Rubuta ci gaba ga wannan sakin layi - A 1954 Atkinson ya koma Broadway don tauraruwa a matsayin Clyde Hallam a cikin 'yan wasan kwaikwayo na asali na "The Girl in Pink Tights" na Sigmund Romberg. A shekara ta 1955 ya yi wasa da Carol Channing a cikin Broadway na asali na John La Touche "The Vamp". A shekara ta 1956 ya taka rawa biyu a cikin raye-raye na kiɗa da NYCO ta kafa a Lincoln Center: Frederick C. Graham zuwa Kitty Carlisle's Lilli Vanessi a cikin Cole Porter's "Kiss Me, Kate" da Gaylord Ravenal a cikin Jerome Kern's "Show Boat". Ya koma Lincoln Center a shekara ta 1957 don yin rawar Tommy Albright a cikin farfadowar NYCO na Lerner da Loewe's "Brigadoon" wanda daga baya ya koma gidan wasan kwaikwayo na Adelphi a Broadway. A wannan shekarar ya nuna Jack Worthing a cikin "Wanene Ya Yi Nasara?", wani gyare-gyare na wasan kwaikwayo na Oscar Wilde "The Importance of Being Earnest" wanda aka watsa a shirin talabijin "The United States Steel Hour". A shekara ta 1958 ya kirkiro rawar Doctor Gregg a farkon duniya na wasan opera na Douglas Moore "Gallantry" a gidan wasan kwaikwayo na Brander Matthews da aka lalata a 117th Street. An kuma gan shi a Cibiyar Lincoln a 1958 a matsayin Frank Butler a cikin farfadowar NYCO na "Annie Get Your Gun" da kuma Lieutenant Henry Lukash a farkon duniya na wasan opera na Robert Kurka "The Good Soldier Schweik". Ya kuma nuna rawar Billy zuwa Jan Clayton ta Julie da Ruth Kobart ta Nettie a Rodgers da Hammerstein ta "Carousel" a cikin wani samar a Brussels World's Fair
Ka yi haƙuri. A shekara ta 1959 ya yi tauraro a NYCO a cikin farfadowa da "Ka ce, Darling" da kuma matsayin Pantaloon a farkon duniya na Robert Ward's "Wanda aka yi masa bulala" tare da Norman Kelley a matsayin Count Mancini da Regina Sarfaty a matsayin Zinida. Har ila yau, a cikin 1959, ya bayyana a cikin kamfanin San Francisco Light Opera Company na "A Grand", a matsayin Alkali a cikin farfadowar "Can-Can" a Central Park, kuma ya bayyana a matsayin Count Danilo Danilovitsch a cikin samar da talabijin na Franz Lehár "The Merry Widow" don CBC Television.