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Dr. Carol Oja on Sono Osato
Posted February 9, 2015
Dr. Oja writes, "In the original production, On the Town presented an early exception to this norm. Including a mixed-race dance chorus and starring a Japanese-American ballet dancer named Sono Osato, it debuted on December 28, 1944, just as the Axis was beginning to collapse in the final struggles of World War II. This staging not only marked the debut of a dazzling group of young creative artists—the composer Leonard Bernstein, the lyricists Betty Comden and Adolph Green, and the choreographer Jerome Robbins—but it also challenged racial performance practices of the day."
Read the entire article here. 
Sono Osato in front of the set for “Presentation of Miss Turnstiles.” [Photofest]