David Atkinson (baritone)
Encyclopedia
David Atkinson is a retired Canadian baritone
and actor. Most of his career was spent performing in musical
s and operetta
s in New York City from the late 1940s through the early 1970s, although he did appear in some opera
s and made a few television appearances. In 1952 he created the role of Sam in the world premiere of Leonard Bernstein
's Trouble in Tahiti
. From 1956-1962 he was a leading performer at the New York City Opera
where he starred in several musicals and appeared in the world premieres of several English language operas. His greatest success on the stage came late in his career: the role of Cervantes in Man of La Mancha
which he portrayed in the original Broadway production (replacing Richard Kiley), the 1968 national tour, and in the 1972 Broadway revival.
, Atkinson grew up in Saint-Romuald, Quebec
. While his parents were native English speakers, his community was French speaking and he learned to speak both languages as a child. After studies at Bishop's College School
, he served in the Royal Canadian Air Force
during World War II
in the South Pacific
just prior to Japan's surrender. After the war he studied music at McGill University
in 1946. He left McGill in 1947 after winning a scholarship to attend the Juilliard School
in New York. He remained at Juilliard for only one year, leaving the school to begin his career as a musical theatre performer in the Fall of 1948. He continued to study singing privately with Harry Jompulsky in New York City.
While studying at Juilliard, Atkinson made his professional opera debut using his birth name 'David Burke' with the Opera Guild of Montreal (OGM) in January 1948 as Monterone in Giuseppe Verdi
's Rigoletto
. The following May he performed the role of the High Priest of Dagon in Camille Saint-Saëns
's Samson and Delilah
with the OGM. In September 1948 he made his Broadway
debut under the name "John Atkinson" (Atkinson being his mother's maiden name) succeeding John Tyers as Franz Liszt
in the musical revue Inside U.S.A.
He remained with the production for the musical's first national tour after it closed in New York in February 1949. In 1951 he performed in several productions at the Paper Mill Playhouse
, including the roles of Prince Franz in Victor Herbert
's Sweethearts, Edvard Grieg
in Robert Wright
and George Forrest
's Song of Norway
, and Pierre Birabeau in Sigmund Romberg
's The Desert Song
. In June 1952 he portrayed Sam in the world premiere of Bernstein's Trouble in Tahiti
at Berstein's Festival of the Creative Arts on the campus of Brandeis University
to an audience of nearly 3,000 people. The following November he reprised the role of Sam in a nationally televised broadcast of Trouble in Tahiti
presented by the NBC Opera Theatre
(NBCOT). He would later sing the role of Sam again at the New York City Opera
(NYCO) in 1958. In 1953 he performed the role of Don Jose in Georges Bizet
's Carmen
with Vera Bryner in the title role for NBCOT.
In 1954 Atkinson returned to Broadway to star as Clyde Hallam in the original cast of Sigmund Romberg
's The Girl in Pink Tights
. In 1955 he starred opposite Carol Channing
in the original Broadway production of John La Touche
's The Vamp
. In 1956 he portrayed two roles in musical revivals mounted by the NYCO at Lincoln Center
: Frederick C. Graham to Kitty Carlisle's Lilli Vanessi in Cole Porter
's Kiss Me, Kate
and Gaylord Ravenal in Jerome Kern
's Show Boat
. He returned to Lincoln Center in 1957 to perform the role of Tommy Albright in the NYCO's revival of Lerner and Loewe
's Brigadoon
which then moved to the Adelphi Theatre
on Broadway. That same year he portrayed Jack Worthing in Who's Earnest?, a musical adaptation of Oscar Wilde
's The Importance of Being Earnest
which was broadcast on the television program The United States Steel Hour
. In 1958 he created the role of Doctor Gregg in the world premiere of Douglas Moore's opera Gallantry
at the now-destroyed Brander Matthews Theater on 117th Street. He was also seen at Lincoln Center in 1958 as Frank Butler in the NYCO's revival of Annie Get Your Gun
and as Lieutenant Henry Lukash in the world premiere of Robert Kurka
's opera The Good Soldier Schweik. He also portrayed the role of Billy to Jan Clayton
's Julie and Ruth Kobart
's Nettie in Rodgers and Hammerstein
's Carousel
in a production at the Brussels World’s Fair. In 1959 he starred at the NYCO in a revival of Say, Darling
and as Pantaloon in the world premiere of Robert Ward's He Who Gets Slapped with Norman Kelley
as Count Mancini and Regina Sarfaty
as Zinida. Also in 1959, he appeared in the San Francisco Light Opera Company's production of At the Grand, as the Judge in a revival of Can-Can
in Central Park
, and appeared as Count Danilo Danilovitsch in a made for television production of Franz Lehár
's The Merry Widow
for CBC Television
.
