Career
Stage and television Atkins created and performed in one of the first successful Australian musicals, Hot Shoe Shuffle, in 1993. The production later transferred to London"s Queen"s Theatre. Atkins was artistic director on Hey Hey lieutenant"s Saturday and for the Bicentennial Military Tattoo.
Atkins and Ignatius Jones were also co-writers and co-directors of the Musical theatre production The Manitoba from Snowy River: Arena Spectacular.
Atkins has starred in, produced, directed, choreographed and created more than 20 musicals in Australia, Britain, the United States, Canada, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong. World events Atkins has directed and produced some of the largest live events of this decade, across continents, languages and international audiences.
These include artistic director of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, the Ceremonies of the Doha 2006 Asian Games, the 2010 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony, 2010 Winter Olympics Closing Ceremony and Victory Ceremonies in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He also produced the Expo 2010 outdoor Opening Ceremony in Shanghai, which was the largest multimedia display in world history to open the largest World Expo since its 1851 inception and most recently, the 2011 Moscow City Day Anniversary Celebrations, the Opening Ceremony of the 2011 New Zealand Rugby World Cup and the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 12th Arab Games in Doha, Qatar.
Honours and awards.