Andy Karl

For the baseball player, see Andy Karl (baseball).
Andy Karl
Born Andrew Cesewski
1973 (age 42–43)
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Residence Manhattan, New York
Occupation Actor, singer
Spouse(s) Orfeh (2001–present)
Website http://www.andykarl.com

Andy Karl (born 1973 as Andrew Cesewski[1]) is an American actor and singer, best known for performing in musical theatre.[1] He has appeared on Broadway in the original productions of Legally Blonde, 9 to 5, and Rocky the Musical, as well as appearing in Wicked, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Jersey Boys, On The Twentieth Century, and And So It Goes.

Early life

Andy Karl was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1973 to Walter Cesewski and Susan Weisman.[1] He attended Towson High School, where he was on the football team and performed in theater. In high school he played Jud Fry in Oklahoma! and General Bullmoose in Li'l Abner.[2] At age 16 he performed as the title role in Aladdin at the White Marsh Dinner Theatre. After high school he attended Towson State University, where he studied voice and music.[3] Karl originally planned on becoming a voice teacher until the director of a show he was in at college told him he had what it took to be a professional actor. Karl continued to perform in shows while in college. In Winter 1993–1994, he played the 7½ foot dragon in the children's musical The Reluctant Dragon at Toby's Dinner Theatre in Columbia, Maryland.[4]

Career

Karl moved to New York in 1994. He was an understudy in the touring cast of The Who's Tommy[1] and in 1998 played Rum Tum Tugger in the touring cast of Cats. In February 2000 Karl was an understudy in the New York premiere of Sondheim's Saturday Night at the Second Stage Theatre.[5] He made his Broadway debut in 2000 as the replacement for Joey in Saturday Night Fever.[6] He continued with the production, this time in the role of Tony Manero, in its first national tour. In 2001 he performed in the musical stage production Me and Mrs. Jones at the Prince Music Theater in Philadelphia.[7]

Karl was next seen as Dino Del Canto in the world premiere of the musical Romeo and Bernadette at the Coconut Grove Playhouse in Miami, Florida. The show, which ran in January 2003,[8] garnered Karl a Carbonell Award for Best Actor in a musical.[9] He reprised the role at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Milburn, New Jersey in February and March, 2003.[10]

Karl was also seen at the Paper Mill Playhouse in June and July of that year, when he performed as Danny Zuko in Grease. In January 2004 he performed in the musical revue Nights on Broadway II at Caesar's Palace in Atlantic City, New Jersey.[11]

In September 2004, Karl played Luke in the premiere of Altar Boyz at the New York Musical Theatre Festival. He then left the New York area to tour in the original company of Disney's On the Record. Karl returned to New York to play Luke in the Off-Broadway production of Altar Boyz, which opened on March 1, 2005 at Stage 4 of Dodger Stages (now New World Stages).[12]

On September 26, 2005, Karl performed in the Actor's Fund Concert production of On the Twentieth Century.[13] Karl's next role was the title character Adam Patterson in the Off-Broadway musical Slut at the American Theatre of Actors in Fall 2005.[14]

In January 2006 Karl was in the three-person cast of Hunka Hunka Burnin' Love, a celebration of the music of Elvis Presley, at the now-closed Au Bar. In June and July of that year, he starred as Tad in the musical Bright Lights, Big City at the Prince Music Theater in Philadelphia.[15] He then joined the Broadway cast of The Wedding Singer at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre, where he played the roles of Drunk Dave and Bad Haircut Guy until the show closed at the end of 2006.

Karl's next role was in Legally Blonde, where he played Kyle "the UPS guy", Dewey, and Grandmaster Chad at the Golden Gate Theatre in San Francisco, where the musical had its pre-Broadway tryout from January 23 to February 24, 2007.[16] He reprised his roles in the Broadway production, which started previews on April 3 and opened on April 29, 2007 at the Palace Theatre. He was also an understudy to Emmett and Professor Callahan. He left the show on July 20, 2008.