In 1960 Atkinson returned to the NYCO to portray Larry Foreman in Marc Blitzstein
's The Cradle Will Rock
. In 1961 he took over the role of Mack the Knife in the Off-Broadway
revival of Kurt Weill
's The Threepenny Opera
at the Theater de Lys
, but left that production after just a few weeks to create the role of Jack Absolute in the world premiere of Bruce Geller
's All In Love at the Martinique Theatre in New York City. In 1963 he replaced Ronald Holgate as Captain Miles Gloriosus in the original Broadway production of Stephen Sondheim
's A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
. In 1964 he performed the role of Phileas Fogg in a musical adaptation of Around the World in Eighty Days
at the Nikon at Jones Beach Theater
. He returned to Jones Beach in 1965 to star in the musical Mardi Gras!.
In 1967 Atkinson took over the role of Cervantes in the original Broadway production of Man of La Mancha
, and in 1968 he performed the role in the National touring production. He notably sang the song 'The Impossible Dream
' live at the 22nd Tony Awards
. He returned to the Broadway cast of the show in 1969. He later played Cervantes again for the matinee performance only in the 1972 Broadway revival of the show, and at the Coachlight Dinner Theater in Nanuet, New York in 1980. In 1973 he performed in Brian Friel
's play, The Freedom of the City
at the Royal Court Theatre
in London.
Baritone
Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
and actor. Most of his career was spent performing in musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
s and operetta
Operetta
Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Origins:...
s in New York City from the late 1940s through the early 1970s, although he did appear in some opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
s and made a few television appearances. In 1952 he created the role of Sam in the world premiere of Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
's Trouble in Tahiti
Trouble in Tahiti
Trouble in Tahiti is a one-act opera in seven scenes composed by Leonard Bernstein with an English libretto by the composer. The opera received its first performance on 12 June 1952 at Berstein's Festival of the Creative Arts on the campus of Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts to an...
. From 1956-1962 he was a leading performer at the New York City Opera
New York City Opera
The New York City Opera is an American opera company located in New York City.The company, called "the people's opera" by New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, was founded in 1943 with the aim of making opera financially accessible to a wide audience, producing an innovative choice of repertory, and...
where he starred in several musicals and appeared in the world premieres of several English language operas. His greatest success on the stage came late in his career: the role of Cervantes in Man of La Mancha
Man of La Mancha
Man of La Mancha is a musical with a book by Dale Wasserman, lyrics by Joe Darion and music by Mitch Leigh. It is adapted from Wasserman's non-musical 1959 teleplay I, Don Quixote, which was in turn inspired by Miguel de Cervantes's seventeenth century masterpiece Don Quixote...
which he portrayed in the original Broadway production (replacing Richard Kiley), the 1968 national tour, and in the 1972 Broadway revival.
Life and career
Born David Burke in MontrealMontreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Atkinson grew up in Saint-Romuald, Quebec
Saint-Romuald, Quebec
Saint-Romuald is a district of Lévis, Quebec, Canada, located on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River across from Quebec City. The district was formerly a town , but was amalgamated with Lévis on January 1, 2002....
. While his parents were native English speakers, his community was French speaking and he learned to speak both languages as a child. After studies at Bishop's College School
Bishop's College School
This article is about the school in Canada. Alternatively, visit Diocesan College in Cape Town, South Africa.Bishop's College School is a private school in Lennoxville, Quebec, Canada....
, he served in the Royal Canadian Air Force
Royal Canadian Air Force
The history of the Royal Canadian Air Force begins in 1920, when the air force was created as the Canadian Air Force . In 1924 the CAF was renamed the Royal Canadian Air Force and granted royal sanction by King George V. The RCAF existed as an independent service until 1968...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
in the South Pacific
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
just prior to Japan's surrender. After the war he studied music at McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
in 1946. He left McGill in 1947 after winning a scholarship to attend the Juilliard School
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
in New York. He remained at Juilliard for only one year, leaving the school to begin his career as a musical theatre performer in the Fall of 1948. He continued to study singing privately with Harry Jompulsky in New York City.
