In the past year, ACU Theatre alumnus Eean Cochran (’14) has seen more than a few dreams move from someday to center stage.
He recorded his first Broadway cast album. He performed with the cast of Ragtime in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. And, most recently, he stepped onto the stage at Radio City Music Hall for the Tony Awards, where Ragtime received 11 nominations and won four awards, including Best Revival of a Musical.
For Cochran, who joined the cast in August 2025 as a swing and dance captain, the role was both a professional milestone and an act of trust.
As a swing, Cochran is responsible for learning multiple roles and being ready to step in when needed, a demanding job that requires precision, flexibility and a deep understanding of the production. He was offered the opportunity without auditioning, and although he was working as a swing for the Broadway production of Hamilton at the time, his agent recognized that Ragtime was the kind of opportunity he should not pass up.
“When it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be,” Cochran said. “And I can rest in that.”
That quiet confidence has shaped much of Cochran’s career, which has included three Broadway shows in three years. Dawne Swearingen-Meeks, chair of ACU Theatre, said Cochran has long carried “a deep-rooted sense of trust and conviction in the Lord, leading with gratitude and positivity.”
His decision to step into Ragtime led to some of the most memorable moments of his career so far. The cast knew there was Tony Award buzz around the production, but Cochran also knew it had been a strong Broadway season, filled with deserving shows and artists. So when he watched the nominations announced, he was stunned to see Ragtime recognized 11 times, including in the category of Best Revival of a Musical.
The nominations meant the cast would perform during the Tony Awards, first as part of the opening number with host P!NK and later in the broadcast with a performance from Ragtime.
Cochran made sure the people who had supported him along the way could share in the moment. His friend Kakos styled him for the occasion, and another friend filmed the experience so his family and friends back home could feel part of it, too.
That impulse to bring others along is true to who Cochran is, Swearingen-Meeks said. His family has “always been right there with him, supporting him, and it is so beautiful,” she said. “Being with the Cochran family is like being at church.”
Cochran was also thinking about his ACU family as he stood among Broadway’s best.
“Being up there and getting to hold a Tony Award feels like an ACU win,” he said.
He credits much of his growth as an artist to the relationships and experiences he found at ACU. When Cochran arrived on campus, he said he was not especially familiar with classic musicals like Ragtime. Through the influence of faculty and fellow Theatre students, he developed a deeper appreciation for the shows that have shaped American musical theatre.
“I’ve infiltrated a world that I didn’t know I would ever exist in,” Cochran said, “and the only way I know it is by the friends that I made those years.”
ACU also gave Cochran room to grow as a choreographer. One of his formative opportunities came when he choreographed the Homecoming Musical Big Fish. That experience helped him learn to trust his instincts, a confidence that now carries into his work with Broadway choreographers.
It is a lesson he hopes current Theatre students will carry with them, too. Cochran encourages young performers to trust themselves, believing actors are at their strongest when they bring their full selves to the characters they play.
Even as his Broadway career continues to grow, Cochran remains connected to the ACU Theatre program by “supporting students and alumni, praying over our showcases, and showing up to perform and encourage,” Swearingen-Meeks said. He regularly shares his experiences with ACU students who come to New York to study with professional artists as part of the Tepper residency program.
For Cochran, the journey from ACU stages to Broadway has never been his alone. It has been shaped by a community that continues to cheer him on from Abilene to New York. And he is moving forward with the same trust that brought him here: grateful for the dream, grounded in his calling and ready for whatever comes next.
– Kayla Hewitt
July 8, 2026