Karl briefly left Legally Blonde in June 2007 to work on 9 to 5 in its week-long workshop.[17] After leaving Legally Blonde, Karl continued working on the musical 9 to 5. He played Joe, the love interest of Allison Janney's character, in the pre-Broadway tryout in Los Angeles. The show played at the Ahmanson Theatre from September 3 to October 19, 2008.[18] The show opened on Broadway on April 30, 2009 at the Marquis Theatre, and closed on September 6, 2009.[19]

Karl took over the role of Fiyero from Kevin Kern in the Broadway production of Wicked on February 2, 2010[20] and played the role until January 2, 2011.[21]

He took over the role Tommy Devito in the Broadway production of Jersey Boys on October 11, 2011.[22]

Karl played Neville Landless in the Broadway revival of The Mystery of Edwin Drood which opened on November 29, 2012 at Studio 54.[23] For this performance, he was nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical.[24]

Karl and Margo Seibert were featured as Rocky Balboa and Adrian in the new Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty musical Rocky the Musical, which opened on Broadway in February 2014.[25] In order to get into shape to play Rocky Balboa, Karl put on 12 pounds of muscle and worked with a trainer to get to a heavyweight fighter’s weight.[26] Karl received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical for this performance.[27]

Karl played the role of Bruce Granit in the 2015 Broadway revival of On the Twentieth Century[28] alongside Kristin Chenoweth in the role of Lily Garland/Mildred Plotka. He received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his performance.

In 2015, Karl joined the recurring cast of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as the unit's new sergeant, Mike Dodds, who is the son of Peter Gallagher's Chief William Dodds. The role reunites Karl and Gallagher after working together on On the Twentieth Century.

On January 28, 2016, it was announced that Karl will be playing the role of Phil in the musical adaptation of Groundhog Day, the role was played in the 1993 movie by Bill Murray.[29] Groundhog Day is due to run at the Old Vic Theatre London from Monday 11th July 2016 - Saturday 17th September 2016.

Personal life

Karl met his wife Orfeh while in Saturday Night Fever together. They were married in January 2001 and now reside in Manhattan. In addition to Saturday Night Fever, they have also been seen together in Me and Mrs. Jones, Nights on Broadway II, Bright Lights, Big City and Legally Blonde.[3]

Stage credits

Broadway
Year Title Role Notes
2000 Saturday Night Fever Joey Minskoff Theatre
2006 The Wedding Singer David Fonda Al Hirschfeld Theatre
2007–08 Legally Blonde Chad/Dewey/Kyle Palace Theatre
2009 9 to 5 Joe Marquis Theatre
2010 Wicked Fiyero Tiggular Gershwin Theatre
2011–13 Jersey Boys Tommy DeVito August Wilson Theatre
2012–13 The Mystery of Edwin Drood Neville Landless/Mr. Victor Grinstead Studio 54
2014 Rocky the Musical Rocky Balboa Winter Garden Theatre
2015 On the Twentieth Century Bruce Granit American Airlines Theatre
Off-Broadway
Year Title Role Notes
2000 Saturday Night Messrs Vlastnik/Washington/Thorell Second Stage Theatre
2005 Altar Boyz Luke New World Stages (Stage 4)
2005 Slut Adam American Theater of Actors
Tours
Year Title Role Notes
1994 The Who's Tommy N/A Understudy
1998 Cats Rum Tum Tugger Fourth national tour
2004–05 On the Record Quartet member First national tour
Regional
Year Title Role Notes
2003 Romeo and Bernadette Dino Del Canto Paper Mill Playhouse/Coconut Grove Playhouse
2003 Grease Danny Zuko Paper Mill Playhouse
2006 Bright Lights, Big City Tad Prince Music Theater

