprised his performance as Raoul opposite Crawford's Phantom in the previews and opening night performance of the Ahmanson Theatre production of the show when principal Raoul actor Reece Holland was injured. Barton took over the role of

The Phantom ''The Phantom'' is an American adventure comic strip, first published by Lee Falk in February 1936. The main character, the Phantom, is a fictional costumed crime-fighter who operates from the fictional African country of Bangalla. The char ...

in 1990 from Cris Groenendaal in the Broadway production; he was the fourth principal actor to portray the role on Broadway. In 1996, Barton returned to Vienna, where he took over the part of The Beast in Disney's ''

Beauty and the Beast "Beauty and the Beast" is a fairy tale written by the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in (''The Young American and Marine Tales''). Villeneuve's lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and publish ...

''. He originated the role of Graf von Krolock, a

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...

in Jim Steinman's '' Dance of the Vampires'', for which he won an IMAGE (International Music Award Germany) in 1998. Barton celebrated his 30-year onstage anniversary in 1997 during his run as von Krolock. At the end of his life he was working on '' Jekyll & Hyde'' in Bremen, Germany. He was taking over the title role from Ethan Freeman.

Personal life

Barton was married to swing dancer and choreographer Denny Berry, who served as dance supervisor for the North American productions of ''The Phantom of the Opera'', whom he met at college. Their son, Edward, was born in

in 1984; the couple separated at an unspecified later date. He was an honorary chairperson of the Steadman Hawkins Sports Medicine Foundation and an honorary member of the UTA Board of Education.

Death

Barton was found dead at his apartment in Bremen, Germany, on July 21, 2001, aged 47. While his death was initially attributed to heart failure, according to obituary information released by the press office for the New York production of ''The Phantom of the Opera'', it was later ruled a suicide by the Bremen district attorney.

Stage roles

Source:Steve Barton A Life Dedicated To The Stage
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Television guest roles

* '' Tatort'', 1992, guest role as FBI Agent ''Mike Haller'', ORF, Austria * ''

The Young and the Restless ''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in the fictional Genoa City (named after the real-life Genoa City, Wiscon ...

'', 1994, guest role and '' Another World'', 1994, guest role as ''Bailey Thompson''

Selected discography

Musicals

* 1983: ''

'', Original Vienna Cast Recording, as ''Munkustrap'', in German language * 1987: ''Highlights from The Phantom of the Opera'', Original London Cast, as ''Raoul'' * 1987: ''The Phantom of the Opera'', Original London Cast Recording, as ''Raoul'' * 1988: ''

Show Boat ''Show Boat'' is a musical theatre, musical with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It is based on Edna Ferber's best-selling 1926 Show Boat (novel), novel of the same name. The musical follows the lives of the per ...

'', as ''Steve Baker'' * 1998: ''Anastasia - The Musical'', as ''Prince Paul'' * 1998: '' Tanz der Vampire – Die Höhepunkte der Welturaufführung'', Original Vienna Cast, as ''Graf von Krolock'', in German language * 1998: ''Tanz der Vampire – Die Gesamtaufnahme'', Original Vienna Cast Recording, as ''Graf von Krolock'', in German language

Guest appearances

* 1985: Angelika Milster - ''Meisterstücke'', 2 duets * 1998: Paul Schwartz's ''Aria, Vol. 2 - New Horizon'', vocals on ''Leiermann'' * 2002:

Sarah Brightman Sarah Brightman (born 14 August 1960) is an English classical crossover soprano singer and actress. Brightman began her career as a member of the dance troupe Hot Gossip and released several disco singles as a solo performer. In 1981, she made ...

- ''Encore'', duet on "Think of Me"

Other recordings

* 1991:

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became Standard (music), standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway the ...

Centennial Gala Concert * 1995: ''Living Water'', duets with

Mother Teresa Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu (born Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, ; 26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997), better known as Mother Teresa or Saint Mother Teresa, was an Albanian-Indian Catholic Church, Roman Catholic nun, founder of the Missionaries of ...

and Brian Sutherland * 1999: ''Danke - Songs und Lieder zum Kirchentag 1999'', includes the song "Reach Out", a duet with Brian Sutherland * 2002: Steve Barton – Memorial Concert, "Simply Flying" and "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" * 2004: ''Broadway's Fabulous Phantoms'', "I've Got You Under My Skin" * 2009: ''Only for a While'', compilation * 2010: ''Encore: The Private Collection'', compilation of outtakes, demos and rehearsals

References

External links

*
Steve Barton on broadwaystars.com
* Steve Barton on Ovrtur.com *the* international database of musical theatre. http://www.ovrtur.com/biography/10128888
Steve Barton A Life Dedicated to the Stage

The Steve Barton Musical Theatre Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barton, Steve 1954 births 2001 deaths 20th-century American dancers 20th-century American male actors 20th-century American singers 20th-century American male singers American baritones American choreographers American expatriates in Austria American expatriate male actors in Germany American male dancers American male film actors American male musical theatre actors American musical theatre directors Drug-related suicides in Germany Male actors from Hot Springs, Arkansas Musicians from Hot Springs, Arkansas People from Nederland, Texas University of Texas at Austin College of Fine Arts alumni 2001 suicides

Early life

Career

Personal life

Death

Stage roles

Television guest roles

Selected discography

Musicals

Guest appearances

Other recordings

See also

References

External links