By Melissa Griegel

Broadway power couple Andy Karl (Groundhog Day, Rocky the Musical) and Orfeh (Legally Blonde, Pretty Woman) bounded up on the Feinstein’s stage September 15th, with an uproarious “Ain’t No Mountain Higher” which was part of a Motown Medley. The Tony nominees met while performing in  Broadway’s Saturday Night Fever and went on to star together in Legally Blonde and Pretty Woman.

Orfeh performed without her husband at Feinstein’s in July, but this was Karl’s first time back on stage since the pandemic, or as they call it, “Hell.” Karl said, “It nice to see people in person! I’m a little nervous.” He got over his nerves and tried out a few new things during the show, including playing the guitar for “Stuck on You” by Lionel Ritchie, and singing a song that he wrote inspired by Raising Arizona. In addition, Karl did a duet of “Life is Thunder” with Katie Rose Clarke (The Light in the Piazza, Wicked, Allegiance).

Katie Rose Clarke – Andy Karl

Karl and Orfeh sang two songs from their most recent collaboration in Pretty Woman. Karl started off with “Freedom” and Orfeh did a rousing rendition of “Rodeo Drive.” Orfeh has a beautiful vocal range with the ability to sing deep, husky, rich sounds, and also hit all the high notes and sustain them. She demonstrated this ability with some of her solo songs such as “Straight Up” and “Piece of My Heart.”

They were joined on stage with Musical Director Steven Jamail on piano, Micah Burgess on guitar, Colin Dean on Bass, Adam Wolfe on drums, and backup singers Tim Kodres and Nikki Kimbrough. Orfeh, Karl, and Kodres recently released a single on Spotify that they performed together on stage. It is a mash-up of “Yesterday,” “Time,” and “Shallow.” Orfeh encouraged the 54 patrons to check it out on Spotify, download, and share with friends. She and Karl turned the stage over to Kodres and Kimbrough for them do a mash-up of “Your Song” and “I’m Still Standing.”

Nikki Kimbrough

Orfeh and Karl gave shout-outs to two guests in the audience. Orfeh was thrilled to see Ben Cameron (Wicked, Aida) cheering her on. She shared that they both made their Broadway debuts as swings in Footloose. Karl gave a nod to Dominic Scaglione, Jr. (Jersey Boys) with whom he has collaborated in the past. They are currently working on Scunge: The Play, a Jersey mafia-style version of Scrooge, which will be doing a trial run at Birdland on December 10th.

Ben Cameron, Orfeh, Andy Karl, Dominic Scaglione, Jr.

The joyous guests clapped along with many of the songs and gave several standing ovations. Orfeh and Karl are frequent performers at Feinstein’s/54 Below and have such great chemistry together. I highly recommend you attend a future performance of their Legally Bound show. It’s bound to be a great time!

Photos by Melissa Griegel Photography

www.griegelphoto.zenfolio.com