Natsuko Ohama

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Natsuko Ohama is a Canadian vocal coach, actress, and director. She is a founding member of Shakespeare & Company, [1] Company of Women, [2] and Los Angeles Women's Shakespeare Company (LAWSC). [3]

Contents

Early life and education

Ohama studied acting at University of Alberta for three years. [4] She was part of The Working Theatre, an actor-teacher ensemble and training program created and taught by Joseph Chaikin, Peter Kass, and Kristin Linklater. [5]

Early career

Ohama's early acting career was primarily in New York and in other areas of the East Coast and Canada. In 1981, she played Junko Teraji in Flowers and Household Gods at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in New York. [6] In 1984 at Shakespeare & Company, she played Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream and Juliet in Romeo and Juliet , both directed by Tina Packer. [7]

Ohama worked repeatedly with Pan Asian Repertory Theatre in New York. Some of her work there includes Teahouse (1983), [8] Face Box (1984), [9] Once is Never Enough(1985), [10] Lady MacDuff in Shogun Macbeth (1986), [11] Nancy Wing in Yellow Fever (1988), Madame De Sade in Madame De Sade (1988), [12] and Masha in Three Sisters(1988). [13]

She acted in plays including The Memento (Marie) at Yale Rep, directed by Dennis Scott (1987), [14] The Love Suicides at Amijima (Narrator and Osan), directed by Jorge Cacheiro (1987) for New York Theatre Workshop, [15] and Straight as a Line (Mum), directed by Jon Rivera (2000) for Primary Stages in New York City. [16]

Mid-career

Ohama co-founded the Los Angeles Women's’ Shakespeare Company (LAWSC). She and Wolpe co-directed a production of Hamlet in 1995 and alternated the role as well. [17] Ohama played Friar Lawrence in Romeo and Juliet in 1993, [18] Don John in Much Ado About Nothing in 1999, [19] Prospero in The Tempest in 2004, [20] and Polonius in Hamlet in 2013, in a production that she again co-directed with Wolpe. [21]

At the Mark Taper Forum, Ohama played June in Sansei (1989), [22] Yanina in Widows (1991), [23] the Duchess of York and Gloucester opposite Kelsey Grammer in the lead in Richard II (1992), [24] and Sylvia in The Poison Tree (2000), [25] all directed by Robert Egan. She also had roles in the Taper's New Work Festival throughout the 1990s.

At East West Players, Ohama played Lily in Ikebana (1996), [26] Chiz in Sisters Matsumoto (2002), [27] and Mom in Mixed Messages (2004). [28]

Later work

In 2018, Ohama performed at Oregon Shakespeare Festival as Nurse Wong in Snow in Midsummer. [29]

In 2007, she played Imelda Marcos in Dogeaters at the Kirk Douglas Theater and Mark Taper Forum; [30] she had played the role in 2004 for SIPA. [31] She also played Angustias in The House of Bernarda Alba for National Asian American Theatre Company (NATTCO) in New York, directed by Chay Yew [32] and had played the role in 2000 at INTAR Theatre. [33]

At the Getty Villa in Malibu, she played Theonoe) in Helen, directed by Jon Rivera in 2012. [34]

In 2022, she starred in Out of Time at The Public Theater, [35] and in 2023, she was in Deep Blue Sound at Clubbed Thumb. [36]

Other theatre work

Along with co-directing with Lisa Wolpe for LAWSC, [37] Ohama also directed several plays including co-directing A Man Cannot Jump Over his Own Shadow at La Mama ETC in 1987. [38]

As a playwright, Ohama wrote Morgan O Yuki: The Geisha of the Gilded Age which was commissioned and produced at the Ventford Theatre in Lenox, Massachusetts, in 2006 and remounted in 2013. [39]

In 2018, Ohama was the dramaturg for Virginia Grise’s translation of All's Well That Ends Well for the Play On! initiative of Shakespearean play translations. [40]

Voice work

Ohama has taught master classes and workshops for decades, and she has been the vocal coach on numerous productions. She is a designated Linklater teacher. [41]

Film

YearTitleRole
1979 Title Shot Terry
1988 The Laser Man
1990 Flatliners Professor
1991Shanghai 1920
1994 Speed Mrs. Kamino
1995 Skin Deep Alex Koyama
1997 Touch Me Nurse
1997 Loved Harriet
1998MontanaMrs. Koo
2003 Bad Santa Pedicurist
2003 Sound of a Voice Witch
2006 Dead Man's Chest Cannibal Woman
2007 Rise: Blood Hunter Sadie's Mother
2024Claude (short)Mom

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1989 Doogie Howser, M.D. Dr. Matsamura1 episode
1990Moe's WorldTV Movie
1990Hiroshima: Out of the AshesMrs. Kawamoto1 episode
1990 Blind Faith Miniseries, 2 episodes
1991 Santa Barbara Chinese Woman2 episodes
1991 American Playhouse Hatsu Hosoume1 episode
1993 The Bold and the Beautiful Miss Yamato1 episode
1993 Silent Cries Nurse Royama1 episode
1993 Beyond Reality 1 episode
1994− 1995 Forever Knight Capt. Amanda CohenRecurring role, 26 episodes
1996 The Outer Limits Dr. Stephanie Codada1 episode
2001 MythQuest Noriko1 episode
2001 E/R Judge1 episode
2003 Strong Medicine Lenore1 episode
2003 The West Wing Dr. Gwendolyn Chen1 episode
2003-2005 The King of Queens May2 episodes
2005 Life on a Stick Markie2 episodes
2005 Alias Noodle Vendor1 episode
2006 What About Brian Mrs. Chin1 episode
2007 In Case of Emergency Madam5 episodes
2007 Lincoln Heights Pin-Mei1 episode
2009 Nip/Tuck Mrs. Park1 episode
2011 The Mentalist Elderly Lady1 episode
2018Curing AssholesDirectorMiniseries, 1 episode
2022 Bosch: Legacy Sneezy's Mother1 episode
2022Stuck in DevelopmentDr. Klarty1 episode
2023Little BrotherMary1 episode [42]