While studying at Juilliard, Atkinson made his professional opera debut using his birth name 'David Burke' with the Opera Guild of Montreal (OGM) in January 1948 as Monterone in Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
's Rigoletto
Rigoletto
Rigoletto is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the play Le roi s'amuse by Victor Hugo. It was first performed at La Fenice in Venice on March 11, 1851...
. The following May he performed the role of the High Priest of Dagon in Camille Saint-Saëns
Camille Saint-Saëns
Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns was a French Late-Romantic composer, organist, conductor, and pianist. He is known especially for The Carnival of the Animals, Danse macabre, Samson and Delilah, Piano Concerto No. 2, Cello Concerto No. 1, Havanaise, Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, and his Symphony...
's Samson and Delilah
Samson and Delilah (opera)
Samson and Delilah , Op. 47, is a grand opera in three acts and four scenes by Camille Saint-Saëns to a French libretto by Ferdinand Lemaire...
with the OGM. In September 1948 he made his Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
debut under the name "John Atkinson" (Atkinson being his mother's maiden name) succeeding John Tyers as Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt ; ), was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.Liszt became renowned in Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age...
in the musical revue Inside U.S.A.
Inside U.S.A.
Inside U.S.A. was a musical revue by Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz and was loosely based on the book Inside U.S.A. by John Gunther. Sketches were written by Arnold M. Auerbach, Moss Hart, and Arnold B...
He remained with the production for the musical's first national tour after it closed in New York in February 1949. In 1951 he performed in several productions at the Paper Mill Playhouse
Paper Mill Playhouse
Paper Mill Playhouse is a regional theatre with approximately 1200 seats, located in Millburn, New Jersey, less than 25 miles from Manhattan. Due to its location, it can draw from the pool of actors who live in New York City. Its location, as well as its focus on producing large-scale shows, makes...
, including the roles of Prince Franz in Victor Herbert
Victor Herbert
Victor August Herbert was an Irish-born, German-raised American composer, cellist and conductor. Although Herbert enjoyed important careers as a cello soloist and conductor, he is best known for composing many successful operettas that premiered on Broadway from the 1890s to World War I...
's Sweethearts, Edvard Grieg
Edvard Grieg
Edvard Hagerup Grieg was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is best known for his Piano Concerto in A minor, for his incidental music to Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt , and for his collection of piano miniatures Lyric Pieces.-Biography:Edvard Hagerup Grieg was born in...
in Robert Wright
Robert Wright (writer)
Robert [Craig] Wright was an American composer-lyricist for Hollywood and the musical theatre best known for the Broadway musical and musical film Kismet, for which he and his professional partner George Forrest adapted themes by Alexander Borodin and added lyrics...
and George Forrest
George Forrest (author)
George Forrest was a writer of music and lyrics for musical theatre best known for the show Kismet, adapted from the works of Alexander Borodin.-Biography:...
's Song of Norway
Song of Norway
Song of Norway is an operetta written in 1944 by Robert Wright and George Forrest, adapted from the music of Edvard Grieg and the book by Milton Lazarus and Homer Curran...
, and Pierre Birabeau in Sigmund Romberg
Sigmund Romberg
Sigmund Romberg was a Hungarian-born American composer, best known for his operettas.-Biography:Romberg was born as Siegmund Rosenberg to a Jewish family in Gross-Kanizsa during the Austro-Hungarian kaiserlich und königlich monarchy period...
's The Desert Song
The Desert Song
The Desert Song is an operetta with music by Sigmund Romberg and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, Otto Harbach and Frank Mandel. It was inspired by the 1925 uprising of the Riffs, a group of Moroccan fighters, against French colonial rule. It was also inspired by stories of Lawrence of...
. In June 1952 he portrayed Sam in the world premiere of Bernstein's Trouble in Tahiti
Trouble in Tahiti
Trouble in Tahiti is a one-act opera in seven scenes composed by Leonard Bernstein with an English libretto by the composer. The opera received its first performance on 12 June 1952 at Berstein's Festival of the Creative Arts on the campus of Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts to an...
at Berstein's Festival of the Creative Arts on the campus of Brandeis University
Brandeis University
Brandeis University is an American private research university with a liberal arts focus. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, Massachusetts, nine miles west of Boston. The University has an enrollment of approximately 3,200 undergraduate and 2,100 graduate students. In 2011, it...
to an audience of nearly 3,000 people. The following November he reprised the role of Sam in a nationally televised broadcast of Trouble in Tahiti
Trouble in Tahiti
Trouble in Tahiti is a one-act opera in seven scenes composed by Leonard Bernstein with an English libretto by the composer. The opera received its first performance on 12 June 1952 at Berstein's Festival of the Creative Arts on the campus of Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts to an...
presented by the NBC Opera Theatre
NBC Opera Theatre
The NBC Opera Theatre was an American opera company operated by the National Broadcasting Company from 1949 to 1964. The company was established specifically for the purpose of filming both established and new operas for television...
