Legally Blonde - Interview with Orfeh and Andy Karl

Interview By: Carey Purcell
CareyPurcell@TheCinemaSource.com

They even order the same dinner. After finishing a performance of Legally Blonde, the Broadway show they are currently performing in, Andy Karl and his wife of five years, Orfeh, sit down for dinner. Without even looking at the menu, they both order the same thing – burgers and fries.

They’re hungry, and rightfully so. Legally Blonde is a full-length, high-energy musical with a large cast that never seems to stop moving. Directed by veteran choreographer Jerry Mitchell, the scenes are peppered with elaborate song-and-dance numbers that look like they would tire out even the most devoted dancer. But these two are calm and cool and ready to talk – and eat.

Between bites, the couple discusses their careers and their relationship, two topics that have constantly overlapped throughout the years – just like their conversation. They take turns answering questions, giving each other ample time to talk. Both are effusive with praise for each other and the show, which marks their Broadway debut as married couple collaborating onstage. After meeting on the set of Saturday Night Fever, the two have worked on five major productions together before Legally Blonde. Based on the hit movie, the play tells the story of Elle, a California beach babe who, after being dumped by her boyfriend, follows him to Harvard Law School in hopes of winning back his affections. Orfeh plays Paulette, a down-on-her luck hairdresser who is befriended by Elle, and Karl doubles as her sleazy ex-husband and Kyle, the UPS man who becomes the object of her affections.

Since taking the role of Paulette, Orfeh has received critical acclaim as well as a Drama Desk nomination Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical. Pretty nice recognition for someone who was not originally considered for the role.

“Nobody knew what to look for with Paulette, because Jennifer Coolidge had done such a great job in the film, making it her own,” says Karl of the casting process, during which the directors saw numerous actresses. “And then Orfeh came in and showed them that she herself had the personality and the ability and voice to carry out exactly what they wanted.”

Carrying that out was a challenge for Orfeh, due to the status Coolidge had achieved with the role. “I had to start with a really blank slate,” she says of her work. “Jennifer Coolidge is so inimitable, she’s so specific, she’s so brilliant. If I had taken it anywhere in that direction, no matter how good it was, it would have been a pale imitation of her. That wasn’t fair to her.”

To develop the character, she pretended that she had never seen the movie and worked to give Paulette a history and background for the woman she is when the play begins.

“I kind of feel like if some of our bigger pop stars had never made it and just wound up as downtrodden crazy eccentrics who once had a ...