Erika Amato
Encyclopedia
Erika Amato is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 singer and actress, and a founding member of the band Velvet Chain
Velvet Chain
Velvet Chain is a Los Angeles based band who play a mixture of trip-hop, rock, and pop, with a jazz/funk flavor. Velvet Chain was formed in the mid-1990s by Jeff Stacy and Erika Amato, the creative core of the band...

.

Biography

Amato was born in the town of Plainfield
Plainfield, New Jersey
Plainfield is a city in Union County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population increased to a record high of 49,808....

, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

 and grew up in the town of Summit
Summit, New Jersey
Summit is a city in Union County, New Jersey, United States. At the 2010 United States Census, the city's population was 21,457. Summit had the 16th-highest per capita income in the state as of the 2000 Census....

. She started playing and performing music at the age of three. She attended Kent Place School
Kent Place School
The Kent Place School is an all-girls kindergarten through 12 independent college-preparatory day school in Summit, Union County, New Jersey, United States...

 and then went to Vassar College
Vassar College
Vassar College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, in the United States. The Vassar campus comprises over and more than 100 buildings, including four National Historic Landmarks, ranging in style from Collegiate Gothic to International,...

 to earn her undergraduate degree (BA
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

) - receiving both general honors and honors in Drama. While at Vassar, she performed in both the Music Department's elite a cappella group, the Madrigals, as well as the student-run co-ed a cappella group, Matthew's Minstrels.

After graduation, Amato moved to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

 to pursue an acting career, and quickly landed a guest-starring appearance on the popular show, Quantum Leap, garnering her the coveted SAG
Screen Actors Guild
The Screen Actors Guild is an American labor union representing over 200,000 film and television principal performers and background performers worldwide...

 card. In the mid-1990s, she met Jeff Stacy, and together the two founded Velvet Chain
Velvet Chain
Velvet Chain is a Los Angeles based band who play a mixture of trip-hop, rock, and pop, with a jazz/funk flavor. Velvet Chain was formed in the mid-1990s by Jeff Stacy and Erika Amato, the creative core of the band...

, an indie band with a large cult following most famous for their appearances on the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the subsequent soundtrack album on TVT Records
TVT Records
TVT Records was an independent US record label founded by Steve Gottlieb. Over the course of its 25 year history the label released some 25 Gold, Platinum and Multi-platinum releases. Its roster included Nine Inch Nails, Ja Rule, Lil Jon, Underworld, The KLF, Sevendust, Brian Jonestown Massacre and...

. The band has also self-released several albums through their own label, Freak Productions, and continue to write and record material.

Amato continues to pursue an acting career and has relocated to New York City, where she recently made her Off-Broadway debut in the new musical, Signs Of Life
Signs of Life
- Film :* Signs of Life , by Werner Herzog* Signs of Life , a U.S. film- Literature :* Signs of Life by M...

. She has appeared in many plays and films over the years, starring in the indie film A Couple of Days and Nights and in productions of the musicals Sleeping Beauty Wakes (Center Theatre Group
Center Theatre Group
Center Theatre Group is a non-profit arts organization located in Los Angeles, California. It is one of the largest theatre companies in the nation, programming subscription seasons year-round at the Mark Taper Forum, the Ahmanson Theatre and the Kirk Douglas Theatre...

 - Ovation Award Nomination for Best Featured Actress In A Musical), Paint Your Wagon (Geffen Playhouse
Geffen Playhouse
The Geffen Playhouse is a not for profit performing arts theater in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Originally named the Westwood Playhouse, UCLA purchased the property in 1993. UCLA's then chancellor, Charles E. Young, appointed Gil Cates Producing Director...

), 42nd Street
42nd Street (musical)
42nd Street is a musical with a book by Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble, lyrics by Al Dubin, and music by Harry Warren. The 1980 Broadway production, directed by an ailing Gower Champion and orchestrated by Philip J. Lang, won the Tony Award for Best Musical and became a long-running hit...

(Welk Resort Theatre) and Anything Goes
Anything Goes
Anything Goes is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The original book was a collaborative effort by Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse, heavily revised by the team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. The story concerns madcap antics aboard an ocean liner bound from New York to London...

(Candlelight Pavilion).

She also does voice-over work, providing vocals for demos, TV shows, and films - most recently for the PBS animated series, Danger Rangers
Danger Rangers
Danger Rangers is a television program that airs on PBS. It features six animal heroes who teach children about safety through example. It aired on CBS as part of the Cookie Jar TV block on September 17, 2011.-Voice Talent:*Jerry Houser as Sully...

and the Disney feature film, Enchanted.

Amato appeared on Win Ben Stein's Money
Win Ben Stein's Money
Win Ben Stein's Money is an American television game show that ran from July 28, 1997 to January 31, 2003 on the Comedy Central cable network with episodes airing until May 8, 2003. It featured three contestants who competed in a general knowledge quiz contest to win the grand prize of $5,000 from...

and won.

External links

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