Ericka Hunter Yang (born May 8, 1982) is a Canadian-born singer, songwriter, dancer and actress.
/ref> Hunter began her career as a

Radio City Music Hall Radio City Music Hall (also known as Radio City) is an entertainment venue and Theater (structure), theater at 1260 Sixth Avenue (Manhattan), Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York C ...

Rockette and made her

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

debut in 2002. She has since been part of the original

ensemble casts of ''

Rock of Ages Rock of Ages is an epithet that is used in some translations of Isaiah 26, Isaiah 26:4 and may refer to: Films * Rock of Ages (1918 film), ''Rock of Ages'' (1918 film), a British silent film by Bertram Phillips * Rock of Ages (2012 film), ''Roc ...

'' (later starring as Sherrie)'','' ''American Psycho'', ''Doctor Zhivago'', the 2017 revival of ''

Miss Saigon ''Miss Saigon'' is a sung-through musical theatre, stage musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, with lyrics by Boublil and Richard Maltby Jr. It is based on Giacomo Puccini's 1904 opera ''Madama Butterfly'', and similarly tells th ...

, and

Moulin Rouge! ''Moulin Rouge!'' (, ) is a 2001 jukebox musical romantic drama film directed, produced, and co-written by Baz Luhrmann. It follows an English poet, Christian, who falls in love with the star of the Moulin Rouge, cabaret actress and courtesan ...

Early life

Yang was born in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, to a Canadian mother and Chinese-born

Hong Konger Hongkongers (), Hong Kongers, Hong Kong citizens and Hong Kong people are Demonym, demonyms that refer to a Hong Kong resident, resident of Hong Kong, although they may also refer to others who were born and/or raised in the territory. The ...

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. Hunter is of Chinese, Dutch, German, and English descent.

Career

After studying dance and theater in her hometown of

, she made her professional debut with Radio City Rockettes at 18. Ericka then joined the Toronto company of T''he 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 ''Flower Drum Song'' was the eighth musical theatre, musical by the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. It is based on the 1957 novel, ''The Flower Drum Song'', by Chinese-American author C. Y. Lee (author), C. Y. Lee. It premiered on Broadway the ...

'' and then went on to perform in the Broadway cast of ''

42nd Street 42nd Street most commonly refers to: *42nd Street (Manhattan), a major crosstown street in the New York City borough of Manhattan It may also refer to: *42nd Street (film), ''42nd Street'' (film), a 1933 American Warner Bros. musical film with lyri ...

''. In 2006, she relocated to Los Angeles to develop a music and fashion career. She worked as an assistant to stylist

Joe Zee Joe Zee (born November 23, 1968) is a Hong Kong-born Canadian fashion stylist, journalist, and producer, known for ''Entertainment Tonight'' (1981), '' FABLife'' (2015) and ''Celebrity Style Story'' (2012). Zee served as creative director of '' El ...

performed alongside artists such as

Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, businesswoman, and actress. One of the List of music artists by net worth, wealthiest musicians in the world, List of awards and nominations received by Rihanna, her vario ...

Shakira Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll ( , ; born 2 February 1977) is a Colombian singer-songwriter. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Latin Music", she has had a Cultural impact of Shakira, significant impact on the ...

, and

Justin Timberlake Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, record producer, and dancer. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Prince of Pop", ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' honored him as the b ...

. 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 ''

'' in 2009. She later performed in '' Doctor Zhivago'', the musical thriller ''

American Psycho ''American Psycho'' is a black comedy horror novel by American writer Bret Easton Ellis, published in 1991. The story is told in the First-person narrative, first-person by Patrick Bateman, a wealthy, narcissistic, and vain Manhattan investmen ...

Rock Of Ages Rock of Ages is an epithet that is used in some translations of Isaiah 26, Isaiah 26:4 and may refer to: Films * Rock of Ages (1918 film), ''Rock of Ages'' (1918 film), a British silent film by Bertram Phillips * Rock of Ages (2012 film), ''Roc ...

'' (where she played the lead role of Sherrie), as well as the revival of ''

'' (understudied/performed the roles of Gigi and Ellen). Early in 2018, she performed in the

Danny Strong Danny Strong (born ) is an American actor, screenwriter, director, and producer. As an actor, Strong is best known for his roles as Jonathan Levinson in ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'', Doyle McMaster in ''Gilmore Girls'' and Danny Siegel in '' Mad ...

newly scripted version of ''

Chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

'' at the

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Opened on September 8, ...

. In addition to her Broadway credits, she's been cast in multiple TV productions including ''

Mozart In The Jungle ''Mozart in the Jungle'' is an American comedy-drama television series developed by Roman Coppola, Jason Schwartzman, Alex Timbers, and Paul Weitz for the video-on-demand service Amazon Prime Video. It received a production order in March 20 ...

'' (

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

), '' Smash'' (

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

), '' Modern Love'' (

), and ''

Katy Keene Katy Keene is a character created by Bill Woggon that has appeared in several comic book series published by Archie Comics since 1945. She is a model/actress/singer marketed by the publisher as "America's Queen of Pin-Ups and Fashions". In the b ...

'' ( CW). In 2021, she was a Core Dancer on ''

Schmigadoon! ''Schmigadoon!'' is an American musical comedy television series created by Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio, with all songs written by Paul, who also serves as showrunner. The Apple TV+ series premiered July 16, 2021, starring an ensemble cast led b ...

'', released on

Apple TV+ Apple TV+ is an American subscription over-the-top streaming service owned by Apple. The service launched on November 1, 2019, and it offers a selection of original production film and television series called Apple Originals. The service w ...

. Hunter is featured on French DJ Morgan Nagoya's dance single "Promised Land" along with Jonny Rose and Chris Reeder. She released her first U.S. solo single "Fight to Believe" on January 17, 2013.

Personal life

Hunter is engaged to actor

Aaron Tveit Aaron Kyle Tveit (; born October 21, 1983) is an American actor and singer. Tveit originated the lead role of Christian in the stage adaptation of ''Moulin Rouge! (musical), Moulin Rouge!'' on Broadway theatre, Broadway, a performance for which ...

. Tveit confirmed in December 2024 that the two welcomed their first child, a daughter, in November.

Theatre

Filmography

References

External links

Website
* , also and * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, Ericka Canadian women songwriters Living people Canadian musical theatre actresses Canadian women pop singers Actresses from Ottawa Canadian female dancers 21st-century Canadian actresses 21st-century Canadian women singers 1982 births