West Side Story

Storrowton Music Fair / West Springfield, MS / August 1, 1960

(actual program measures 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" )

- Wisa D'Orso -

(from a 1963 program)

Singer-dancer Miss D'orso was born in Hawaii and gained her early experience in the Community Theatre and on weekly television shows in her native Hawaii. Arriving in California, she worked for a year and a half in Hollywood, singing and dancing in movie musicals, on television (the Milton Berle Show), and in night clubs (Moulin Rouge). In addition to her singing, acting and dancing, she is an excellent swimmer and for three months she performed with the Aquacade Show in London. Miss D'orso first appeared on Broadway in "Ziegfield Follies" and had a featured role in "Kaleidoscope" off-Broadway. She was Ivy Smith in the revival of "On the Town" at the Carnegie Playhouse, and has done such roles as Anita in "West Side Story," Maribelle in "Billion Dollar Baby," and Rose Grant in "Bye Bye Birdie," in musical summer theatre. Her last Broadway role was a Princess Kura, the "belly dancer" in "Mr. President." Movies include "The Ten Commandments," "Cha Cha Boom" and "It Conquered the World," and in addition to many "specials" on television, she has made numerous appearances both solo and with Peter Gennaro on the Ed Sullivan Show. Other TV credits are Steve Allen, Garry Moore, Perry Como, Andy Williams, The Hit Parade, Sid Caesar, The Tonight Show, and Paris a la Mode. She was assistant choreographer to Donn Arden for the Paris Revue in Las Vegas.


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