Carlson attended the University of Iowa, where she received a bachelor"s degree in speech and dramatic arts She went on to teach for several months at a high school in Flint, Michigan, before moving to New York City, where she attended college and received a master"s degree in fine arts
She broke into professional theater with the Negro Ensemble Company in New York, then spent a season at the Repertory Theatre in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She went on to appear in theater at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota, at Canada"s Manitoba Theatre Center in Winnipeg, and at the McCarter Theatare in Princeton, New Jersey, as well as with the Indiana Repertory Theatre in Indianapolis, Indiana.
