Jim Walton, Marion High School Class of 1973, is a longtime Broadway performer and award-winning playwright who uses his talents to support many arts-related causes, including supporting the arts at Marion Community Schools.
During his time at Marion High School from 1971 to 1973, he sang in the Concert Choir and in the 26th Street Singers during their debut year (1972-73), and he attributes his career as a performer to the foundation laid by his teacher and mentor F. Ritchie Walton at Marion High School.
Walton attended the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music while working at the Wagon Wheel Playhouse in Warsaw, Ind., during the summers. He moved to New York City in February 1979, dreaming of Broadway. And he made that dream a reality, becoming the most prolific artistic performer in Marion Giants history.
Some of his Broadway credits include “Merrily We Roll Along”, “42nd Street”, “Come From Away” and revivals of “Sweeney Todd”, “The Music Man”, “The Mystery of Edwin Drood”, “On the Twentieth Century”, “Guys and Dolls”, “She Loves Me”, and “Sunset Boulevard”. Off-Broadway, Jim appeared in “And the World Goes ’Round”, “Scrambled Feet”, and “Closer Than Ever”. On PBS television, he was featured in “Follies: In Concert”, “Crazy For You”, and “Sondheim! The Birthday Concert and Company”. He was also featured in the 2016 documentary “Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened”, available on Netflix.
With his talented brother, Bob Walton, he wrote book, music, and lyrics for “My Brother’s Keeper”, a two-person revue that won a Backstage Bistro Award for Best New Musical. They also wrote “Double Trouble (A Musical Tour de Farce)”*, “Mid-Life! (The Crisis Musical)”*, “Mid-Life 2! #WhatDidIComeInHereFor?”*, and “A Day In Gloucester”. (*Indicates ones that are licensed with The Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization.) They also appeared together in the Off-Broadway revival of “The Ziegfeld Follies of 1936”.
Jim Walton has used his outstanding talents not only to entertain, but also to help others. Every show that he opens, he gives a donation to Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS. Every year he does a benefit called the Easter Bonnet Competition to raise money for charity. He has volunteered and performed for benefits like Actor’s Equity, and he helped support the Roundabout Theatre Organization. And in 2016 he volunteered his time and talent for the Marion High School Giant Challenge to raise money for arts programs at Marion Community Schools.
He has also been inducted into the Marion High School Arts Hall of Fame.