Erika's Avatar- Page 2

[Glebb]

Posted: 4/11/06 at 6:52am

DG is lucky!

[EddieVarley]

Posted: 4/11/06 at 9:00am

That he is, those images are pure magic, I'm so proud of my "wife"!

[BrianWilsonFan]

Posted: 4/11/06 at 10:11am

Spectacular set of photographs.

Disney, i think Macca penned a song about it, "The Wonder of it all, babeee". But he could have been thinking about something else too: - )

[Princeton78]

Posted: 4/11/06 at 10:18am

So Erika,
Is the hag get up a mask or prosthetics?
How long does it take you to get into that?

[best12bars]

Posted: 4/11/06 at 10:54am

Erika, this is a little off-topic, but I checked out some of your other various photos posted of "Erika" throughout the ages... and (at the risk of offending!), can I just say that you have managed to grow better looking with age?

Please, take this as a compliment, and it's quite an achievement.

(And I'm NOT referring to those hag/queen pictures either!)

[Calvin]

Posted: 4/11/06 at 10:54am

Erika, the Evil Queen is my all-time favorite Disney character (well, tied with Maleficent and Lady Tremaine). You look fabulous.

[erikaamato]

Posted: 4/11/06 at 11:03am

Thanks, EddieVarley and BrianWilsonFan! (How is my "husband," anyway?) =)

Princeton78: Well, it's a latex mask on the top half of the face, with a prosthetic chin, and makeup applied to the all exposed parts of the actor's real face. After about 6 months of glueing on the chin, however, the makeup department came up with a contraption that straps the chin on. (Picture a lot of elastic, beard lace, and velcro.) It's so much better. The prosthetic glue not only made people break out, it was difficult to remove and caused some scarring ('cause invariably you'd slip while trying to apply the remover with a a q-tip and end up pulling of a few layers of skin), and - ironically - when it wasn't impossible to remove, it was falling off onstage due to the extreme heat (and sweat). So again, we were all really happy when they figured out the beard-lace-alternative version.

Once you get the hang of it, it only takes about 20 minutes to get into the Hag costume. The Queen makeup and costume is actually far more complicated, so the fastest I've ever gotten ready for that role is about 40 minutes.

[dotmarie]

Posted: 4/11/06 at 4:21pm

Not to threadjack or anything, but Erika I must say that I loveee your band's music. =) I have a song of yours on my Myspace. tee hee. =)

[erikaamato]

Posted: 4/11/06 at 5:01pm

Calvin: Awesome. She's mine, too. Followed by Maleficent and Ursula. =)

best12bars: Why, thank you! I see no way to take that other than as a compliment, actually.

dotmarie: Awesome! That's so great to hear. Jeff and I were just working on new tunes last night, actually.

For anyone who wants to check us out:
Velvet Chain on MySpace

[erikaamato]

Posted: 4/11/06 at 5:03pm

P.S. Our official site is at http://www.velvetchain.com
http://www.velvetchain.com

[erikaamato]

Posted: 4/11/06 at 9:28pm

Yes, actually, the tower starts to crumble (amid flashes of lightning and thunder), and the Hag falls to her death when she picks up a large chunk of the tower and lifts it over her head to throw at the dwarves who've been pursuing her. Ostensibly, the weight of the piece of rock makes her lose her balance, and she falls backward off the tower.

It is totally fun. One of my favorite things in the whole show. To do it, you just pick up a piece of styrofoam, spazz around a little so it looks like you're losing your balance, and then fall backwards onto a gymnastics crash pad, about two and a half feet down. Not everyone playing the Hag could make the fall look super real, so - and I know how silly this sounds - I was always being asked by the directing team to show the new hires how I do it. Yep. that's me. An expert in Hag-falling-off-the-tower technique.
Updated On: 4/11/06 at 09:28 PM

[theatrebabe]

Posted: 4/11/06 at 9:32pm

Hahahaha. I wish I could see you, Erica! It looks like a blast.

[kate2]

Posted: 4/11/06 at 9:41pm

ergg. I wish i had a cool job like that.. instead I'm a cashier at a supermarket and have to deal with idiots everyday. LUCKY. You can just give people the poison apple and there ya go.. no more morons!
Updated On: 4/11/06 at 09:41 PM

[knows_too_much]

Posted: 4/11/06 at 9:41pm

I was just looking at your profile the other day looking at all of your Hag/Queen pics not realizing they were you. I thought that you were just a fan of whoever was playing the queen, like the people who have photos of Idina or Jake Gylenhall filling thier profile. Coll that it's you, you look great!

[erikaamato]

Posted: 4/11/06 at 10:16pm

kate2: Ugh, I can relate. Before I was making my living full-time as a performer, I was in retail for a very long time. My last day-job was working in a commissioned department at Bloomindale's. AWFUL. People are just so rude. Don't miss it at all.

knows_too_much: Thank you so much!! Glad you liked the pics. =)

-------------------------------------
Please sponsor me in the Revlon 5K Run/Walk for Women (raising money to fight women's cancers)

[Glebb]

Posted: 5/27/06 at 1:09pm

Bump.

[YessicaB]

Posted: 5/27/06 at 1:13pm

Ooooh, I had missed this thread before... Wow Erika, you do look absolutely fantastic in all of those pictures!
Updated On: 5/27/06 at 01:13 PM

[erikaamato]

Posted: 5/27/06 at 1:16pm

Hey, thanks! We're actually in rehearsals right now, getting ready for the re-opening of the show on June 9th. =)

[YessicaB]

Posted: 5/27/06 at 1:18pm

Wish I could come see you...and not just because I want to come to California...

[bwaysinger]

Posted: 5/27/06 at 1:23pm

I performed for the Disney Company and, I must say, it was the most challenging music I had ever done but it was also one of the highlights of my performing career. People knock it, but it's absolutely, 100% entertaining and you get to literally see the joy you bring to children's faces as you sing.

[erikaamato]

Posted: 5/27/06 at 2:39pm

Well, although I am a singer, the Evil Queen/Hag track is a non-singing role...and I'm not sure how much joy I bring to the children's faces...it's more like fear and loathing.

But it is a hoot, and I suppose I can say I indirectly bring joy to the kiddies by making them hate me so that they can love Snow White that much more.

[Glebb]

Posted: 5/27/06 at 2:41pm

Evil or not, you look fabulous!

[erikaamato]

Posted: 5/28/06 at 12:35am

Awwwwwwwwwwwww... Thanks! *blush*

[Cyndy]

Posted: 5/28/06 at 1:22am

Hi Erika,
Once the show opens this summer, will you have set performance days? I'm going to the park in mid June. Sure hope to catch one of your performances.
The photos from the show are really great.

[erikaamato]

Posted: 5/28/06 at 11:52am

Hey, Cyndy! My set performance days are Monday through Friday. I'll be playing the Hag at most performances, but two days a week I'll be sort of a switch-hitter, and I'll get to play the Hag at one show and the Queen at one show. (I don't remember which days those are off the top of my head...when I go back to rehearsal tomorrow I'll be sure to write it down.)

Be sure to let me know when you're coming, and I'll set it up so you can say hi after the show! =)