Australian theatre fans were stunned when a local favourite announced her secret engagement to a Broadway star, one month after he popped the question.
Down Under sweetheart Elise McCann and Andy Karl started dating last year, soon after he announced his split from wife of 23 years Orfeh Alimorad in May.
The pair became close on Melbourne’s Princess Theatre stage where they starred in Groundhog Day together, the same place where Andy has now dropped to one knee.
The newly engaged pair announced the exciting news to Instagram on Thursday, along with a gallery of loved-up photos of them posing in front of the theatre where they met.
They captioned the post with a simple ring emoji and ‘July 28’, suggesting the couple had been keeping the engagement under wraps for a month.
One photo saw the bride-to-be, 41, kick her leg up as she gazed into her fiancé’s eyes while he picked her up.
Australian theatre was rocked when Elise McCann, 41, announced her secret engagement to Broadway star Andy Karl, one month after he popped the question
She showed off her simple but elegant diamond ring in another picture.
Elise and Andy, 51, met while performing Groundhog Day The Musical in Melbourne last year, developing a close friendship as they worked together.
Shortly after the show wrapped, Andy and his ex-wife Orfeh, 54, announced their split.
His relationship with Elise debuted not long after, with the Australian actress, who will soon star in Beetlejuice, previously saying she ‘did not expect to fall in love with him’.
Andy and Orfeh announced their split in May 2024, with a shared statement to Instagram, after two decades of marriage.
‘After 23 years of a wonderful loving relationship, both onstage and off, we have made the decision to separate,’ they wrote alongside a photo of them sitting apart.
‘Keeping a marriage strong can be challenging, especially when working on opposite sides of the world, but we remain committed to building a strong future, whether together or apart. We ask for respect and privacy at this time.’
Orfeh and Andy, known for starring together in musicals such as Saturday Night Fever, Legally Blonde and Pretty Woman, had been living apart as Andy’s Tony-nominated role in Groundhog Day required him to travel the globe.
Down Under sweetheart Elise and Andy started dating last year, soon after he announced his split from wife-of-23 years Orfeh Alimorad, 54, (left) in May
The pair became closed on the Princess Theatre stage where they starred in Groundhog Day together, the same place where Andy has now dropped to one knee
The revival debuted at London’s Old Vic, running from May to August 2023.
It then made its way to the Princess Theatre in Melbourne, Australia, where it concluded on April 20, 2024.
The former couple first met during his stint in the Saturday Night Fever cast, and six months later, they eloped to South Beach in January 2001.
‘I knew instantly,’ Orfeh recalled to Playbill.com in 2015. ‘I was like, “Love at first sight really exists?” I thought that was a total cheesehead concept, but the minute I laid eyes on him, everything else faded from view… I said to a couple of my girlfriends in the show: “Don’t let me screw this up. I have to be with this guy.”‘
Andy was just as smitten at the time.
‘We were both very interested in each other, but I played it way cool. So cool that she didn’t even notice,’ he quipped.
‘I can’t compare my wife to anyone else, because she’s so unique. I didn’t think I had a chance, but I tried to strike up conversations. I think when it came down to it we were both obviously looking for the same thing. You can’t stop that when it’s in the air, so I feel like it happened mutually.’
During the interview, the couple were called the Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell of the Great White Way because of their enduring romance and the fact they met as co-stars.
