Kotoko Kawamura

In the years before World War II, a penniless Japanese child is torn from her family to work as a maid in a geisha house.

At New York's High School of Performing Arts, students from all walks of life get the chance to hone their skills as singers, actors, dancers, and more. Over four years, these young men and women will see if they truly have the dedication and talent to achieve success, while still juggling regular schoolwork, feelings of self-doubt, and budding romances.

Richard Clark has just left the well-known Wellington Academy to teach at Marion Barry High School. Now, he will try to inspire the D-average students into making good grades and try to woo a fellow teacher.

A young woman, traumatized by rape at an early age, slowly learns to trust and love again as she struggles to avoid repeating her mother's mistakes.