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August 15
2010
M.D.
Walton, SHS 1997, Gets Rave Reviews in Hollywood
Actor, producer applauded for work in Topdog/Underdog
production
 Since
graduating from Schenectady High School in 1997, Michael “MD”
Walton has certainly found success as an actor. He has appeared
in guest star and recurring roles on television, has played
roles in major films and has worked in theaters throughout the
country. Today he is being applauded and enjoying rave reviews
in Hollywood for his most recent work producing and starring in
a six week run of Suzan-Lori Parks’ Pulitzer Prize winning play
Topdog/Underdog. The show opened August 6 and runs through
September 12 at The Lillian Theatre in Hollywood, CA.
Topdog/Underdog, a darkly comic fable of brotherly love and
family identity, tells the story of two brothers, Lincoln
(played by A.K. Murtadha) and Booth, played by Walton. Haunted
by the past and their obsession with the street con game,
three-card monte, the brothers come to learn about their history
as they cope with women, work, poverty, gambling, racism, and
their troubled upbringings.
Walton has received shining reviews for his portrayal of Booth
and cheers for bringing the play to the California theatre. The
production was given a “thumbs up,” by Steve Stanley, Stage
SceneLA.com. and touted “a must-see play,” by BackStage.
Freddy Puza of LA Theatre Review raved about Walton on stage.
He referred to a verbal altercation between Walton’s character
and co-star Murtadha’s character as “superb.” Puza wrote, “The
audience couldn’t help but feel the love and the hate these two
men had for one another. Their energy came off as raw emotions
that couldn’t be controlled. It was exhilarating to share the
space with them in the theater.”
Puza noted, “Mr.
Walton is honest to his character and makes consistently bold
choices that fill the theater with tension, fear and
exhilaration.”
Read Review
Other
remarks:
"...Walton, physically big and powerful, lurches
and careens, takes over the audience with his energy and with an
enormous range of charm and beauty which served him well in his
character's former life, the shorter, lithe Murtadha identifies
with the inner emotional life of his brutish brother. Bottom
Line: Dog eats dog with chainsaw appetite."
-
Laurence Vittes, The
Hollywood Reporter
"M.D. is bringing an important piece of theater
writing back to the Los Angeles community. It's lively,
side-show haunting and with word-smithing to make your spine
tingle. Suzan-Lori Parks' and her play Topdog/Underdog speak to
important issues for LA for sure. Go M.D.!"
- Bill Pullman (Film and Broadway Theater Star)
"A. K. Murtadha (one of the finest young actors
I've seen in quite some time) and his co-star the talented M. D.
Walton are set to light the Los Angeles theater scene on fire
with Suzan-Lori Parks' mind jarring TOPDOG/UNDERDOG. Get ready
for an unforgettable evening of theater I certainly will."
- Ruben Santiago-Hudson (Film/Theatre Star)
"...Walton and Murtadha's rugged, emotionally
charged performances work magic."
-
Lovell Estell III, L.A. Weekly
“The issues are gripping, the characters are
dynamite…a must-see play.”
– BackStage
Additional reviews are posted on the show’s website:
http://www.latheatrereview.com/2010/08/12/topdogunderdog-at-the-lillian-theatre/
and
http://www.topdogunderdog.com/media.html
Walton has given Schenectady High School and
teacher Bill Ziskin some credit for shaping him into the person
he is today. On his official website, he tells the story about
how Ziskin cast him in the title role of Othello during his
senior year in high school. He said after going through the
rehearsals and playing the Shakespeare character, Walton said he
knew what career path he would take.
Back in 2007 when he got the call that he was
cast in “Reign Over Me,” opposite Adam Sandler, Walton talked
about his high school theater experience and Ziskin.
“Watching him interact with students is an inspiration,” said
Walton of his drama teacher. “He is the type of person that
walks into a room and can exude a positive energy offering
encouragement, drive and self-confidence to students. Students
are lucky to have him as a teacher/director/mentor.”
Since heading to New York City and then
California a few years ago, Walton has appeared in numerous TV
shows including Law and Order, Law and Order: Criminal Intent,
FX’s Rescue Me, NBC Digi’s “The Gemini Division” opposite
Rosario Dawson, The Unit, All My Children and Guiding Light.
Most recently he was seen on FOX’s TV Series “Lie to Me,”
opposite Tim Roth.
In addition to “Reign Over Me," Walton's film
credits include "Fall to Grace," "House with Pool," and a lead
role in the horror “The Black Waters of Echo’s Pond,” which was
recently released.
Walton has done extensive theater work. He
starred as baseball star Darren Lemming in the west coast tour
of Richard Greenberg’s Broadway Hit, Take Me Out, under
director Joe Mantello. Off Broadway ventures include “The Basic
Training of Pavlo Hummel," directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman
and “The Invisible Man,” directed by Joe Morton.
He has worked at the prestigious Williamstown
Theater Festival, The Old Globe in San Diego, Syracuse Stage,
Seattle Repertory Theatre, The Golden Gate in San Francisco, The
Joseph Papp Public Theatre/NYSF, The Pennsylvania Shakespeare
Festival and The Austin Shakespeare Festival where he garnered
the B Iden Payne Award for Actor in a Leading Role for his
performance of Aaron in “Titus Andronicus.”
Walton received a B.A. in Theatre at the
University of Mass at Amherst and then M.F.A. in acting at the
University of Texas at Austin. He has had an array of training
including acting, voice, movement, stage combat and a clown
workshop.
Walton’s Resume:
http://www.themdwalton.com/MD_Resume.pdf
Website:
http://www.themdwalton.com/
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