Barton Cowperthwaite was born on July 10, 1992 in Denver, Colorado, USA. He is a professional classical/ballet dancer, writer and actor, best known for his roles in Tiny Pretty Things (2020), Fosse/Verdon (2019) and Center Stage: On Pointe (2016).
Dance found Barton when he was 12 years old. Sports had always come naturally, but dance came from another place entirely. His earliest formal training happened between his high school, Denver School of the Arts, and his studio, The Academy of Colorado Ballet. While he was in high school, he discovered his love for acting and theater thanks to a group of friends who started a local theater company, The Black Actor’s Guild. In 2010, He attended the University of Arizona for college as a dance major, and graduated in 2013, a year early, with honors. Every time he was home from college he would work with The Back Actor’s Guild to produce and perform in improv and sketch comedy shows for the community.
Barton’s professional career began immediately after graduating from college when he was cast to originate the role of ‘Romeo’ in the European tour of Bad Boys of Ballet’s Romeo and Juliet. He moved to New York in 2014 to crash on his Aunt and Uncle’s living room floor as he figured out the next steps. Since moving to NYC, Barton has performed principal roles on stage for Lar Lubovitch, Pontus Lidberg, Bad Boys of Ballet, the first national and tour of an American in Paris, several different Encores’ productions at City Center, The Metropolitan Opera’s La Traviata, and much more.
His passions for dance and acting continued to meet on screen, when he was cast as the romantic lead, ‘Damon’ in Lifetime’s Center Stage 3. Acting has since captured his heart. If dance teaches you one thing, it’s how important class is in one’s path toward professional achievement. So he studied. Considering teachers such as Tony Greco, Larry Moss, and Jessica Hecht as mentors. He studied Alexander Technique with Jean-Louis Rodrigue & Kristof Konrad. Vocal classes were invested in through Bruce Eckstut, Ric Ryder, and Tracy Grimaldi. In 2019 he played ‘Oren Lennox’ in Netflix’s hit series Tiny Pretty Things, which was released at the end of 2020 following the industry being rocked by the pandemic. The show was #1 in the world for two weeks, but was canceled one month after its release.
As the pandemic raged through the nation during an election year, Barton took decisive action with Vote Forward. A nonpartisan organization that encourages registered, but unlikely voters to show up at the ballot box. He personally hand wrote and mailed over 400 letters. Going a step further, he personally sponsored donations to the NAACP using social media to trade donations for letters written by others. This self motivated effort was recognized by Levi’s who contributed and sponsored a large amount of money to help his effort in turning out the vote and supporting the NAACP. Barton also marched with dozens of picket lines during the 2023 SAG/AFTRA strikes.
In late November of 2023, Barton was diagnosed with a lemon sized brain tumor on his right frontal lobe. While interviewing doctors who were candidates for brain surgery, one of the questions was “Will he be ready to start rehearsing for the broadway production of The Outsiders on February 1st?” His craniotomy was done on November 21st, 2023 at NYU Langone by Dr. John G Golfinos and Dr. Dan A Orringer. The pathology diagnosed Barton with Oligodendroglioma, a rare type of slow growing brain cancer. He had a second brain surgery to treat an infection an install a titanium plate in his skull on December 10th followed by 6 weeks of IV antibiotic infusions, 6 hours a day.
Barton started rehearsals for The Outsiders as planned on February 1st. Posting about his health experience on social media garnered a great deal of attention and support, and helped him find Oligo Nation. While he was recovering from brain surgery, creating The Outsiders, and helping plan his wedding to his unstoppable fiancé, Sophie Thoerner, they both decided to help co-chair the NYC Oligo Nation Gala on May 1st. With Barton and Sophie’s help this event helped raise over 425 thousand dollars for Oligodendroglioma research. June 16th, The Outsiders won the Tony Award for Best Musical of 2024, and the following Friday on the summer solstice, Barton and Sophie got married at The Hotel Chelsea in front of their closest family and friends.
In July, he shared his story and insights on a series of panels at the Broadway Teacher’s Workshop with theater teachers from around the country. He’s currently back writing more Vote Forward letters to encourage voters to be present in November. You can currently find him 8 times a week at The Jacob’s Theater in Broadway’s best, wettest, and bloodiest new show! Barton Cowperthwaite is an actor, a dancer, an activist, a writer, a son, a brother, a husband, and a cancer survivor.
