Broadway & Off-Broadway:
Debra Walton is originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin where she received her initial theater training. Honing her skills on tours and in the regions, Debra attended the University of Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. She has performed various roles that ultimately lead her to the New York Theatre scene. Street Corner Symphony was her Broadway debut, and landing the role of Mommy/Yolanda in The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin at Playwrights Horizons marked her Off-Broadway debut.
Performing in the Tony Award winning, Pajama Game Debra was seen on Broadway and nationally singing and dancing with Harry Connick, Jr. In performing in The Pajama Game on Broadway she feels she hit what is considered a personal Grand Slam or Triple Crown in Theatre, Working with Kathleen Marshall, Performing at the Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall and last but certainly not least, performing one of the most legendary dance numbers in Broadway history. Steam Heat!
Debra's award winning roles in Cookin' At the Cookery the Life and Times of Alberta Hunter, introduced her wide array of talent to New York audiences. In the show, written especially for Debra, she created a multitude of roles including the 10-year old Alberta, a prissy white nurse, the 82-year old Jewish Cookery owner Barney Josephson, and Louis Armstrong. The New York Times review proclaimed "Ms. Walton's energy, athleticism and gift for mimicry and caricature add up to an astonishing individual variety show."
National tours include; Annie Get your Gun, South Pacific, Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Chicago, playing various roles including Mona, Annie and Mama Morton! Her other wide ranging roles move from the sexy Brenda in Smokey Joe's Café, to the flighty Minnie Fae in Hello Dolly; from the dangerously seductive Velma Kelly in Chicago, to the innocent Timoune in Once on This Island; and from the fiery Anita in West Side Story to the forever hopeful Charity Valentine in Sweet Charity.
Debra Walton's career
is one of ever morphing characters. As one New York reviewer declare "Walton
is capable of changing her age, sex, and skin color on her slightest whim."