Question: Desert Sands was a film that starred the stage and television actor who first rose to fame for his role in what late 1940s Broadway production?

Context articles: Desert Sands
Ralph Meeker
Steven Boyer
Dariush Kashani
Stark Sands
I Will Survive (TV series)
Broadway Rose Theatre Company
Cleavon Little
Lizabeth Scott
David Atkinson (baritone)

Desert Sands is a 1955 American adventure film directed by Lesley Selander and written by Danny Arnold, George W. George and George F. Slavin.
 The film stars Ralph Meeker, Marla English, J. Carrol Naish, John Carradine, Ron Randell, John Smith and Keith Larsen.
 The film was released on November 18, 1955, by United Artists.
 The film was based on the 1954 novel "Punitive Action", one of a series of French Foreign Legion novels written by John Robb.
 Unlike many Foreign Legion films the film was set in the 1950s.
Ralph Meeker (born Ralph Rathgeber; November 21, 1920 August 5, 1988) was an American film, stage and television actor.
 He first rose to prominence for his roles in the Broadway productions of "Mister Roberts" (1948–1951) and "Picnic" (1953), the former of which would earn him a Theatre World Award for his performance.
 In film, Meeker is perhaps best known for his portrayal Mike Hammer in Robert Aldrich's 1955 film noir cult classic "Kiss Me Deadly".
Steven Boyer is an American stage and television actor, comedian, and musician.
 He is best known for originating the role of Jason/Tyrone in "Hand to God" Off-Broadway and in the Broadway production.
 This role earned him a Tony nomination for Best Leading Actor in a Play.
 He plays the role of Dwayne Reed in the NBC sitcom "Trial & Error", with John Lithgow.
 He played a minor role in Martin Scorsese's "The Wolf of Wall Street" alongside Leonardo DiCaprio.
 He has also played several small parts in television, including "The Good Wife", "Law & Order", and "Orange Is the New Black".
Dariush Kashani is an American film, stage and television actor.
 Kashani gained critical acclaim for his role as Hassan Asfour in the 2017 Tony Award winning production of the Broadway play "Oslo" which went on to include a full sweep of the 2016-2017 awards season including the Lucille Lortel Award and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Broadway Play.
 Kashani also earned an Obie award along with company of "Oslo" for his work in the Off Broadway production at Lincoln Center.
 Stage productions include ""The Invisible Hand"" at New York Theatre Workshop and the Tony Kushner play Homebody/Kabul alongside Maggie Gyllenhaal at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
 Notable works on screen include Bobby Tooch on "Ghost Whisperer" and Minister Tousi in "Madam Secretary".
Stark Bunker Sands (born September 30, 1978) is an American film, stage and television actor.
 He is known for his role as Tunny in the original Broadway cast of "American Idiot", and originating the role of Charlie Price in "Kinky Boots" on Broadway.
 He is a two-time Tony Award nominee.
 He is also known for the roles of Lance Sussman in "Die, Mommie, Die!
" and Lt. Nathaniel Fick in "Generation Kill".
 He starred as Dash in FOX's series "Minority Report".
I Will Survive is an Australian talent show-themed television series that premiered on Network Ten on 21 August 2012.
 The premise of the show is to search for a new, unknown talent to perform in the Broadway production of the musical "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert".
 Due to the Broadway theatre production closing in June 2012, the prize has been amended to another performance on Broadway, along with a $250,000 cash prize.
 The title of the show is derived from the title of a song in the production, "I Will Survive", originally sung by Gloria Gaynor.
 "I Will Survive" is hosted by actor and singer Hugh Sheridan and features judges Jason Donovan, who played Tick in the West End theatre production of the show, and Stephan Elliott, the director of the film "The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert".
In 1991, seven years after meeting in a summer stock production of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" in Shamokin Dam, Pennsylvania, Dan Murphy and Sharon Maroney (married), along with fellow performer Matthew Ryan (a native of Tigard, OR) and his partner Joseph Morkys, decided to move from New York City to start a summer stock theatre in Tigard.
