Message Board Celebrity Of The Day (Part II) - Shameless- Page 128

[junglered]

Posted: 3/21/06 at 11:08am

Congrats, Erika!

[peach]

Posted: 3/21/06 at 11:14am

Congrats to erika! Enjoy the day!

[mominator]

Posted: 3/21/06 at 11:17am

A very large congrats to erika!!
Question
1, Favorite cookie
2, Hero as a child
3, Favorite book as a child
4, Way to sspend a rainy Saturday

[Mamie]

Posted: 3/21/06 at 11:30am

Congratulations, Erika! (Please forgive the goofy pic - I wanted to add more but I had trouble getting lederhosen on Willow and Xander.)

I'll have more later - but for now just this one question: If you hadn't been blessed with a gorgeous voice, incredible acting ability, and cheek bones to die for, what do you think you would like to have been?

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/21/06 at 11:34am

Congrats erika--I've admired your postings and your spirit. I look forward to your responses.

[erikaamato]

Posted: 3/21/06 at 11:39am

OK, here we go...

NYadgal: I found BWW.com through a friend of mine (his name is John Richard Peterson, and we did Sound of Music together). He had sent out an e-mail promoting his latest show, and within the e-mail was a link to his resume/bio on BWW.com. I went to check it out and decided I had to sign up if for no other reason than that then I could have a nifty bio of my own...but then, I started exploring the site and reading the boards, and being a pretty chatty person, I started to post. I didn't find the off-topic board til quite a while later, though... I was afraid of it for some reason! LOL

Rath: When would you like to?? =)

Broadwayboobs: Thanks so much for the beautiful tiara! (I'm getting a little verklempt over this whole thing!)

DG: First of all, thank you so much for the avatar tribute! =) As for your questions...

1) I grew up in Mountainside, NJ. (A tiny town in between Summit - where I went to school - and Westfield.) My Dad worked on Wall Street, and my Mom, Dad, and I went in to the City all the time to see shows, etc. The shcool I went to was a private all-girls' school, and was very "into" the arts in general. I was in plays from 1st grade on, and was in choir and a cappella groups from 5th grade on. I also studied piano for 10 years and did a couple of "independent studies" in high school - one in music composition and one in vocal performance. Obviously having that kind of outlet in school shaped me as an artist. =) Also, growing up in such an old-fashioned "Dead Poets Society" type atmosphere helped shape me as well. It made me a bit of an intellectual, a bit of a romantic, and definitley helped make me a silly, goofy girl who wore a "Why be normal?" button on her jean jacket. (The school I attended was a great champion of individuality. I don't know if it is anymore, but it was while I was there...)

2) I've wanted to be an actress since I was a little kid. In fact, my mom still has a little school paper from when I was 9 where they asked what you wanted to be when you grew up, and my answer was "an actress or a veterinarian." hehehe I was very single-minded about wanting to act. I was very seriously telling my family that was what I was going to do with my life from about 5th grade on, but my Dad didn't want to believe it. (He wanted me to be an attorney.) He finally came around when I played the Mother Superior in Agnes of God in 10th grade. We got standing ovations every night, and apparently were all quite good - for kids who obviously didnt have the life experience to be doing that material. He told me after he saw the performance, "OK, you're right. You should do this." He never gave me a hard time after that, although he still worries about me to this day.

3) My first professional acting gig was playing "Cindy" in an Equity production of To Gillian On Her 37th Birthday when I was 16. My first professional recording gig was earlier - doing recordings for the accompanying records that went wih the music books put out by Silver/Burdett publishing. I started that when I was 12.

4) Now, that's a funny thing. See, I always sang, and I always acted, and I did a few musicals in high school, and many more in college - but the drama department at my college did not do any musical theater at all, so those were student-run productions. Having spent 4 years studying Strindberg and Ibsen, Brecht and Williams, O'Neill, Sartre, Shaw, Wilde, etc...I had come to the conclusion that I only wanted to do straight plays and/or film and television. Also, quite frankly, everyone constantly told me I was going to graduate, move to NY, and end up doing musicals on Broadway, and I was a very contrary young woman, so I decided to do something I thought no-one would expect, which was to graduate, do one more summer of theater in NJ, then move to LA to pursue TV and film. And that's what I did. I did a couple of TV guest spots, some indie films, and was the lead singer of my band, Velvet Chain...and that was my whole focus for quite a while. I didn't "rediscover" my love for musical theater until about 5 years ago...and I've been (thank the lord) working pretty steadily every since I made that switch in my career focus. And who knows? I might end up in NY one day after all that!