(NBCOT). He would later sing the role of Sam again at the New York City Opera
New York City Opera
The New York City Opera is an American opera company located in New York City.The company, called "the people's opera" by New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, was founded in 1943 with the aim of making opera financially accessible to a wide audience, producing an innovative choice of repertory, and...
(NYCO) in 1958. In 1953 he performed the role of Don Jose in Georges Bizet
Georges Bizet
Georges Bizet formally Alexandre César Léopold Bizet, was a French composer, mainly of operas. In a career cut short by his early death, he achieved few successes before his final work, Carmen, became one of the most popular and frequently performed works in the entire opera repertory.During a...
's Carmen
Carmen
Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
with Vera Bryner in the title role for NBCOT.
In 1954 Atkinson returned to Broadway to star as Clyde Hallam in the original cast of Sigmund Romberg
Sigmund Romberg
Sigmund Romberg was a Hungarian-born American composer, best known for his operettas.-Biography:Romberg was born as Siegmund Rosenberg to a Jewish family in Gross-Kanizsa during the Austro-Hungarian kaiserlich und königlich monarchy period...
's The Girl in Pink Tights
The Girl in Pink Tights
The Girl in Pink Tights is a musical comedy with music by Sigmund Romberg; lyrics by Leo Robin; and a musical book by Jerome Chodorov and Joseph Fields. The musical opened on Broadway on March 5, 1954 at the Mark Hellinger Theatre where it ran for a total of 115 performances until it closed on June...
. In 1955 he starred opposite Carol Channing
Carol Channing
Carol Elaine Channing is an American singer, actress, and comedienne. She is the recipient of three Tony Awards , a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination...
in the original Broadway production of John La Touche
John La Touche
John Treville Latouche was a musician and writer.Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Latouche's family moved to Richmond, Virginia when he was four months old. Much of his work included Rabelaisian humor and was therefore often censored or protested against...
's The Vamp
The Vamp
The Vamp is a musical comedy with music by James Mundy; lyrics by John La Touche; and a musical book by La Touche and Sam Locke which is based on a story by La Touche. The musical opened on Broadway on November 10, 1955 at the Winter Garden Theatre where it ran for a total of 60 performances until...
. In 1956 he portrayed two roles in musical revivals mounted by the NYCO at Lincoln Center
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of New York City's Upper West Side. Reynold Levy has been its president since 2002.-History and facilities:...
: Frederick C. Graham to Kitty Carlisle's Lilli Vanessi in Cole Porter
Cole Porter
Cole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...
's Kiss Me, Kate
Kiss Me, Kate
Kiss Me, Kate is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. It is structured as a play within a play, where the interior play is a musical version of William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. The original production starred Alfred Drake, Patricia Morison, Lisa Kirk and Harold Lang.Kiss...
and Gaylord Ravenal in Jerome Kern
Jerome Kern
Jerome David Kern was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over 100 stage works, including such classics as "Ol' Man River", "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", "A...
's Show Boat
Show Boat
Show Boat is a musical in two acts with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It was originally produced in New York in 1927 and in London in 1928, and was based on the 1926 novel of the same name by Edna Ferber. The plot chronicles the lives of those living and working...
. He returned to Lincoln Center in 1957 to perform the role of Tommy Albright in the NYCO's revival of Lerner and Loewe
Lerner and Loewe
Lerner and Loewe are the duo of lyricist and librettist Alan Jay Lerner and composer Frederick Loewe, known primarily for the music and lyrics of some of Broadway's most successful musical shows, including My Fair Lady, Camelot, and Brigadoon....
's Brigadoon
Brigadoon
Brigadoon is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. Songs from the musical, such as "Almost Like Being in Love" have become standards....
which then moved to the Adelphi Theatre
Adelphi Theatre
The Adelphi Theatre is a 1500-seat West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiving house for a variety of productions, including many musicals...
on Broadway. That same year he portrayed Jack Worthing in Who's Earnest?, a musical adaptation of Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
's The Importance of Being Earnest
The Importance of Being Earnest
The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at St. James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious personae in order to escape burdensome social obligations...
which was broadcast on the television program The United States Steel Hour
The United States Steel Hour
The United States Steel Hour is an anthology series which brought hour-long dramas to television from 1953 to 1963. The television series and the radio program that preceded it were both sponsored by the United States Steel Corporation....
