Master Street in North Philly now bears name of actress and city native Erika Alexander

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — When Erika Alexander was just a teenager she took acting classes at the Freedom Theatre in North Philadelphia.

Since then, she’s landed many star roles spanning from “Living Single” and “The Cosby Show” to the more current “American Fiction,” and now, Master Street between Broad and Carlisle is being renamed in the Philly native’s honor.

“Erika is one of those people who took full advantage of the opportunities of Freedom Theatre, and it’s good that young people can look up to her accomplishments,” said Pennsylvania State Senator Sharif Street, who took acting classes alongside Alexander in the 1980s.

Street recently championed the renaming along with Pennsylvania State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta and Councilmember Jeffery Young Jr.

“She’s spent a lifetime building us up, representing in ways we can be proud of, and for all those reasons and more we want to encourage her and others to emulate her,” Street said.

Street added the renaming calls attention to her personal accomplishments while highlighting the work that Freedom Theater has done.

“I think it’s really great we get representation for somebody from Philly and have a piece of history right here in North Philly that we can have for our community,” said Mahmood, 19, from North Philly.

Alexander attended Philadelphia High School for Girls and was discovered at Freedom Theatre at age 14.