The New York
Post reported Aug. 3 that the July 21 death of Broadway actor Steve Barton in
Bremen, Germany has been ruled a suicide by the district attorney there.
Barton's
death was previously attributed to heart failure, according to obituary
information released by the press office for the New York production of The
Phantom of the Opera, the musical for which Barton may be best known. He
also found great success on European stages in his career.
The
47-year-old American actor-singer originated the role of Raoul in The Phantom
of the Opera in London and also sang it — and, eventually, the title role
— on Broadway. Michael Riedel of The Post reported Barton died in his home in
Stonegate, a suburb of Bremen. The method of suicide was not disclosed by German
officials. By late July, members of the New York theatre community had heard
that Barton's death was by suicide.
Barton's
publicist and manager, Michael Staringer, was quoted in The Post saying that
Barton's substance abuse problems were "under control." Barton was to
take on the role of Jason in the fall staging of the non musical Greek classic, Medea,
at Pittsburgh Public Theater.
*
Barton is
heard as the romantic lead, Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny, on the original London
cast album of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera. He played
the role on the West End and on Broadway and would eventually graduate to play
the fourth Phantom on Broadway (March 19 Dec. 1, 1990). He also covered the lead
in Los Angeles briefly. His college-sweetheart wife, Phantom production
dance supervisor Denny Berry, survives him. Recent credits include the lead role
of Count von Krolock in the European world premiere of Jim Steinman and Roman
Polanski's Dance of the Vampires (Tanz der Vampire). He is also
heard on a cast album of that aborning show. He also played Bellini in Jones and
Schmidt's Mirette at Goodspeed Opera House and was Boris Lermontov in
Jule Styne's The Red Shoes on Broadway. He was the Beast in the European
premiere of Disney's Beauty and the Beast.
His 1988
Playbill bio stated that he was an Arkansas native but a "naturalized
Texan" who attended the University of Texas as a multi scholarship student,
where he appeared in over 30 production before moving to Switzerland to join the
Stadt Theater St. Gallen with wife Berry, a choreographer. They have one son,
Edward.
Barton
appeared as Munkustrap in Cats in Vienna, as Magaldi in Hal Prince's
production of Evita in Munich, and in Jesus Christ Superstar in
Vienna and Berlin.
His varied
work in the U.S. and Europe — TV, concerts, Brecht-Weill revivals, plays,
readings, smash musicals — inspired his followers to create international fan
clubs and websites.
Among his
credits, he played Fred in Kiss Me, Kate at Goodspeed Opera House in
1994, and workshopped Let's Do It!, a new A.R. Gurney tuner with Cole
Porter songs at the Long Wharf Theater in New Haven, CT, in 1996.
He is heard
on John McGlinn's Show Boat studio cast album, with Teresa Stratas, and
on various demos and recordings (including Tupelo, a new Elvis-inspired
show). Barton also appeared on TV soaps "The Young and the Restless"
and "Another World."
Barton
received the IMAGE Award, the European theatrical honor equal to the Tony Award
in the U.S.
One of his
proudest accomplishments was said to be the recording called, "Living
Water," produced for charity. He wrote the lyrics for five of the album's
12 songs and performed one of the songs accompanied by the voice of Mother
Teresa. Barton and wife Denny have a presidential scholarship named for them at
UT. In addition to Berry, Barton is survived by a brother, Tom Barton of
Nederland, TX, and a sister, Betty Barton Gambrell, also of Nederland.
— By
Kenneth Jones