 The team pooled their savings of $21,000 and in November 1991, Broadway Rose Theatre Company was incorporated as a 501(c)(3).
 In the summer of 1992, the first season of Broadway Rose Theatre Company was performed at the Deb Fennell Auditorium at Tigard High School.
 The company produced five mainstage shows and a children's show in eight weeks, with an average audience of 32 people per performance.
 The company lost $8,700 in its first season, but the following year the fledgling company received a $3,000 grant from the Metropolitan Arts Commission (a forerunner of the Regional Arts & Culture Council), to help bring the organization out of debt.
 In 1993, the company produced "Oklahoma!
" with no funds—putting the entire payroll on Dan's personal credit card.
 The situation resolved itself as audiences picked up.
 In 1994, the company received a $4,000 grant from the Metropolitan Arts Commission.
 Audiences averaged 132 people per performance that year—a 313 percent increase from 1992.
 In 1995, The Collins Foundation provided the company a $5,000 grant, allowing Sharon Maroney to become the company's first paid employee.
 Platt Electric Supply became Broadway Rose's first title sponsor in 1996, providing a new level of stable funding (they would stay on as a title sponsor through 2012 when Harvey Platt sold the company).
 In 1997, co-founders Matthew Ryan and Joe Morkys left Broadway Rose and returned to New York.
 That year Broadway Rose held its first drama camp for young performers aged 8–11.
 Also in 1997, Shoshana Bean, who would later become famous for portraying Elphaba on Broadway in the musical "Wicked""," starred in the Broadway Rose production of "Bye Bye Birdie."
 The company's offices moved from Dan and Sharon's home to a Platt Electric Supply branch office in 1999.
 Later that year, the Sherwood Arts Council contracted Broadway Rose to produce "Broadway Goes Hollywood", a fundraiser for SAC held at the historic Robin Hood Theater in Sherwood, OR.
 Broadway Rose's annual budget rose to around $175,000 with ticket sales accounting for just under half of the total, and Dan's general manager position officially became funded, making him an employee rather than a volunteer.
Cleavon Jake Little (June 1, 1939 – October 22, 1992) was an American stage, film, and television actor.
 He began his career in the late 1960s on the stage.
 In 1970, he starred in the Broadway production of "Purlie", for which he earned both a Drama Desk Award and a Tony Award.
 His first leading television role was that of the irreverent Dr. Jerry Noland on the ABC sitcom "Temperatures Rising" (1972–1974).
 Shortly before the program's conclusion, Little gave what has become his signature performance, portraying Sheriff Bart in the Mel Brooks comedy film "Blazing Saddles" (1974).
Lizabeth Virginia Scott (born Emma Matzo; September 29, 1922 – January 31, 2015) was an American actress, known for her "smoky voice" and being "the most beautiful face of film noir during the 1940s and 1950s".
 After understudying the role of Sabina in the original Broadway and Boston stage productions of "The Skin of Our Teeth", she emerged in such films as "The Strange Love of Martha Ivers" (1946), "Dead Reckoning" (1947), "Desert Fury" (1947), and "Too Late for Tears" (1949).
 Of her 21 films, she was the leading lady in all but one.
 In addition to stage and radio, she appeared on television from the late 1940s to early 1970s.
David Anthony Stuart Atkinson (born David Burke; October 20, 1921 – October 4, 2012) was a Canadian baritone and New York Broadway actor/singer.
 Most of his career was spent performing in musicals and operettas in New York City from the late 1940s through the early 1970s, although he did appear in some operas and made a few television appearances.
 In 1952 he created the role of Sam in the world premiere of Leonard Bernstein's "Trouble in Tahiti".
 From 1956-1962 he was a leading performer at the New York City Opera where he starred in several musicals and appeared in the world premieres of several English language operas.
 His greatest success on the stage came late in his career: the role of Cervantes in "Man of La Mancha" which he portrayed in the original Broadway production (replacing Richard Kiley), the 1968 national tour, and in the 1972 Broadway revival.