. In 1958 he created the role of Doctor Gregg in the world premiere of Douglas Moore's opera Gallantry
Gallantry (opera)
Gallantry is a one act opera by composer Douglas Moore. The work is a parody of soap opera, complete with sung commercial interruptions. The work uses an English language libretto by Arnold Sundgaard...
at the now-destroyed Brander Matthews Theater on 117th Street. He was also seen at Lincoln Center in 1958 as Frank Butler in the NYCO's revival of Annie Get Your Gun
Annie Get Your Gun (musical)
Annie Get Your Gun is a musical with lyrics and music written by Irving Berlin and a book by Herbert Fields and his sister Dorothy Fields. The story is a fictionalized version of the life of Annie Oakley , who was a sharpshooter from Ohio, and her husband, Frank Butler.The 1946 Broadway production...
and as Lieutenant Henry Lukash in the world premiere of Robert Kurka
Robert Kurka
Robert Frank Kurka was an American composer, who also taught and conducted his own works.Kurka was born in Cicero, Illinois. He was mostly self-taught, though he studied for short periods under Darius Milhaud and Otto Luening, receiving his M.A. degree from Columbia University in 1948...
's opera The Good Soldier Schweik. He also portrayed the role of Billy to Jan Clayton
Jan Clayton
Jan Clayton was a film, musical theatre, and television actress.-Career:...
's Julie and Ruth Kobart
Ruth Kobart
Ruth Kobart was an American performer, whose six-decade career encompassed opera, Broadway musical theatre, regional theatre, films, and television.-Life and career:...
's Nettie in Rodgers and Hammerstein
Rodgers and Hammerstein
Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were a well-known American songwriting duo, usually referred to as Rodgers and Hammerstein. They created a string of popular Broadway musicals in the 1940s and 1950s during what is considered the golden age of the medium...
's Carousel
Carousel (musical)
Carousel is the second stage musical by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II . The work premiered in 1945 and was adapted from Ferenc Molnár's 1909 play Liliom, transplanting its Budapest setting to the Maine coastline...
in a production at the Brussels World’s Fair. In 1959 he starred at the NYCO in a revival of Say, Darling
Say, Darling
Say, Darling is a three-act comic play by Abe Burrows and Marian and Richard Bissell about the creation of a Broadway musical. Although the play featured nine original songs with lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and music by Jule Styne, all of the songs were presented as either rehearsal or...
and as Pantaloon in the world premiere of Robert Ward's He Who Gets Slapped with Norman Kelley
Norman Kelley
Norman Kelley is a freelance journalist, author, and former segment producer at WBAI 99.5 FM.Kelley has written for numerous publications, including LA Weekly, The Village Voice, Newsday, and Brooklyn Rail...
as Count Mancini and Regina Sarfaty
Regina Sarfaty
Regina Sarfaty is an American operatic mezzo-soprano who had an active career during the 1950s through the 1980s. Sarfaty first rose to prominence through her work at the Santa Fe Opera and the New York City Opera during the late 1950s...
as Zinida. Also in 1959, he appeared in the San Francisco Light Opera Company's production of At the Grand, as the Judge in a revival of Can-Can
Can-Can (musical)
Can-Can is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter, and a book by Abe Burrows. The story concerns the showgirls of the Montmartre dance halls during the 1890s....
in Central Park
Central Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
, and appeared as Count Danilo Danilovitsch in a made for television production of Franz Lehár
Franz Lehár
Franz Lehár was an Austrian-Hungarian composer. He is mainly known for his operettas of which the most successful and best known is The Merry Widow .-Biography:...
's The Merry Widow
The Merry Widow
The Merry Widow is an operetta by the Austro–Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The librettists, Viktor Léon and Leo Stein, based the story – concerning a rich widow, and her countrymen's attempt to keep her money in the principality by finding her the right husband – on an 1861 comedy play,...
for CBC Television
CBC Television
CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...
.
In 1960 Atkinson returned to the NYCO to portray Larry Foreman in Marc Blitzstein
Marc Blitzstein
Marcus Samuel Blitzstein, better known as Marc Blitzstein , was an American composer. He won national attention in 1937 when his pro-union musical The Cradle Will Rock, directed by Orson Welles, was shut down by the Works Progress Administration...
