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Inside ‘Gotta Dance!’: Barton Cowperthwaite and Libby Lloyd on Resilience, High-Stakes Performance and Keeping Broadway Dance Alive
Ensemble dancers Barton Cowperthwaite and Libby Lloyd open up about performing ‘Gotta Dance!’ at Stage 42, overcoming serious health challenges and why live dance still matters.
Driven to Dance
If you love dance and Broadway musicals, it’s hard not to be captivated by Gotta Dance!, the high-energy Off-Broadway revue now playing at Stage 42.
There’s no traditional storyline. Instead, the show delivers a nonstop celebration of movement — a 90-minute burst of talent performed by a cast of 16 triple-threat dancers. The ensemble recreates iconic numbers from beloved musicals, including West Side Story, A Chorus Line, Pippin, Gypsy and Singin’ in the Rain.
“You don’t have to think,” one theatergoer said on opening night. “You just sit back and be thoroughly entertained.”
The revue features choreography from legends including Bob Fosse, Jerome Robbins, Susan Stroman and Michael Bennett, performed with a live band.
While each dancer has a moment in the spotlight, what they share — beyond talent — is the physical demand. Eight dance-heavy shows a week is grueling. But for Barton Cowperthwaite and Libby Lloyd, the joy of performing takes center stage.
Resilience Behind the Curtain
For Cowperthwaite, being back onstage is nothing short of extraordinary. In November 2023, he was diagnosed with a “lemon-sized” brain tumor — oligodendroglioma, a form of brain cancer. Just three months after surgery, he began rehearsals for The Outsiders, making his Broadway debut in April 2024.
Lloyd’s path to dance came through a different kind of challenge. Growing up in Utah, she was an athlete until a blood disorder forced her to stop playing sports.
“Dance,” she says, “was the only extracurricular I was allowed to keep doing. It became my lifeblood — the thing I could turn to when I couldn’t do anything else.”
In Gotta Dance!, the two perform together in “The Contact Suite” from Contact, choreographed by Stroman, who also worked with the cast — an experience Lloyd describes as “amazing.”
Inside the Show
Spark: How would you compare Gotta Dance! to other shows you’ve done?
Libby: It’s unlike anything I’ve ever done. Every number feels like an 11 o’clock number — high-energy, demanding dancing. There’s no plot, just iconic moment after iconic moment. Everybody’s a lead.
Spark: So, no divas?
Libby: We’re all divas!
Barton: Make sure you write that I’m the biggest diva.
Spark: Noted.
Barton: For me, part of the journey is recovery. The physical demands are so high. We spend most of our free time in physical therapy, acupuncture and stretching — just maintaining our bodies.
Favorite Moments on Stage
Spark: Have you done anything this physically demanding before?
Libby: I have — Moulin Rouge! has huge dance numbers and lifts. That felt similar, maybe even more intense at times.
Spark: Do you have a favorite number in the show?
Libby: Contact. The girl in the yellow dress feels like a source of light. I think that’s what we’re all here to be — a light for others. It’s powerful to express that through dance.
Barton: Libby has this quiet strength and elegance. I don’t even have to act. My character is lonely, and he sees her as salvation — and she embodies that.
Libby: We’re also both in “Cool” from West Side Story. It’s iconic — intense, thrilling, and you can feel the history of it. It closes Act I.
Barton: I also love dancing An American in Paris with Sara Esty and Deanna Doyle.
Libby: He does it beautifully. Sometimes just hearing the music backstage brings me to tears.
Barton: The choreography feels like a warm jacket on a cool day.
Who’s Coming — and Why It Matters
Spark: Who’s coming to see the show, and how are they responding?
Barton: It’s a wide mix. Some come for the nostalgia — to see these iconic numbers live again.
A lot of peers come to support friends because a dance-focused show like this is rare. You don’t often get to see dancers fully in their element like this.
We also had 60 school kids in the audience recently. For them, it’s their first exposure to this work. It feels like passing the torch to a new generation.
Libby: It’s really special. Right now it’s a limited run, but there’s hope it could continue and evolve.
Barton said early on the only way this material stays alive is if it’s performed live. We get to be that vessel.
Following the Dream
Spark: What advice would you give someone pursuing a career in dance?
Libby: If it’s meant for you, it won’t pass you by. If you have the passion, the drive and you’re willing to work hard, anything is possible. No time is too late.
If you love it, you can do it. It’s about believing you deserve your dreams.
Barton: If you can do anything else, do that. But if you truly love this life, it gives you the highest highs and lowest lows.
I’m so grateful for it. When I’m happy, it’s a depth of happiness I don’t take for granted.
Libby: This is what we love. This is what we’re meant to do.
‘We Gotta Dance’
Spark: It sounds like both of you gotta dance.
Libby: We gotta dance!
Barton: Yes, we do.
About the Show
Gotta Dance! is produced by Riki Kane Larimer, conceived by Nikki Feirt Atkins and co-directed with Randy Skinner.
The show runs through June 21, 2026, at Stage 42, 422 W. 42nd St., New York City.
For more information/tickets, visit: GottaDanceShow.com