Teaching and honors

Since 2006, Ohama has taught at University of Southern California. [43] She previously taught voice and text at California Institute of the Arts and the National Arts Center of Canada. [44]

She is a senior artist at Pan Asian Repertory Theatre in New York. [45]

Awards

Ohama received the Playwrights Arena Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Los Angeles Theatre Community in 2018. [46] She received a nomination for Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play for Sound & Beauty at The Public Theater in 1993–94.

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References

  1. ↑ "Natsuko Ohama". Shakespeare & Company. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  2. ↑ "The Company of Women Program". Theatre Programs 1970-1989. June 1990. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  3. ↑ Avila, Elaine (13 August 2014). "Lisa Wolpe Uses Shakespeare To Bend Gender Roles". American Theatre. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  4. ↑ Della Gatta, Carla (2024). Outtakes from the Oral Histories (PDF). Oxford University Press. p. 5. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  5. ↑ "Natsuko Ohama". The Linklater Center. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  6. ↑ "Family Drama at La Mama". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  7. ↑ "Going Out Guide". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  8. ↑ Gussow, Mel. "Theater: 'Teahouse,' China, Over 50 Years Later". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  9. ↑ Gussow, Mel. "Stage: Gothic 'Face Box'". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  10. ↑ Gussow, Mel. "THEATER: SAM SHIKAZE, PRIVATE EYE, IS BACK". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  11. ↑ Gussow, Mel. "Stage: 'Shogun Macbeth'". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  12. ↑ Gussow, Mel. "Theater; De Sade's Kinswomen, as Portrayed by Mishima". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  13. ↑ Gussow, Mel. "Review/Theater; A Pan Asian Chekhov". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  14. ↑ Nahm, Kee-Yoon (12 April 2017). "Expanding the Vision: The Artistry of Lloyd Richards". Yale School of Drama Annual Alumni Magazine, 2016–17. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  15. ↑ Goodman, Walter. "Stage: 'Love Suicides'". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  16. ↑ Bruckner, DJR. "THEATER REVIEW; Riding the Cosmic Line, The Last Stop Is Death". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  17. ↑ Foley, F. Kathleen (28 April 1995). "Effective Female Ensemble in 'Hamlet'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  18. ↑ Koehler, Robert (14 March 1993). "'Romeo and Juliet' Are Cross-Dressed Lovers in New Staging". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  19. ↑ Brandes, Philip (2 April 1999). "A Wild Blend of Wit and the Macabre Fills 'Madman and the Nun'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  20. ↑ "Three-Day Forecast". Los Angeles Times. 12 June 2003. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  21. ↑ "Past Productions". Odyssey Theatre Ensemble. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  22. ↑ Arkatov, Janice (30 April 1989). "'Big Show' Delivers a Political Message". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  23. ↑ Drake, Sylvie (26 July 1991). "STAGE REVIEW : 'Widows' an Exercise in Artifice". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  24. ↑ Shirley, Don (22 March 1992). "Grammer Is Taper's New 'Richard II'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  25. ↑ Phillips, Michael (9 June 2000). "The 'Poison' Lurking Below an Affluent Surface". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  26. ↑ Winer, Laurie (26 November 1996). "Examining a Family's Roots, Future". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  27. ↑ Miller, Daryl H. (25 January 2002). "'Sisters' in the Face of Bias". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  28. ↑ Kendt, Rob (17 September 2004). "A Skeleton of a Play". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  29. ↑ "Snow in Midsummer". Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  30. ↑ Mitchell, Sean (23 January 2007). "A writer revisits the Philippines of 1982". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 23 January 2007.
  31. ↑ Hodgins, Paul (26 January 2007). "Dogeatersis an Energetic But Unruly Play". The Orange County Register. Retrieved 26 January 2007.
  32. ↑ Hampton, Wilborn. "The Chorus Is Dancing, and the Mother's Grim". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 June 2007.
  33. ↑ Boxer, Sarah. "THEATER REVIEW; A House Of Women, Captives Of Mother". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  34. ↑ McNulty, Charles. "Theater review: 'Helen' is remade into a lively movie queen". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
  35. ↑ Russo, Gillian. "The Public Theater announces casting for 'Out of Time' off Broadway". New York Theatre Guide. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
  36. ↑ Noveck, Loren. "Review: Deep Blue Sound at Clubbed Thumb Summerworks". Exeunt New York City. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  37. ↑ "8pm: Dance". Los Angeles Times. 25 March 1999. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  38. ↑ Anderson, Jack. "Review/Dance; A Guy Named Samson". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  39. ↑ Epstein, Helen. "Theater Review: The Compelling Story of a "Geisha of the Gilded Age"". The Arts Fuse. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
  40. ↑ "Natsuko Ohama". Play On Shakespeare. 30 January 2020. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  41. ↑ "Natsuko Ohama". Linklater Voice. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  42. ↑ "Natsuko Ohama". Japanese Canadian Artists Directory. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  43. ↑ "Natsuko Ohama". USC School of Dramatic Arts. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  44. ↑ "Natsuko Ohama". The Linklater Center. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  45. ↑ "About". Natsuko Ohama. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  46. ↑ "Notes on Contributors". The Oxford Handbook of Shakespeare and Race. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
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