Andy Karl

Early life Karl was born on August 28, 1974 At age 16 he performed as the title role in Aladdin at the White Marsh Dinner Theatre. After high school, he attended Towson University, where he studied voice and music. 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. He changed his name to Karl to honor his late great-grandfather, Andrew Karl, a Baltimore fireman. In Winter 1993–1994, he played the 9-foot dragon in the children's musical The Reluctant Dragon at Toby's Dinner Theatre in Columbia, Maryland.

Career 1994–2006: Early roles and Broadway debut Karl moved to New York in 1994. He was an understudy in the touring cast of The Who's Tommy He made his Broadway debut in 2000 as the replacement for Joey in Saturday Night Fever. 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.

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, garnered Karl a Carbonell Award for Best Actor in a musical. He reprised the role at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey in February and March, 2003.

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. 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).

On September 26, 2005, Karl performed in the Actor's Fund Concert production of On the Twentieth Century. 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. 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. 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.

2007–2015: Further Broadway roles, Tony nominations, and Law & Order: SVU 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. 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 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. After leaving Legally Blonde, Karl continued working on 9 to 5 as Joe at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles from September 3 to October 19, 2008. The show opened on Broadway on April 30, 2009, at the Marquis Theatre, and closed on September 6, 2009.

Karl took over the role of Fiyero from Kevin Kern in the Broadway production of Wicked on February 2, 2010 and played the role until January 2, 2011. He took over the role Tommy Devito in the Broadway production of Jersey Boys on October 11, 2011.

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

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. 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. Karl received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical for this performance.

Karl played the role of Bruce Granit in the 2015 Broadway revival of On the Twentieth Century He received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his performance. In 2015, Karl appeared in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in the recurring role of sergeant Mike Dodds, the son of Chief William Dodds.

2016–present: Groundhog Day and international prominence Karl played the starring role of Phil in the musical adaptation of Groundhog Day at The Old Vic in London from July 11, 2016 until September 17, 2016. Karl then reprised the role in the Broadway production of Groundhog Day, which opened on April 17, 2017. For his performance in Groundhog Day in London, he received the 2017 Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical.

He starred as Edward Lewis in the Broadway production of Pretty Woman: The Musical as a replacement. In February 2020, he played Potiphar in the Off-Broadway 50th anniversary concert version of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, opposite his wife Orfeh as Potiphar's Wife. In 2021, he reprised his Jersey Boys role in a ProShot taping of the musical.

Karl played the roles of the Big Bad Wolf and Cinderella's Prince from September 6 to 15 in a 2022 Broadway revival of Into the Woods filling in for Gavin Creel at the St. James Theatre. He returned to the production from October 11 to December 2, as Rapunzel's Prince. He reprised the role of Rapunzel's Prince during the opening weekend of the U.S. national tour's engagement in Washington, D.C., at the Kennedy Center.

From May to August 2023, he reprised the role of Phil in Groundhog Day at The Old Vic in London. From January to April 2024, he reprised the role again at the Princess Theatre in Melbourne, Australia.

From January to July 2025, in Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Karl played The Duke of Monroth at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on Broadway. In the summer and fall of 2026, Karl is set to reprise the role of Beetlejuice at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre, Crown Perth, Festival Theatre, and Capitol Theatre in Australia.

Personal life Karl met his former wife Orfeh while in the musical for Saturday Night Fever. They were married in January 2001 and resided in Manhattan. In addition to Saturday Night Fever, Karl and his former wife have performed together in Me and Mrs. Jones, Nights on Broadway II, Bright Lights, Big City, Legally Blonde, Shortly after, Karl confirmed his relationship with Groundhog Day co-star Elise McCann. The two announced that they have become engaged to be married on July 28th, 2025, and they are expecting a child.

Acting credits Film +Film Year Title Role Notes 2008 New York, I Love You Zoe's Boyfriend Uncredited role 2012 Joyful Noise Caleb 2014 And So It Goes Ted 2016 Little Men Uncredited role 2020 Here After Michael 2025 Atrabilious Greg Meyers TBA Jersey Boys Tommy DeVito Proshot recording of stage musical Recurring role (15 episodes) 2020 Prodigal SonJosephEpisode: "Scheherazade" 2021 No ActivityYohan (voice)Episode: "Magnolia"2021The Good Fight Jesse McFinleyEpisode: "And the Fight Had a Détente..." 2022 Blue BloodsWill FarmerEpisode: "Where We Stand" 2022 Gossip GirlGuest SingerEpisode: "How to Bury a Millionaire"

Theatre

Awards and nominations