Actor/ Singer / Mover / Maker

ALOHA E KOMO MAI (hello, welcome)

Eiko Moon-Yamamoto (she/they) was born in Tokyo to a Japanese and Korean family — two cultures with a complicated history between them. She grew up between Honolulu and a farming community in Central Valley, where her family were the only Asian-Americans. Never quite belonging to one place, she has always carried more than one home. It is why they are drawn to stories: not only those that live in the margins, but the canonical works of the American theater that have too rarely been told through bodies like theirs — and the belief that they are richer for it. Eiko has tested this conviction across the range — from Afong Moy, the first Chinese woman to immigrate to America, in Lloyd Suh's The Chinese Lady, to Elizabeth Condell in Lauren Gunderson's The Book of Will, to M'Lynn Eatenton in Steel Magnolias.
This commitment extends to the development of new works. They have collaborated with Playwrights Foundation, PlayOn Shakespeare, Magic Theatre, San Francisco Playhouse, Crowded Fire, Z Space, AlterLab, and Company One — institutions at the forefront of expanding whose stories the American stage tells and how. To foster the next generation, they have worked with Young Writers of Color Collective at The Ground Floor at Berkeley Repertory Theatre and the Ruth Asawa School of the Arts.  Eiko is an Artistic Associate of Rainbow Zebra Productions, a resident company at the Magic Theatre and a PlayGround SF company member. The first in her family to earn a college degree, Eiko holds a BA from UCLA and a BFA from California College of the Arts, San Francisco. At home she is raising her son, two ragdolls and too many plants to count!
Aloha Nui Loa!
Resume

  • Brilliant...Meiko (Eiko Yamamoto)...throughly committed. Actors are well-matched to characters and deliver a difficult script with utter believability so that you feel you know these people in real life. An absolute must see.

    -Jeannie K. Smith (SFBATCC), Sonoma County Gazette review of Johathan Spector’s EUREKA DAY at Spreckels Theatre Company

  • Some of the best acting comes from Eiko Yamamoto as Louise, the stage Manager who tries to keep everyone in line.

    -Judy Richter, The San Mateo Daily Journal review of THE 1940’s RADIO HOUR by Walton Jones/ Hillbarn Theatre

  • Eiko Moon-Yamamoto does an outstanding job singing and channeling her bossy Bloody Mary role

    -Cary Lynn Pace, North Bay Stage and Screen review of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s SOUTH PACIFIC at 6th Street Playhouse

  • Eiko Yamamoto is Jack's worried and prodding mother who brings her own winning voice that has the ability to pierce through the air with electrifying presence.

    - Eddie Reynolds (SFBATCC), Theatre Eddys review of Sondheim’s INTO THE WOODS at Mountain Play

  • It's definitely worth 90 minutes of anyone's time. Eiko Moon-Yamamoto plays Afong and Joseph Alvarado plays Atung. Both are excellent.

    - Joanne Engelhardt (SFBATCC), Aisle Seat Review of THE CHINESE LADY by Lloyd Suh/ The Pear Theatre

  • The Highlight may be a scene-stealing scene dance duet by Eiko yamamoto and REne Collins as the Whitmans.

    -Charles Lewis III, 48 Hills review of FOLLIES by Stephen Sondheim/ San Francisco Playhouse

  • Eiko Yamamoto as Elizabeth Condell offer more polished performances. Yamamoto'S Elizabeth is the perfect combination of support and playfulness.

    -Otto Coelho (SFBATCC), TheatreStorm review of THE BOOK OF WILL by Lauren Gunderson/ Foothill Theatre Arts

  • Eiko's delivery is so well timed. Some of the lines were only funny because of the way they were delivered. She's a good actress.

    -Broadway with AJ and Sarah review of DISENCHANTED! by Dennis T. Giacino/ 3Below

  • A HIGHLIGHT IS A MELANCHOLY BALLAD "MILLWORK" AND PERFORMED WITH SOULFUL FEELING BY EIKO YAMAMOTO. THE PASSIONATE YAMAMOTO'S WONDERFUL VOICE MAKES SKILLFUL USE OF TERRIFIC CHOREOGRAPHY TURNING THE MIND NUMBING MILLWORK IN TO A SKILLED ART.

