With appearances on shows such as Law & Order and films such as Meet the Parents, Bartlett portrayed Nigel Bartholomew-Smythe on the ABC soap opera, One Life to Live.
His lively performance was well received by critics and audiences, and Stephen Sondheim has stated that Mr. Bartlett's delivery of the line, "Get out of town!"
He opened to highly favorable reviews in the Broadway revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella on March 3, 2013, playing the Prince's calculating Regent, Sebastian.
He later played several roles in the hit Broadway musical Something Rotten!, and appeared as the flabbergasted "Head Waiter" in the Roundabout revival of She Loves Me in 2016.
Since 1993, the openly gay Bartlett has been frequently associated with the plays of gay playwright Paul Rudnick, beginning with the latter's Off-Broadway success Jeffrey in circa 1993–1994[1] and continuing through The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told (1998)[2] and The Naked Truth (1994).