Broadway stars Orfeh and Andy Karl have called it curtains on their romance.
In a shared statement posted to Andy’s Instagram on Tuesday, the musical theater duo let fans know they’ve decided to go their separate ways 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,’ they added. ‘We ask for respect and privacy at this time.’
Olef, 53, and Karl, 49 — known for roles onstage together in the musical adaptations of Saturday Night Fever, Legally Blonde and Pretty Woman — have been living apart recently, as Karl’s Tony-nominated role in Groundhog Day: The Musical has required the New York City-based performer to travel around the world.
Broadway stars Orfeh and Andy Karl have called it curtains on their romance; seen in 2007
In a shared statement posted to Andy’s Instagram on Tuesday, the musical theater duo let fans know they’ve decided to go their separate ways after two decades of marriage
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.”‘
Karl 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.
Hawn and Russell originally met while filming Disney’s 1968 live-action movie musical The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band.
‘We should hope to be together that long! That would be wonderful,’ Orfeh responded.
‘I think the reason it works for Andy and I is that we genuinely like each other — above and beyond being in love. We’re very, very different people, but we have common goals in every aspect of life,’ she added.
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; seen in 2007
Karl and Orfeh in 2018 tribute performance of Pretty Woman: The Musical
In 2007, Orfeh earned a Tony nomination for playing Paulette in 2007’s Legally Blonde: The Musical as Karl played opposite her, as Kyle, the UPS delivery man
The things that bother Andy will never bother me, so I can — for lack of a better word — cheerlead him through those times, and it’s the same with me.’
In 2007, Orfeh earned a Tony nomination for playing Paulette in 2007’s Legally Blonde: The Musical. Karl played opposite her, as Kyle, the UPS delivery man.
Meanwhile, Karl won roles in Wicked, Jersey Boys, The Wedding Singer and 9 to 5, as well as in the revivals of Into the Woods and On the Twentieth Century — the latter of which earned him his second Tony Award nomination.
He also received a nomination for his starring role in the musical Rocky.