    -Vince Mediaa (SFBATCC), VmediArts Theatre Arts Review of WORKING by Nina Faso and Stephen Schwartz/ Palo Alto Players

  • Pitch perfect cast give life to Spector's INFURIATING, MOVING AND COMPLETELY RECOGNIZABLE CHARACTERS. FIVE STARS.

    -Harry Duke, (SFBATCC) North Bay Stage and Screen review of EUREKA DAY/ Spreckels Theatre Company

  • IT'S AT ONCE HYSTERICAL AND EXASPERATING TO WATCH THESE PERFECTLY-CRAFTED, SUPERBLY-ACTED AND ALL TOO RECOGNIZABLE MODERN ARCHETYPES..MEIKO (EIKO YAMAMOTO).

    -Nicole Singley (SFBATCC), Aisle Seat Review of EUREKA DAY/ Spreckels Theatre Company

  • The Six-Person Cast features terrific individual voices, but their divinity is in their collective choral blend.

    David John Chávez - The Mercury News review of DISENCHANTED! by Dennis T. Giacino/ 3Below

  • “The folks who have seen or heard the play so far always comment that it is perfectly cast." -Jerry Lee, Dir. Three impressive and dazzling actresses making their SRT: Eiko Yamamoto as M’Lynn...

    Ledger Dispatch review of STEEL MAGNOLIAS by Robert Harling/ Sierra Repertory Theatre

  • The fairies who have to muster their strength against Hernia are a delight...Eiko yamamoto is pacifica.

    -Chad Jones, Theatre Dogs review of SLEEPING BEAUTY: PANTO by Stephanie Brown and Richard Ciccarone/ Presidio Theatre

  • Rounding out the night’s zany escapades was Eiko Yamamoto as the insane Ernestina. She was over-the-top funny and a real audience favorite.

    -Janet Grant, Tri-City Voice review of HELLO DOLLY!/ Douglas Morrisson Theater

  • Eiko Moon-Yamamoto as the Shogun's Mother delivered a delicious "Chrysanthemum Tea" steeped in comic timing.

    -Wayman Wong, freelance journalist critic, Broadway World Forum review of Sondheim’s PACIFIC OVERTURES / Kunoichi Productions/ Theatre of Yugen

  • "Chrysanthemum Tea," about a mother poisoning her shogun son...are dazzling.

    - Chad Jones, TheaterDogs review of Sondheim’s PACIFIC OVERTURES/ Kunoichi Productions/ Theatre of Yugen

IMMERSIVE VICTORIAN CHRISTMAS

A production of San Francisco Classical Theatre, presented in collaboration with the Haas-Lilienthal House, the Gregangelo Museum, and San Francisco Heritage.

cast:

Nora Helmer: Surasree Das

Torvald Helmer: Edric Young

NILS Krogstad: J Jha

MRS. Kristine LINDE: Anna Takayo

Dr. Rank: Anthony Fusco

Anne-Marie & Helene: Eiko Moon-Yamamoto

directed by Anna Takayo

It is Christmas Eve, and you are invited inside a historic Victorian mansion in San Francisco. It is a lavish, living holiday world. The hearth is warm, golden light spills across festive parlors, and someone is at the piano playing something lovely.

Nora Helmer has just come home with armfuls of packages, snow on her shoulders, and a secret she has kept for eight years.

You follow the story through the house, moving from formal parlors into the intimate private chambers of a family dressed for the season. Sip champagne, steal a forbidden macaroon, and watch the feverish tarantella danced just feet from where you stand as a marriage begins to unravel.

DECEMBER 10, 2026 - JANUARY 3, 2027

The Haas-Lilienthal House

2007 Franklin St, San Francisco, CA 94109

tickets & info

Rainbow Zebra Productions Reading Series Extravanganza

giovanni’s Ashes

by Andrea Gordan

FREE READINGS AT THE MAGIC THEATRE

Monday, November 23, 7PM

Learn More

Shogun’s Mother

Pacific Overtures

Kunoichi Productions & Theatre of Yugen

(L) Ryan Marchand

Afong Moy

The Chinese Lady

The Pear Theatre

(L) Joseph Alvarado

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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