Deborah Yates

A tall, lithe blonde dancer and actor, Texas native Deborah Yates landed a job as a Rockette upon moving to NYC in 1994 and made her breakthrough five years later as a character simply referred to as 'The Girl in the Yellow Dress' in the Broadway production "Contact." With a singularly attractive stage presence that has all the personality her character name lacks, Yates' Girl strikes a powerful pose in the final and lengthiest segment of the trio of dance-infused plays that make up the Broadway show. Outfitted in a short wispy garment, with her wavy blonde hair fixed in an upswept style, she is the belle of the modern dance ball, a beauty that everyone wants to dance with but for some reason she has her eye on an awkward, suicidal ad exec (Boyd Gaines). Yates shone in the role, proving not only her remarkable dance abilities, but a heretofore unseen acting talent, holding her own alongside two-time Tony-winner Gaines. Yates' fierce poise and icy allure led Ben Brantley of The New York Times to refer to the ingenue as "a razor-edged Grace Kelly," and her agile but resolute performance captured many a theatergoer.