Erika Amato Biography

Erika Amato (born December 7, 1969) is an American singer and actress and a founding member of the band Velvet Chain.

Biography

Amato was born in the town of Plainfield, New Jersey, and grew up in the town of Summit. She started playing and performing music at three. Amato attended the all-girls Kent Place School (receiving the Drama Award upon graduation) and then Vassar College, earning a BA with both General Honors and Honors in Drama. While at Vassar, she performed in the Music Department's elite a cappella group, the Madrigals, and in the student-managed coeducational a cappella group, Matthew's Minstrels.

After Vassar, Amato moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career and quickly was cast as a guest star on popular TV series Quantum Leap, garnering her a SAG card. In the mid-1990s, she and Jeff Stacy founded Velvet Chain, an indie band with a large cult following, most famous for appearances on TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the subsequent soundtrack album on TVT Records. The band has also self-released several albums on its own label, Freak Productions, and members continue to write and record material.

Amato is still acting and has relocated to New York City, where she has been in numerous productions, including the Off-Broadway musicals The Sphinx Winx and Signs of Life. She has also appeared in many plays and films over the years, including the lead in indie film A Couple of Days and Nights and in musicals Sleeping Beauty Wakes (Center Theatre Group - Ovation Award Nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical), Paint Your Wagon (Geffen Playhouse), Nine (Chance Theater - OC Weekly Award Nomination for Best Actress in a Musical), 42nd Street (Welk Resort Theatre), Anything Goes (Candlelight Pavilion - Inland Theatre League Awards Nomination for Best Actress in a Musical)), and others.

She also does voice work for TV shows and films"?most recently for PBS-TV animated series Danger Rangers and Disney feature film Enchanted.

Amato appeared on TV series-competition Win Ben Stein's Money and won.