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.
[6] In 1950 Atkinson starred as Captain Jim Stewart in Harry Tierney Rio Rita at the Bucks County Playhouse with Annamary Dickey in the title role.
[10] 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.
[15] 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[16] and Gaylord Ravenal in Jerome Kern's Show Boat.
[17] 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.
[20] He was also seen at Lincoln Center in 1958 as Frank Butler in the NYCO's revival of Annie Get Your Gun[21] and as Lieutenant Henry Lukash in the world premiere of Robert Kurka's opera The Good Soldier Schweik.
[22] 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.
[23] 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.