Ericka Hunter Yang | |
---|---|
Born | Ericka Yang May 8, 1982 |
Occupations |
|
Years active | 2000–present |
Partner | Aaron Tveit |
Ericka Hunter Yang (born May 8, 1982) is a Canadian-born singer, songwriter, dancer and actress. [2] Hunter began her career as a Radio City Music Hall Rockette and made her Broadway debut in 2002. She has since been part of the original Broadway ensemble casts of Rock of Ages (later starring as Sherrie), American Psycho, Doctor Zhivago, the 2017 revival of Miss Saigon, and Moulin Rouge!
Yang was born in Ottawa, Ontario, to a Canadian mother and Chinese-born Hong Konger father. She grew up in the city's suburb of Nepean and attended a public performing arts high school. She has an older sister, Vanessa, and younger brother, Warren Yang, a former gymnast and actor. [3] [4] Hunter is of Chinese, Dutch, German, and English descent.
After studying dance and theater in her hometown of Ottawa, Ontario, she made her professional debut with Radio City Rockettes at 18. Ericka then joined the Toronto company of The Lion King before being cast as a featured dancer in the ABC/Disney movie The Music Man. In 2002, at the age of 20, she made her Broadway debut in the original revival cast of Flower Drum Song and then went on to perform in the Broadway cast of 42nd Street .
In 2006, she relocated to Los Angeles to develop a music and fashion career. She worked as an assistant to stylist Joe Zee performed alongside artists such as Rihanna, Shakira, and Justin Timberlake. During this period, she began using the professional name Ericka Hunter, taking the last name from a maternal great-grandmother.
In 2008, she returned to New York. She joined the cast of the Broadway musical Rock of Ages in 2009. She later performed in Doctor Zhivago , the musical thriller American Psycho, Rock Of Ages (where she played the lead role of Sherrie), as well as the revival of Miss Saigon (understudied/performed the roles of Gigi and Ellen).
Early in 2018, she performed in the Danny Strong newly scripted version of Chess at the Kennedy Center. In addition to her Broadway credits, she's been cast in multiple TV productions including Mozart In The Jungle (Amazon), Smash (NBC), Modern Love (Amazon), and Katy Keene (CW). In 2021, she was a Core Dancer on Schmigadoon! , released on Apple TV+. [5]
Hunter is featured on French DJ Morgan Nagoya's dance single "Promised Land"[ citation needed ] along with Jonny Rose and Chris Reeder. [6] She released her first U.S. solo single "Fight to Believe" on January 17, 2013. [2]
Hunter is in a relationship with actor Aaron Tveit. Tveit confirmed on his Instagram page in July 2024 that the two are expecting their first child. [7]
Year | Production | Role | Venue | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
2000 | The Lion King | Ensemble | The Princess of Wales Theatre | Toronto production |
2001 | Radio City Christmas Spectacular | Rockette | Radio City Music Hall | |
2002–03 | Flower Drum Song | Ensemble | The August Wilson Theatre: October 2002 – March 2003 | Original Broadway production Credited as: Ericka Yang |
2003–04 | 42nd Street | Ensemble | Ford Center for the Performing Arts | Broadway replacement Credited as: Ericka Yang |
Ethel | ||||
2004 | Princesses | Goodspeed Theater | Regional developmental production | |
2005 | Aida | Ensemble | Ogunquit Playhouse | Regional production |
2007 | Damn Yankees | Ensemble | Freud Playhouse at UCLA: November 2007 | Reprise Theatre Company |
2009–15 | Rock of Ages | Ensemble, Swing (u/s Sherrie, Regina) | Brooks Atkinson Theatre: March 2009 – March 2013 | Original Broadway production |
Ensemble (u/s Sherrie, Justice, Regina) | Brooks Atkinson Theatre: November 2014 – January 2015 | Broadway replacement | ||
2014 | The Band Wagon | Isabelle | New York City Center Stage II: November 2014 | Concert staging |
2015 | Doctor Zhivago | Ensemble | Broadway Theatre: March – May 2015 | Original Broadway production |
2016 | American Psycho | Sabrina / Video Store Clerk (u/s Evelyn Williams, Courtney Lawrence, Svetlana, Mrs. Bateman, Mrs. Wolfe) | Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre: March – June 2016 | Original Broadway production |
