NATIONAL THEATER OF YOUNG ARTISTS
About Us
National Theater of Young Artists, NTYA, is an international theater company based in Kobe, Japan, that features young artists performing classic plays, musicals, and operas in English. The expert training by top professionals inspires our members to strive for excellence, not only in music, theater, and dance, but in every aspect of their lives. Because the training and the performances are in English, our young artists are equipped with all the requisite skills associated with professional success anywhere in the world.
The stage has long been recognized by educators the world over as the most effective platform ever for young people to gain confidence and learn commitment, responsibility, communication, and teamwork skills that are critical for success in any field of endeavor. We are committed to performing internationally, and we take great pride and pleasure in presenting to our young artists, the world, and to the world, our beautiful and incredibly talented young artists.
National Theater of Young Artists（NTYA）は、神戸を拠点とする国際的な劇団企業です。私たちは、若きアーティストたちによる古典演劇・ミュージカル・オペラなどを英語で行うことを特徴としています。またプロによる専門的なトレーニングは、音楽や演劇・ダンスだけでなく、普段の生活面への努力も引き起こします。こうしたトレーニングやパフォーマンスはすべて英語で行われるため、若きアーティストたちは世界で成功するために必要なスキルを備えることができます。舞台は、若い人びとが自信を持ち、責任やコミュニケーション、チームワークを学べる最も効果的な場です。このことは長くに渡り世界中の教育者たちから認められています。
Staff
Theodore Steckler
President and Artistic Director
Theo Steckler is a theater and opera director who has devoted over thirty years to the education and training of young actors.
He is the president and founder of Japan`s National Theater of Young Artists.
After graduating from Indiana University, he pioneered a special program through the Los Angeles school system for high school students who were working professionally in television, film, and theater. In Denver, Colorado, he created the speech and theater curriculum for Unity School, a Waldorf style international school, and directed community theater and opera productions in Denver that featured professionals performing alongside young artists and children:
Menotti's Amahl And The Night Visitors, Benjamin Britten's Noah's Fludde, Moliere's Scapin
and The Would-Be Gentleman, Thornton Wilder's The Long Christmas Dinner,
and Giraudoux’s Ondine.
演劇及びオペラの監督であり、若い俳優の教育とトレーニングに30年以上取り組んでいる。National Theater of Young Artistsの創始者であり、代表を務める。インディアナ大学を卒業後、テレビ・映画・演劇でプロとして活躍する高校生のための学校を通じて、特別なプログラムを開発した。コロラド州デンバーでは、学校向けのスピーチと演劇のカリキュラムを作り上げた。メノッティによるアマールと夜の訪問者、ブリテンによるノアの洪水、モリエールによるスカパンの悪巧み及び町人貴族、ソーントン・ワイルダーによる長い長いクリスマスディナー、ジロドゥのオンディーヌなどで、若いアーティストと子どもたちがともに出演する演劇及びオペラ作品の監督を行った。現在は大阪学院大学の講師を努め、素晴らしい業績・才能を持つ若い日本人パフォーマーの表彰とコンサートを行うINSPIRE MEというプログラムを作り上げた。若い彼らのストーリーを伝え、大阪学院コミュニティと生徒に向けてパフォーマンスを行い、そして年齢を問わず全ての人が彼らのように夢を追うよう奮い立たせるプログラムである。セオドアが監督を行ったNational Theater of Young Artistsの公演は、シェイクスピアによるヘンリー4世、ソーントン・ワイルダーによるHappy Journey、ウィンターコンサートとして、Young Artists Live、OLIVER In Concert、Back To The 80'である。
Sincere Chang
Singing Instructor and Guest Artist
Sincere has been with NATIONAL THEATER from the very beginning. She joined us when she was twelve years old and appeared in our very first production, Shakespeare’s Henry IV. She has made a huge contribution to our program as a singer-dancer-actor over the years, and she has appeared in virtually all our shows in featured roles. Her performance as Nancy in our production of OLIVER! was extraordinary and unforgettable. Sincere is now a busy university student at Doshisha University, and yet, in addition to her schooling and performing professionally in live events throughout Kansai, she still plays a major role in our company as a singing instructor (one of our most popular) and as a guest artist in our shows. Come watch her perform in our next show and you will understand why all our members love her so much.