Filmography

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Rousuck, J.Wynn."Andy Karl's hiding under the makeup Cast: A Baltimore native plays the 'rock 'em, sock 'em' Rum Tum Tugger role in 'Cats,' tonight at the Lyric."Baltimore Sun, June 29, 1998
  2. ↑ "Broadway Star Photos - Andy Karl" broadwayspace.com, accessed August 28, 2011
  3. 1 2 "Karl, Drennan and LoSchiavo Star In Limited Run Of 'Hunka Hunka Burnin' Love' at AU BAR" BroadwayWorld.com, December 13, 2005
  4. ↑ Hirsch, Rona."Dragon tale teaches children about stereotypes"Baltimore Sun, December 26, 1993
  5. ↑ "'Saturday Night' Listing" SondheimGuide.com, accessed August 28, 2011
  6. ↑ "Andy Karl Credits" InternetBroadwayDatabase, accessed August 28, 2011
  7. ↑ "Sophisticated Soul Sounds Score for Thom Bell" BMI.com, April 30, 2002
  8. ↑ Zink, Jack."Legit Review"Variety (requires registration), accessed August 28, 2011
  9. ↑ "'Romeo And Bernadette' Synopsis and production" msaltzman.com, accessed August 28, 2011
  10. ↑ Weiss, Dorrie."A CurtainUp Review.'Romeo and Bernadette'" curtainup.com, based on February 22 performance, accessed August 28, 2011
  11. ↑ "Atlantic City Gets Broadway on the Beach (Photos taken January 26" Broadway.com, accessed August 28, 2011
  12. ↑ "'Altar Boyz' About The Show" altarboyz.com, accessed August 28, 2011
  13. ↑ "'On the Twentieth Century' Special, September 26, 2005 InternetBroadwayDatabase, accessed August 28, 2011
  14. ↑ Beckson, Eric."A CurtainUp Review. 'Slut'" CurtainUp.com, accessed August 28, 2011 (based on September 30 performance)
  15. ↑ "Kushnier, Karl & Orfeh Set for 'Bright Lights, Big City' at the Prince; Arima to Direct" Broadway.com, May 20, 2006
  16. ↑ "Borle, Rupert, Shindle, Etc. Complete 'Legally Blonde' Cast" BroadwayWorld.com, November 14, 2006
  17. ↑ Jones, Kenneth."A Cup of Ambition: '9 to 5' Musical Takes Next Step in NYC Reading with Neuwirth, Janney, Block" Playbill.com, June 20, 2007
  18. ↑ "'9 to 5', Ahmanson Theatre, Production Information" centertheatregroup.org, 2008-2009 Season, accessed August 28, 2011
  19. ↑ Jones, Kenneth."Punching Out: '9 to 5' Will Close Sept. 6; Tour Will Launch in Nashville" Playbill.com, July 29, 2009
  20. ↑ Gans, Andrew."Andy Karl Is 'Wicked's' New Fiyero Beginning Feb. 2" Playbill.com, February 2, 2010
  21. ↑ "Andy Karl", PlaybillVault.com, retrieved 22 April 2014.
  22. ↑ Andy Karl and Quinn VanAntwerp Will Be Jersey Boys On Broadway
  23. ↑ Stage Tube (30 June 2012). "TV: Roundabout Announces THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD Cast with Video Promo - Block, Chase, Edelman, Rivera, Karl, Mueller, Norton & More!". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  24. ↑ Nominations Announced for 58th Annual Drama Desk Awards; Giant and Hands on a Hardbody Lead the Pack Retrieved November 26, 2013
  25. ↑ Hetrick, Adam. "Andy Karl and Margo Seibert Will Star in 'Rocky' Musical on Broadway" playbill.com, September 9, 2013
  26. ↑ Josh Ferri (2 December 2013). "Five Burning Questions with Jersey Boys & Rocky Star Andy Karl - The Daily Scoop". BroadwayBox.com. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  27. ↑ 2014 Tony Award Nominations - The Complete List; A GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE Leads With 10! broadwayworld.com, Retrieved April 30, 2014
  28. ↑ "Andy Karl, Mark Linn‐Baker, Michael McGrath, Mary Louise Wilson Board 'On the Twentieth Century' Revival" playbill.com, Retrieved March 12, 2015
  29. ↑ Breaking: Andy Karl to Star in Broadway-Bound GROUNDHOG DAY broadwayworld.com, Retrieved January 29, 2016
  30. ↑ Rebecca Iannucci. "‘Law & Order: SVU’: Andy Karl in Season 17 Cast - TVLine". TVLine. Retrieved 3 March 2016.

External links

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