2017 | Miss Saigon | Ensemble (u/s Gigi, Ellen) | Broadway Theatre: March – October 2017 | Broadway revival |
2018 | Chess | Ensemble | JFK Center for the Performing Arts: February 2018 | Concert staging |
2018–2022 | Moulin Rouge! | Ensemble (u/s Arabia, La Chocolat) | Emerson Colonial Theatre: July – August 2018 | Original Boston production (Pre-Broadway tryout) |
Al Hirschfeld Theatre: June 2019 – April 2022 | Original Broadway production | |||
2023 | ''Some Like It Hot'' | Swing [1] | Shubert Theatre: March – April 2023; June 2023 |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2003 | The Music Man | Dancer | Film |
2004–2011 | Rescue Me | Singing Nurse | Episode: "Disease" |
2012–2013 | Smash | Dancer | 2 episodes |
2014 | It Could Be Worse | Lacy | Episode: "Fate" |
2014 | Mozart In The Jungle | Dancer | Episode: "Pilot" |
2019 | Modern Love | ||
2020 | Katy Keene | Episode: "Chapter One" | |
2020 | Broadway Profiles with Tamsen Fadal | Self | Episode on Oct 2020 |
2021–2023 | Schmigadoon! | Core Dancer, Tribal Dancer, Cabaret Girl Molly | 9 episodes |
2022 | Better Nate Than Ever | Dancer | Film |
Maria Lea Carmen Imutan Salonga, is a Filipino singer and actress. Known primarily for her work in theatre, she has starred in musicals on Broadway and in the West End. Her accolades include a Tony Award and a Laurence Olivier Award, in addition to nominations for two Grammy Awards. She was conferred with the Presidential Medal of Merit in 1990 and the Order of Lakandula in 2007, and she was honored as a Disney Legend in 2011.
Annie Golden is an American actress and singer. She first came to prominence as the lead singer of the punk band the Shirts from 1975 to 1981 with whom she recorded three albums. She began her acting career as Mother in the 1977 Broadway revival of Hair; later taking on the role of Jeannie Ryan in the 1979 film version of the musical. Other notable film credits include Desperately Seeking Susan (1985), Baby Boom (1987), Longtime Companion (1989), Strictly Business (1991), Prelude to a Kiss (1992), 12 Monkeys (1995), The American Astronaut (2001), It Runs in the Family (2003), Adventures of Power (2008), and I Love You Phillip Morris (2009).
Dolores Conchita Figueroa del Rivero, known professionally as Chita Rivera, was an American actress, singer, and dancer. Rivera received numerous accolades including two Tony Awards, two Drama Desk Awards, and a Drama League Award. She was the first Latina and the first Latino American to receive a Kennedy Center Honor in 2002, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. She won the Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2018.
Sutton Lenore Foster is an American actress. She is known for her work on the Broadway stage, for which she has won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical twice, in 2002 for her role as Millie Dillmount in Thoroughly Modern Millie, and in 2011 for her performance as Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes, a role which she reprised in 2021 for a production in London and for which she received a nomination for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical. Her other Broadway credits include Grease, Little Women, The Drowsy Chaperone, Young Frankenstein, Shrek the Musical, Violet, The Music Man, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and Once Upon a Mattress. On television, Foster played the lead role in the short-lived ABC Family comedy-drama Bunheads from 2012 to 2013. From 2015 to 2021, she starred in the TV Land comedy-drama Younger.
Valentine Ruth Henshall, known professionally as Ruthie Henshall, is an English actress, singer and dancer, known for her work in musical theatre. She began her professional stage career in 1986, before making her West End debut in Cats in 1987. A five-time Olivier Award nominee, she won the 1995 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her role as Amalia Balash in the London revival of She Loves Me (1994).
Laura Ilene Benanti is an American actress and singer.
Joanna Ampil is a musical theatre and film actress from the Philippines and United Kingdom.