's The Cradle Will Rock
The Cradle Will Rock
The Cradle Will Rock is a 1937 musical by Marc Blitzstein. Originally a part of the Federal Theatre Project, it was directed by Orson Welles, and produced by John Houseman. The show was recorded and released on seven 78-rpm discs in 1938, making it the first cast album recording.The musical is a...
. In 1961 he took over the role of Mack the Knife in the Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
revival of Kurt Weill
Kurt Weill
Kurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...
's The Threepenny Opera
The Threepenny Opera
The Threepenny Opera is a musical by German dramatist Bertolt Brecht and composer Kurt Weill, in collaboration with translator Elisabeth Hauptmann and set designer Caspar Neher. It was adapted from an 18th-century English ballad opera, John Gay's The Beggar's Opera, and offers a Marxist critique...
at the Theater de Lys
Lucille Lortel Theatre
The Lucille Lortel Theatre is an off-Broadway playhouse located at 121 Christopher Street in New York City's Greenwich Village.The venue was built in 1926 as a 590-seat movie theater called the New Hudson, later known as Hudson Playhouse...
, but left that production after just a few weeks to create the role of Jack Absolute in the world premiere of Bruce Geller
Bruce Geller
Bruce Israel Geller was an American composer, screenwriter, and television producer.-Biography:Born in New York City, New York, Geller graduated from Yale University. He pursued a career writing scripts for shows on the DuMont Television Network including Jimmy Hughes, Rookie Cop and others...
's All In Love at the Martinique Theatre in New York City. In 1963 he replaced Ronald Holgate as Captain Miles Gloriosus in the original Broadway production of Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
's A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart....
. In 1964 he performed the role of Phileas Fogg in a musical adaptation of Around the World in Eighty Days
Around the World in Eighty Days
Around the World in Eighty Days is a classic adventure novel by the French writer Jules Verne, first published in 1873. In the story, Phileas Fogg of London and his newly employed French valet Passepartout attempt to circumnavigate the world in 80 days on a £20,000 wager set by his friends at the...
at the Nikon at Jones Beach Theater
Nikon at Jones Beach Theater
Nikon at Jones Beach Theater is an outdoor amphitheatre, located at Jones Beach State Park in Wantagh, New York. It is one of two major outdoor arenas in the New York metropolitan area, along with PNC Bank Arts Center...
. He returned to Jones Beach in 1965 to star in the musical Mardi Gras!.
In 1967 Atkinson took over the role of Cervantes in the original Broadway production of Man of La Mancha
Man of La Mancha
Man of La Mancha is a musical with a book by Dale Wasserman, lyrics by Joe Darion and music by Mitch Leigh. It is adapted from Wasserman's non-musical 1959 teleplay I, Don Quixote, which was in turn inspired by Miguel de Cervantes's seventeenth century masterpiece Don Quixote...
, and in 1968 he performed the role in the National touring production. He notably sang the song 'The Impossible Dream
The Impossible Dream (The Quest)
"The Impossible Dream " is a popular song composed by Mitch Leigh, with lyrics written by Joe Darion. It was written for the 1965 musical Man of La Mancha...
' live at the 22nd Tony Awards
22nd Tony Awards
The 22nd Annual Tony Awards was held on April 21, 1968 at the Shubert Theatre and broadcast on television by NBC. Hosts were Angela Lansbury and Peter Ustinov, assisted by Jack Benny and with Alfred Drake doing narration....
. He returned to the Broadway cast of the show in 1969. He later played Cervantes again for the matinee performance only in the 1972 Broadway revival of the show, and at the Coachlight Dinner Theater in Nanuet, New York in 1980. In 1973 he performed in Brian Friel
Brian Friel
Brian Friel is an Irish dramatist, author and director of the Field Day Theatre Company. He is considered to be the greatest living English-language dramatist, hailed by the English-speaking world as an "Irish Chekhov" and "the universally accented voice of Ireland"...
's play, The Freedom of the City
The Freedom of the City
The Freedom of the City is a play by Irish playwright Brian Friel first produced in 1973. It is set in Derry, Northern Ireland in 1970, in the aftermath of a Roman Catholic Civil Rights meeting, and follows three protesters who mistakenly find themselves in the mayor's parlour in the Guildhall...
at the Royal Court Theatre
Royal Court Theatre
The Royal Court Theatre is a non-commercial theatre on Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is noted for its contributions to modern theatre...
in London.