Actor/ Singer / Mover / Maker
Eiko Moon-Yamamoto (she, they) is a San Francisco/ Los Angeles based, Japanese-Korean-American, multi-hyphenate artist. Born in Tokyo, they have roots in Seoul and Hawaii. They’ve lived for a time in the UK, Germany and all over California. Be it Shakespeare, Sondheim, Stoppard, or new works, they're passionate about empowering positive change one story at a time.
The Truer History of the Chan Family, a vaudeville musical film opens in May at Arts Emerson in Boston. Opening May 3oth, Eiko will be performing in Sondheim’s Pacific Overtures at the Brava Theatre in San Francisco. Regional credits include FOLLIES, CLUE and TINY BEAUTIFUL THINGS at San Francisco Playhouse, M’Lynn Eatenton in STEEL MAGNOLIAS at SierraRep, SLEEPING BEAUTY PANTO at The Presidio Theatre and DISENCHANTED! at San Jose Playhouse and CYMBELINE at San Francisco Shakespeare Festival.
They’re also committed to championing historically excluded voices in the American theatre canon and have developed new works with Playwrights Foundation, PlayOn Shakespeare, Crowded Fire, Z Space, AlterTheater, The Ground Floor at BerkeleyRep Theatre, FaultLine Theater, Dragon Productions, and Company One.
Selected local credits include work with Magic Theatre, Marin Shakespeare Festival, African American Shakespeare, Silicon Valley Shakespeare, PlayGroundSF, Mountain Play, Hillbarn Theatre, Palo Alto Players, Pear Theatre, Kunoichi Productions, Theatre of Yugen, Montalvo Arts, Town Hall Theatre, South Bay Musical Theatre, Spreckels Theatre, Dragon Productions, Douglas Morrisson Theatre, and PianoFight.
Eiko is a graduate of UCLA and California College of Arts. They are a member of SAG-AFTRA, the Ring of Keys coalition, and AEA eligible. Aloha Nui Loa!
The Truer history of the chan family
When SF playwright Eugenie Chan set out to find out more about her family’s involvement in San Francisco's Hip Yee Society, a once notorious gambling and prostitution tong, her discoveries surprised and inspired her to tell the story of a family chasing the American Dream in 1920s Chinatown – The Truer History of the Chan Family, our first feature film!
Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman (authors of Assassins) mix elements of Kabuki theatre with the conventions of the Broadway musical in Pacific Overtures, a highly original, inventive, powerful, educational and surprisingly humorous theatrical experience. Considered by many to be the artistic pinnacle of the legendary Sondheim/Prince collaborations, this exploration of culture and imperialism pushes the boundaries of musical theatre further than ever before.
Commodore Matthew Perry's 1853 mission to open trade relations with isolationist Japan through gunboat diplomacy forges an unlikely friendship between the samurai, Kayama, and the Americanized fisherman, Manjiro. Kayama and Manjiro – and all of Japanese society – must face the wave of Westernization that follows.
Pacific Overtures explores how structures of power are dislodged and replaced by one another, be it in the name of modernity, imperialism, or survival. It presents a range of characters who see their lives upended in the face of global upheaval. The grandiose aesthetics of kabuki embellish the story in larger-than-life scope as the characters struggle to reconcile tradition with modernity, the world around them rapidly transforming through the inevitable ebb and flow of history.
FEATURING
Lawrence-Michael C. Arias as Abe
Faustino Cadiz III as Swing
Keiko Shimosato Carreiro as the Reciter
Edward Im as the Boy
Sarah Jiang as Tamate
Stephen Kanaski as the Warrior
Ryan Marchand as Perry
Eiko Moon-Yamamoto as the Shogun's Mother
Nick Nakashima as Kayama
Vinh G. Nguyen as Manjiro
Mayadevi Ross as the Madame
Julia Wright as Swing
This outstanding ensemble will play over 50 roles to bring this rarely-done Sondheim work to vibrant life.
Directed by Nick Ishimaru
Music Direction by Diana Lee
Choreography by Megan and Shannon Kurashige of Sharp & Fine
Cultural Advising by Ken Kanesaka
Preview: Thursday May 29, 2025
Opening: Friday May 30, 2025
Closing: Sunday June 15, 2025
Wednesday - Saturday 7:30, Sunday at 2
Brava Theatre Center, 2781 24th St, San Francisco, CA.

Afong Moy
The Chinese Lady
The Pear Theatre
(L) Joseph Alvarado as Atung
photo: Sinjin Jones

M’Lynn Eatenton
Steel Magnolias
Sierra Repertory Theatre
(L to R) Olivia Jones, Laurie Strawn, Emily Gatesman, Isabella Chang, Eiko Moon-Yamamoto
courtesy photo

Aviragus/ Posthumus’ mother/ Musician
Cymbeline
San francisco Shakespeare Festival
photo: Neal Ormond

Pacifica, the fairy
SLEEPING BEAUTY:Panto
Presidio Theatre
(L to R) Ryan Patrick Welsh, Ruby Day, Eiko Moon-Yamamoto
photo: Terry Lorant

Jack’s mother
Into the woods
Mountain Play
(L to R) Kevin Singer, Eiko Moon-Yamamoto, Chachi Delgado, Luke Hichman, Grace Margaret Craig

Emily Whitman
FOLLIES
San Francisco Playhouse
(L ro R) Cindy Goldfield, Maureen McVerry, Eiko Moon-Yamamoto, Rene Collins
photo: Jessica Palopoli

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