Annaleigh Ashford is an American actress, singer, and dancer. Her early roles on Broadway include in the musicals Wicked (2007), Legally Blonde (2007), and Hair (2010). She received the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for playing Essie Carmichael in You Can't Take It With You (2014–2015). Her other Tony-nominated roles include Lauren in Kinky Boots (2013) and Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2023). She also starred in the Broadway revival of Sunday in the Park with George (2017).
Rock of Ages is a jukebox musical built around classic rock songs from the 1980s, especially from the famous glam metal bands of that decade. The musical features songs from Styx, Journey, Bon Jovi, Pat Benatar, Twisted Sister, Steve Perry, Poison and Europe, among other well-known rock bands. It was written by Chris D'Arienzo, directed by Kristin Hanggi and choreographed by Kelly Devine with music supervision, arrangements and orchestrations by Ethan Popp.
Aaron Kyle Tveit is an American actor and tenor singer. Tveit originated the lead role of Christian in the stage adaptation of Moulin Rouge! on Broadway, a performance for which he won the 2020 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical and received a 2020 Grammy Award nomination. His other work on the Broadway stage includes originating the roles of Gabe in Next to Normal and Frank Abagnale Jr. in Catch Me If You Can, as well as performing the roles of Fiyero Tigelaar in Wicked, Link Larkin in Hairspray, and the title role in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. He also played John Wilkes Booth in an Off West End production of Assassins.
Elsie Fest is an annual music festival in New York City co-created and produced by Darren Criss, Ricky Rollins, Lea Michele, and Jordan Roth. The yearly festival is touted as "New York City’s first outdoor music festival celebrating tunes from the stage and screen". Elsie Fest's inaugural event was held at New York City's JBL Live at Pier 97 on September 27, 2015. A portion of the proceeds benefited BroadwayCares/Equity Fights AIDS.
Lora Lee Gayer is an American stage actress. On Broadway, she originated the lead role of Linda Mason in Holiday Inn in 2016. She appeared on Broadway in the 2011 revival of Follies as Young Sally.
Emily Padgett is an American actress, singer, and dancer.
Eva Maria Noblezada is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her work in theatre, starring in musicals in the West End and on Broadway. Her accolades include a Grammy Award and two Tony Award nominations.
Jennifer Jones is an American dancer and actress. In 1987, she became the first African American Radio City Music Hall Rockette.
Moulin Rouge! The Musical is a jukebox musical with a book by John Logan. The musical is based on the 2001 film Moulin Rouge! directed by Baz Luhrmann and written by Luhrmann and Craig Pearce.
Ashley Jeein Park is an American actress and musician. She is best known for her portrayal of Mindy Chen on the Netflix comedy series Emily in Paris. She originated the role of Gretchen Wieners in the Broadway musical Mean Girls, for which she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical.
Kate Rockwell is an American actor, dancer, and singer. She is known for her work on Broadway and for originating the roles of Skylar in Bring It On: The Musical in 2011 and of Karen Smith in the 2018 musical Mean Girls, for the latter of which she received Drama Desk Award and Helen Hayes Award nominations.
Tam Mutu is an English stage and screen actor. He began his career in the West End in the early 2000s. He was part of the original West End production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Love Never Dies (2010–2011) before starring in the revivals of Les Misérables (2013–2014) and City of Angels (2015). That same year he starred in the original Broadway musical Doctor Zhivago. He returned to Broadway in 2019 with Moulin Rouge! The Musical; for his supporting role of the Duke of Monroth he was nominated for a Grammy Award. On screen, he had a recurring role on the Netflix show Medici.
Nicholas Christopher is an American stage actor and singer. He made his Broadway debut in the ensemble of Motown: The Musical and later go on to star in the Broadway revival of Miss Saigon and replace Christopher Jackson in Hamilton. He received critical acclaim for his performances as Adolfo Pirelli and the standby Sweeney Todd in the 2023 Broadway revival of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. He would later star as Todd in the production in between the stints of Josh Groban and Aaron Tveit from January 17 to February 8, 2024.