Lei worn by Diosa Costello as Bloody Mary in South Pacific
date: label: date made
content: before 1951
name: label: wearer
content: Costello, Diosa
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: Yellow plastic lei worn by Diosa Costello as Bloody Mary in the original Broadway production and national touring production of South Pacific.
label: Description (Brief)
content: Set during World War II, South Pacific critically examines racism and prejudice while exploring the romances and interactions between American soldiers, nurses, French colonists, and native South Pacific islanders. The critically acclaimed and popular show ran for 1,925 performances and has been revived numerous times. The original production won ten Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Male Performer, Best Female Performer, Best Supporting Male Performer, Best Supporting Female Performer, Best Director, Best Book, and Best Score.
label: Description (Brief)
content: Diosa Costello (1913-2013) was an actress, singer, and dancer, who claimed to be “the first Latina on Broadway” in a historically significant career on stage and screen. Born Juana de Dios Castrello y Cruz in Guayama, Puerto Rico, she first began performing in the chorus at the Teatro San Jose after moving with her family to New York as a child. Taking the stage name Diosa Costello, she earned fame and fans dancing and singing in clubs and theaters in Spanish Harlem. Billed as “The Latin Bombshell,” she was booked at the La Conga Club alongside Cuban newcomer Desi Arnaz in the late 1930s. The duo worked well together, Desi leading the band with his conga drum while Diosa danced and both performers cracked jokes and interacted with the audience. They were cast as leads in the Rodgers and Hart musical Too Many Girls, which opened at the Imperial Theatre in 1939. The popular show was adapted as a 1940 RKO Radio Pictures film starring Arnaz, Lucille Ball, and Eddie Bracken, but Ann Miller appeared in the role Costello played on Broadway. Costello made her film debut in 1941’s They Met In Argentina, performing alongside Maureen O’Hara and Buddy Ebsen, and appeared in the final American Laurel and Hardy film The Bullfighters (1945) as well as the 1953 3-D musical Miss Sadie Thompson. In 1950, she landed the biggest theatrical role of her career, cast as Bloody Mary in the original touring company of the hit musical South Pacific. After touring for a year, she was tapped to replace Juanita Hall, who originated the role, in the original production at Broadway’s Belasco Theatre. She performed there for another seven months, through early 1952, and for years afterward included her numbers from the show - particularly "Happy Talk" and "Bali Hai" - in her nightclub act. In later years, Costello performed at nightclubs in New York City, at resorts in the Catskills and Miami Beach, and in Las Vegas.
topic: label: Subject
content: Theater
label: Subject
content: Latino
label: Subject
content: Pacific Islanders
setName: label: See more items in
content: Culture and the Arts: Entertainment
label: See more items in
content: Popular Entertainment
label: Exhibition
content: Entertainment Nation
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Diosa Costello
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2011.0208.03
label: accession number
content: 2011.0208
label: catalog number
content: 2011.0208.03
objectType: label: Object Name
content: lei
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: plastic (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 19 in; 48.26 cm