[10] While the suit made its way through the courts, Stea went on to lay out a solid foundation for his professional career: appearing in the role of Swifty The Rake in the Disney musical Newsies, touring in the Glorious Revolution tour with Japanese pop-star Seiko Matsuda, and working with Michael Jackson by appearing in the iconic MTV 10th Anniversary live performance of Will You Be There 1991, and then going on to serve as the associate choreographer for the official videos Black or White and Blood on the Dance Floor.

And I thought she hated me.."[16] Leslie C. Dunn and Nancy A. Jones in their book Embodied Voices: Representing Female Vocality in Western Culture (1997) argue that Stea and the other two dancers viewed Madonna as a motherly figure, a "mommy dearest".

[18][19] He has also worked with numerous other high-profile music acts including Prince, Ricky Martin, Janet Jackson, George Michael, David Bowie, Celine Dion, Herb Alpert, Macy Gray, Anastacia, Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Britney Spears, Cher, Christina Aguilera, Tony Bennett, will.i.am, Jane's Addiction, A. R. Rahman (India), Seiko Matsuda (Japan), and the Pussycat Dolls.

[20][21] In the mid-1990s, Stea worked in Italy, performing, singing and choreographing on a variety of television shows including Buona Domenica, Non Dimenticate Lo Spazzolino Da Denti and Carramba Che Sorpresa.

[22][23][24][25] Also in the '90s, Stea began working as a fashion model for such designers as Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein in Los Angeles; Exte, Fendi, Nicola Trussardi and Romeo Gigli in Milan; and Jean-Paul Gaultier and Jose Levy in Paris.

[27][28] He also modeled in the works of fashion/artist photographers such as Peter Palladino, Herb Ritts, Robert Deutschman, Reggie Casagrande, Peggy Sirota, Dan Nix, Maurizio Montani, and Andrea Marino.

He modeled in LaChapelle’s homage to Bruce Lee and Chinese Pop Culture, part of the “Raft” exhibition which opened in Hong Kong in May 2011 at de Sarthe Fine Art.

[33][34] Stea has appeared in numerous movies and television series, mainly in dancer roles, including Newsies, Melrose Place, Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit, Showgirls, The Birdcage, Across the Universe, Fired Up,[35] Charlie's Angels, Friends, Austin Powers in Goldmember,[36] 13 Going on 30,[37] Rent, Scrubs, Dancing with the Stars, Rumor Has It... and Naked Boys Singing.