Ericka Hunter Yang is a Canadian-born singer, songwriter, dancer and actress.http://www.globalnews.ca/entertainment/ottawas+ericka+hunter+wont+stop+believin/6442790747/story.html Hunter began her career as a

Radio City Music Hall Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue and theater at 1260 Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Nicknamed "The Showplace of the Nation", it is the headquarters for th ...

Rockette The Rockettes are an American precision dance company. Founded 1925 in St. Louis, they have, since , performed at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Until 2015, they also had a touring company. They are best known for starring in the Chr ...

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 Stree ...

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

ensemble casts of ''

Rock of Ages Rock of Ages may refer to: Films * ''Rock of Ages'' (1918 film), a British silent film by Bertram Phillips * ''Rock of Ages'' (2012 film), a film adaptation of the jukebox musical (see below) Music * ''Rock of Ages'' (musical), a 2006 rock ...

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

Miss Saigon ''Miss Saigon'' is a 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 '' Madame Butterfly'', and similarly tells the tragic tale of a doomed ...

, and

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

Early life

Hunter was born in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, to a Canadian mother and Chinese-born

Hong Konger Hongkongers (), also known as Hong Kongers, Hong Kongese, Hongkongese, Hong Kong citizens and Hong Kong people, typically refers to residents of the territory of Hong Kong; although may also refer to others who were born and/or raised in the ...

father. She grew up in the city's suburb of

Nepean Nepean may refer to: Places Australia *Nepean Bay, a bay in South Australia, ** Nepean Bay Conservation Park, a protected area in South Australia, ** Nepean Bay, South Australia, a locality *Nepean Highway, Victoria *Nepean Island (Norfolk Islan ...

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 The Rockettes are an American precision dance company. Founded 1925 in St. Louis, they have, since , performed at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Until 2015, they also had a touring company. They are best known for starring in the Rad ...

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 ''Flower Drum Song'' was the eighth 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. It premiered on Broadway in 1958 and was then performed in 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), a 1933 American Warner Bros. musical film with lyrics by Al Dubin, and ...

''. 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 ''Elle' ...

performed alongside artists such as

Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados, Rihanna auditioned for American record producer Evan Rogers who invited her to t ...

Shakira Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll ( , ; born 2 February 1977), professionally known by the mononym Shakira, is a Colombian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Barranquilla, she has been referred to as the " Queen of Latin Music" and is ...

, 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 ''

'' in 2009. She later performed in ''

Doctor Zhivago ''Doctor Zhivago'' is the title of a novel by Boris Pasternak and its various adaptations. Description The story, in all of its forms, describes the life of the fictional Russian physician and poet Yuri Zhivago and deals with love and loss during ...

'', the musical thriller ''

American Psycho ''American Psycho'' is a novel by Bret Easton Ellis, published in 1991. The story is told in the first person by Patrick Bateman, a serial killer and Manhattan investment banker. Alison Kelly of ''The Observer'' notes that while "some countri ...

Rock Of Ages Rock of Ages may refer to: Films * ''Rock of Ages'' (1918 film), a British silent film by Bertram Phillips * ''Rock of Ages'' (2012 film), a film adaptation of the jukebox musical (see below) Music * ''Rock of Ages'' (musical), a 2006 rock ...

'' (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 Daniel William Strong (born June 6, 1974) is an American actor, film and television writer, director, and producer. As an actor, Strong is best known for his roles as Jonathan Levinson in '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' and Doyle McMaster in ''Gil ...

newly scripted version of ''

Chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

'' at the

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...

. 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 streaming 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 orde ...

'' (

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

), ''

Smash Smash may refer to: People * Smash (wrestler) (born 1959), professional wrestler * Moondog Rex, another professional wrestler who briefly wrestled as the original Smash, before being replaced by the above. * DJ Smash, DJ and music producer A ...

'' (

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ...

), ''

Modern Love Modern Love may refer to: Film * ''Modern Love'' (1918 film), a silent film starring Mae Murray * ''Modern Love'' (1929 film), a part-talking film distributed by Universal Pictures * ''Modern Love'' (1990 film), a film by Robby Benson * ''Mod ...

'' (

), 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 ...

'' ( 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 series airs on Apple TV+ and premiered on July 16, 2021. The series has b ...

'', released on

Apple TV+ Apple TV+ is an American subscription streaming service owned and operated by Apple Inc. Launched on November 1, 2019, it offers a selection of original production film and television series called Apple Originals. The service was announced ...

. 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.

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