P.S. Please excuse the typos...my laptop has tiny keys, and I don't have a mouse, so typing is a bit of a challenge for me...ACK!
Updated On: 3/21/06 at 11:39 AM

[DayDreamer]

Posted: 3/21/06 at 11:42am

Erika,

What a lovely surprise to see you picked as CotD. Looking forward to reading all about you today.


My questions:

If you were a tree, what tree would you be and why?

If you could have anyone over for dinner, who would it be and what would you serve?

[erikaamato]

Posted: 3/21/06 at 11:55am

mominator -
Fave cookie? Pepperidge Farm Orange Milanos. I'll eat a whole bag in one sitting. It's frightening.
Childhood hero? I had this major thing for Robin Hood. I used to pretend to be Robin Hood, running around in my backyard, rousing my imaginary Merry Men.
Favorite book as a child? 4th grade: A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L'Engel I loved that book. Read that whole series, then I moved on to Edgar Allen Poe, C.S. Lewis, and Asimov.
Fave way to spend a rainy Saturday? Curled up with a cup of Earl Grey and a good book.

Mamie - Believe or not, if I'd been blessed with a certain different set of mental attributes, I would have LOVED to have been a research scientist. Sounds bizarre, I know.

DayDreamer - I would like to be a Japanese Maple. It's a beautiful, elegant tree, with gorgeous foliage. It's fairly hardy. It provides both shade and beauty, and it isn't so large as to prevent other living things from grwoing around it. We had one at the house I grew up in... It was always my favorite tree.

[DayDreamer]

Posted: 3/21/06 at 12:11pm

The house I lived in had three Japanese Maples... my favorite tree also!

[singingwendy]

Posted: 3/21/06 at 12:13pm

Congrats Erika! It's always fun to read your upbeat posts about all the exciting things your doing and opportunities you're getting!

So..two questions?

What was the best part and the worst part of playing a Disney Villain?

What had been the most meaningful theatrical experience you've been a part of, either as a spectator or participant?

[beacon1]

Posted: 3/21/06 at 12:52pm

How cool to have this chance to get to know you better!

1. Favorite sandwich filling?
2. What will be your epitaph?
3. Favorite name for a boy? For a girl?
4. When you were a teenager, what was your favorite make-out
place?
5. Who is the most famous person with whom you have worked?

[erikaamato]

Posted: 3/21/06 at 12:53pm

I think the best part of my playing a Disney Villain was the reactions frm the kids. I played both the Evil Queen and the Hag, and as the Queen, I'd look down from the tower on these upturned faces, most of which were actually thrilled to see me up there. Waving, smiling...really cute stuff! As the Hag, I scared the bejeezus out of' em. Cackling at the top of my lungs, glaring directly into the audience...it was fun!

The worst part was probably the fact that neither the Evil Queen nor the Hag get a curtain call. (They're two aspects of the same character, of course...but two actresses play the role in any given show. Just wanted to be clear.) Although, in a way, that was the best part, too, as I got to leave a bit early! hehehe

I think the most meaningful theatrical experience I've been a part of was as a participant. I played Yvonne in a small but beautiful production of Sunday In The Park With George in LA, and every night was just a magical experience. The cast was very tightly bonded, and you could literally feel waves of love both on stage and coming over the footlights. (Little All about Eve reference there, sorry...)
Updated On: 3/21/06 at 12:53 PM

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 3/21/06 at 1:01pm

YAY!!!!!!!!!!

Hugs and Kisses, Erika!!!!!!

Miss Pennywise

[Elphaba]

Posted: 3/21/06 at 1:27pm

YEAH ERIKA, what a great choice!!!!!

[CostumeMistress]

Posted: 3/21/06 at 1:44pm

Erika! Congrats, darling!

[AbbaRabbit]

Posted: 3/21/06 at 1:45pm

congrats!

[erikaamato]

Posted: 3/21/06 at 2:03pm

Hey, beacon! Thanks! OK...

