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. Atkinson died in New York in 2012. References Citations External links See also List of Bishop's College School alumni 1921 births 2012 deaths Canadian male musical theatre actors Juilliard School alumni McGill University School of Music alumni Canadian operatic baritones Bishop's College School alumni 20th-century Canadian male singers Canadian expatriates in the United States