Amon Miyamoto is a Japanese director of musicals, operas, plays, kabuki, noh and other art genres. He has directed over 120 productions worldwide. Miyamoto made his directing debut with his original musical I Got Merman, winning the NationalPerforming Arts Festival Award. In 2004, he became the first Asian director on Broadway for his staging of the musical Pacific Overtures which received four Tony Award nominations. He made his North American opera-directing debut in 2007 with Tan Dun's at the Santa Fe Opera. In Europe, he directed Mozart's The Magic Flute at Landestheater Linz in Austria in 2013. He served as the inaugural Artistic Director of Kanagawa Arts Theater from 2010 to 2014. He is a recipient of the Matsuyo Akimoto Award of the Asahi Performing Arts Awards.
Biography
Beginning his career in theater as an actor and choreographer, Amon Miyamoto studied in London and New York for two years. Upon his return to Japan in 1987, he made his directing debut with his original musical I Got Merman, winning the National Performing Arts Festival Award, the most prestigious theatrical award in Japan. In 2004, Miyamoto became the first Asian director on Broadway for his staging of Pacific Overtures which received four Tony Award nominations. In 2008, he conceived and directed Up in the Air, a new musical composed by Henry Krieger, which premiered at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. Other overseas credits include: Tan Dun’s Opera at The Santa Fe Opera in 2007, The Opera Company of Philadelphia in 2010, and the Vancouver Opera in May 2013; The Fantasticks in London’s West End at the Duchess Theatre in June 2010; The Temple of The Golden Pavilion, a play based on the novel by Yukio Mishima, which was invited to Lincoln Center Festival in NY in July 2011; Mozart's opera DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE at Landestheater Linz in Austria in September 2013; internationally renowned Japanese taiko drumming troupe DRUM TAO's DRUM HEART at NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts in New York in February 2016; the world’s first 3D live noh theater YUGEN: The Hidden Beauty of Japan in Singapore in October 2016; the reading performance of Fanatic Artist Hokusai, an original fictional play based on the life of ukiyo-e painter Hokusai at the British Museum in London in July 2017; opera The Temple of The Golden Pavilion, based on the novel by Yukio Mishima, at Opéra national du Rhin in Strasbourg and Mulhouse, France in March/April 2018; and YUGEN: The Hidden Beauty of Japan at the Royal Opera of Versailles in September 2018. In October 2018, he directed the world premiere production of Ikiru, a new musical based on legendary filmmaker Akira Kurosawa's masterpiece, in Tokyo. In 2019, he will direct the play Fanatic Artist Hokusai in January, the opera The Temple of the Golden Pavilion in February, and the musical Priscilla, Queen of the Desert in March. He announced on January 22, 2020 that he will adapt The Karate Kid into a musical.
Career highlights
1987: Made a debut as a director with the original musical I GOT MERMAN, and received the Agency for Cultural Affairs' National Arts Festival Award the next year
2011: Directed The Temple of The Golden Pavilion, a play based on a novel of the same title by Yukio Mishima, adapted by Serge Lamothe, as the inaugural production of the Kanagawa Arts Theatre
2011: The Temple of The Golden Pavilion was invited to Lincoln Center Festival in NY, USA
2013: Directed the Canadian premiere of at the Vancouver Opera, Canada
2013: Directed Mozart's opera “DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE” at The Landestheater Linz, Austria
2016: Directed the off-Broadway production of DRUM TAO's DRUM HEART in New York, NY, USA
2016: Directed the special cultural program The Land of the Rising Sun at the , an official kickoff event toward Tokyo 2020 Olympics & Paralympics games and more.
2016: Directed YUGEN: The Hidden Beauty of Japan, the world's first 3D live theater featuring the Japanese Noh theater in Singapore.
2017: Directed a reading performance of Fanatic Artist Hokusai, an original play about the later life of Hokusai, at the British Museum's Great Court.
2018: Directed the opera “The Temple of The Golden Pavilion“, based on the novel by Yukio Mishima, at Opéra national du Rhin in Strasbourg and Mulhouse, France.
2018: Directed YUGEN: The Hidden Beauty of Japan at the Royal Opera of Versailles. The special one night performance was attended by President Emmanuel Macron of France and Naruhito, Crown Prince of Japan.
Early life and education
Miyamoto was born to parents who ran a café named “Sugawa” across from the Shinbashi Enbujō, one of the most prominent kabuki theaters in Tokyo. As a child, he paid frequent visits to the Shimbashi Enbujō as well as movie theaters, Kabuki-za, and other theaters under the influence of his mother who was a former dancer of the Shochiku Revue Company. In kindergarten, he began to study at Fujima School of Japanese Dance where Nakamura Kanzaburō XVIII was one of his peers. Around that time, he became absorbed in Hollywood films and began to learn about musicals. When he was in elementary school, he began practicing Tea ceremony. He was brought up right in the middle of Hanamachi, a Japanese courtesan and geisha district. While in high school, he was cast as the leading role in the school's theater club production of Godspell in which he made his acting debut. This musical received positive reviews and was featured in the Kinema Shunpo magazine. He proceeded to attend Tamagawa University, where he majored in Theater in the College of Arts. In the middle of his senior year, he was cast as a dancer in the musical Pippin.
Early career
He debuted as a dancer in 1980. He performed in musicals such as Hair, Annie Get Your Gun, and Chicago, and devoted his time to dance and choreography. He visited New York repeatedly, and studied in London for two years beginning in 1985. He made his directing debut with his original musical I Got Merman in 1987. The following year, he received the Agency for Cultural Affairs' Performing Arts Festival Award.
International career highlights
; Film “BEAT” ; Musical “Pacific Overtures” ; Musical “I Got Merman” ; Contemporary Opera “” ; Musical “Up in the Air” ; Musical “The Fantasticks” ; Play “The Temple of the Golden Pavilion” ; Opera “DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE” ; Japanese Noh Theatre x 3D Live Theatre “YUGEN The Hidden Beauty of Japan” ; Opera “The Temple of The Golden Pavilion” ; Japanese Noh Theatre x 3D Live Theatre “YUGEN The Hidden Beauty of Japan”