シンシアは、始まったばかりのNTYAに12歳の時からメンバーとなる。NTYAでの初舞台はシェイクスピアのヘンリー４世。何年もの間、歌手、ダンサー、そして俳優としてNTYAのプログラムに貢献し続け、ほとんど全てのショーで大きな役で舞台に立ってきた。オリバー！で魅せたナンシー役は素晴らしく忘れがたいほどである。彼女は現在、同志社大学に忙しく通う学生だが、関西を中心にイベントやライブ活動も行っている。NTYAではとても人気の歌のインストラクターであり、そしてゲストアーティストとして大きな役割を担っている。ショーを見れば、NTYAメンバーがなぜ彼女が大好きが分かるはず。
Asuka Omori
Main Choreographer
Asuka started tap dancing when she was five years old. She trained under the watchful eye of her mother who was an actor-singer-dancer in the famed TAKARAZUKA REVUE. By the time she was in high school she had achieved a high level of proficiency in tap and jazz dancing and became an assistant instructor at OJC School of Dance in Ashiya.
For college she went to the States where she was a scholarship student at Shoreline Community College in Seattle.
Asuka graduated from there in 2014. She is now back in Japan and has been an instructor for NTYA since 2016. Asukas's fantastic personality and remarkable talent as a dancer/choreographer has made her a huge favorite with our members.
Yumi Godsey
Voice & Acting Instructor
Yumi Godsey was born in Fukuoka, Japan, and raised in the U.S.A. in Salina, Kansas, by her step-father who had a country western band. At fifteen she began singing in her father's band, and at seventeen she recorded her first single.
She performed in Nashville for seven years during which time she also worked in professional theater. She returned to Japan in 1989 and began singing with Charlie Nagatani and his band, The Cannonballs. Charlie is the founder of Country Gold, an annual concert at Mt. Aso which features top Country Western and pop artists from the States
including the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Emmylou Harris, Ricky Scaggs, and Dan Miller. Yumi performed with those artists in the first two Country Gold concerts.
She moved to the Kansai area in 2005 and formed her own band, Rowdy Godsey,
with which she now performs rock, country, pop, and jazz music. We're absolutely delighted to have the opportunity to work with this remarkable lady.
Mayu Fujimoto
Choreographer
Mayu Fujimoto started dancing when she was five years old, found that she loved performing, and has been onstage ever since. She started with jazz dance. Now she specializes in Burlesque, Yosakoi, and sword dance, all of which she likes to color with East Indian styling. Mayu was a featured dancer in a Kuroda Kanbei stage production a few years ago and that inspired her to devote her life entirely to dance and the performing arts. She has recently appeared in several events for TATA
(Indian financial conglomerate), dinner theater productions at the Hotel Hanshin, and professional Japanese period dramas.
振付師の藤本麻由は、5歳のときからダンスを始め、これまでずっとを舞台上で活動してきた。ジャズダンスに始まり、バーレスクやよさこい、剣舞といった様々なスタイルのダンスに精通している。黒田官兵衛の舞台にてダンサーとして出演したことをきっかけに、ダンスとパフォーマンスに献身することを決意する。最近では、TATA（インド系企業）のイベントやホテル阪神のディナーショー、日本の時代劇などにも出演している。
Tyler Lockett
Set Designer
Tyler is an American artist, illustrator, and designer of remarkable talent whose work has been showcased in art books, video games, and theatrical set designs. For National Theater he created the logo and the set design concept for our production of OLIVER.
Tatsunosuke Hayakawa
Business Manager
Tatsu grew up in Hokkaido and has an undergraduate degree in business from Hokkai-Gakuen in Sapporo. He joined National Theater in 2013 as an intern while he was a graduate student in Business Administration at Kobe University. Very much at home in the world of performing arts, Tatsu has, in a very short time, made himself indispensable to our program.