1. Favorite sandwich filling? Salami and provolone
2. What will be your epitaph? I've never thought about it... I'd like it if I inspired something about having lived life well and with honor, and of course, "Beloved" would be good. I don't know.
3. Favorite name for a boy? Sebastian
For a girl? Ariana
4. When you were a teenager, what was your favorite make-out
place? Well, I went to an all-girls' school, and didn't have a regular place. It was basically in any darkened corner I could find at any particular dance.
5. Who is the most famous person with whom you have worked? I almost decided not to answer this, but what the hell. You asked. So, it depends on your fame criteria, I guess. On TV, the most famous person I've worked with (like, actually had lines with) is probably Scott Bakula. I didn't have any lines on Buffy the Vampire Slayer...I was just lip-synching to myself, but if you count that, then I worked with Sarah Michelle Gellar, too. She was in the scene, delivering her lines while I "sang" behind her. hehehe I also did this weird show called Sparkle Lounge for VH-1 years ago where celebrities sang and my band backed them up...Mike Meyers was on that show, promoting the first Austin Powers movie. He played with his "band," Ming Tea. He was very nice. My band backed up Holly Robinson Peete and Maureen McCormick and we wrote and perfomed the theme song. Weird experience. So that's TV. On film, this most recent recording gig I just did for Enchanted would probably count as my most "famous" experience. (Working with Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz.) But for on-camera film work, I guess it would be this guy David Lago, who won the Emmy a couple times for playing Raul on The Young and the Restless and played my love interest in an indie movie. On stage, I've worked with lots of "famous" people - some of whom were already famous and some who weren't but are on B'way now - but I think the "most famous" people I've worked with on stage would be the cast of the Actors' Fund benefit performance of Casablanca that I did at the Pantages last fall. The cast included Christian Slater, Anne Heche, Dan Castellaneta, Edward Herrmann, Michael York, and a whole bunch more. Definitely the largest concentration of famous people in one cast I've ever worked with. =)

Thanks so much to everyone who's been congratulating me! YAY!
Updated On: 3/21/06 at 02:03 PM

[Calvin]

Posted: 3/21/06 at 2:16pm

Hi, Erika! I'm going to ask my first question ever on this thread.

What was it like crushing Ben Stein? And what did you do with his money?

[kissmycookie]

Posted: 3/21/06 at 2:32pm

What is your ideal meal? and your favorite comfort food dish?

[erikaamato]

Posted: 3/21/06 at 2:38pm

Calvin - A-HAH!! Great question! It was a marvelous experience! Quite surreal, actually. He just hates to lose, and he hates it even more if it's a GIRL who ends up beating him. (It was funny, 'cause he was being all flirty-funny to me the whole time, until I won, then he complained about one of his answers that he thought was right. Which of course, it was NOT.) Anyway, what did I do with his money? I went to PARIS!

kissmycookie - I like so many different kinds of cuisine, it would be hard to pick my ideal meal. but right now, I'd love to have a nice Japanese meal. Miso soup, chicken gyoza, and a whole mess of sashimi (yellowtail, toro, octopus) with maybe some baked green mussels or dynamite on the side. And a delicous unfilitered sake to go with it. Yum! On the other end of the spectrun, my ulitmate comfort food is fried chicken and mashed potatoes.

[smartpenguin78]

Posted: 3/21/06 at 2:50pm

I remember seeing you on Win Ben Stein's Money!
I thought you were cute too.

[kissmycookie]

Posted: 3/21/06 at 2:58pm

I'd say that's an EXCELLENT way to spend Ben Stein's money!!!

[DG]

Posted: 3/21/06 at 3:13pm

Erika - what would you consider as having achieved success for yourself in your chosen field? And (NOT that I'm saying you should think along these lines!) do you have a set time-frame to reach any goals?

That's worded really oddly, but hopefully you know what I mean - the standard 'what do you want out of entertainment, and how long are you willing to strive for it' thing

[ElphabaRose]

Posted: 3/21/06 at 3:23pm

Congrats Erika!

[best12bars]

Posted: 3/21/06 at 3:26pm

I'm loving the questions, and I'm loving the answers!

* is very happy with his choice *

I feel like I'm getting to know you a bit better.