Andy Karl

Andy Karl, born Andrew Karl Cesewski on August 28, 1974, in Baltimore, Maryland, is an American actor and singer whose career has centered on musical theatre. He adopted the surname Karl in honor of his late great-grandfather, Andrew Karl, a Baltimore fireman. Karl attended Towson High School, where he participated in both football and theater, performing as Jud Fry in Oklahoma! and General Bullmoose in Li'l Abner. At sixteen, he took on the title role in Aladdin at the White Marsh Dinner Theatre. He subsequently enrolled at Towson University to study voice and music, initially intending to become a voice teacher before a college director encouraged him to pursue professional acting. During the winter of 1993–1994, he played a nine-foot dragon in the children's musical The Reluctant Dragon at Toby's Dinner Theatre in Columbia, Maryland.

Karl relocated to New York in 1994 and built his early résumé through touring productions, serving as an understudy in the touring cast of The Who's Tommy and playing Rum Tum Tugger in the touring cast of Cats in 1998. In February 2000, he was an understudy in the New York premiere of Stephen Sondheim's Saturday Night at the Second Stage Theatre. His Broadway debut came that same year as a replacement for the role of Joey in Saturday Night Fever, and he subsequently continued with the production as Tony Manero in its first national tour. In January 2003, he originated the role of Dino Del Canto in the world premiere of Romeo and Bernadette at the Coconut Grove Playhouse in Miami, earning a Carbonell Award for Best Actor in a Musical, and reprised the role at the Paper Mill Playhouse later that spring. He played Danny Zuko in Grease at the Paper Mill Playhouse in the summer of 2003 and performed in the musical revue Nights on Broadway II at Caesar's Palace in Atlantic City in January 2004.

Karl originated the role of Luke in Altar Boyz at the New York Musical Theatre Festival in September 2004, then reprised the role when the show moved to an Off-Broadway run at Dodger Stages beginning March 1, 2005. He performed in the Actor's Fund Concert production of On the Twentieth Century in September 2005 and later that year played the title character in the Off-Broadway musical Slut at the American Theatre of Actors. In the summer of 2006, he starred as Tad in Bright Lights, Big City at the Prince Music Theater in Philadelphia before joining the Broadway cast of The Wedding Singer at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre, where he played Drunk Dave and Bad Haircut Guy through the show's closing at the end of 2006.

His next Broadway credit came with Legally Blonde, in which he originated the roles of Kyle, Dewey, and Grandmaster Chad, first in the pre-Broadway tryout at the Golden Gate Theatre in San Francisco beginning January 23, 2007, and then in the Broadway production, which opened April 29, 2007, at the Palace Theatre. He also understudied the roles of Emmett and Professor Callahan and remained with the production until July 20, 2008. Concurrently, he participated in a workshop for 9 to 5 in June 2007, and after departing Legally Blonde he originated the role of Joe, the love interest of Allison Janney's character, in the pre-Broadway tryout at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles. The show opened on Broadway at the Marquis Theatre on April 30, 2009, and ran through September 6, 2009.

Karl took over the role of Fiyero in the Broadway production of Wicked on February 2, 2010, remaining in the part until January 2, 2011. He then assumed the role of Tommy DeVito in the Broadway production of Jersey Boys beginning October 11, 2011. In November 2012, he originated the role of Neville Landless in the Broadway revival of The Mystery of Edwin Drood at Studio 54, a performance that earned him a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical.

Karl starred as Rocky Balboa in the Broadway production of Rocky, which opened in February 2014. To prepare for the role, he gained twelve pounds of muscle through training to reach a heavyweight fighter's physique. The performance earned him his first Tony Award nomination, for Best Leading Actor in a Musical. The following year, he played Bruce Granit in the 2015 Broadway revival of On the Twentieth Century alongside Kristin Chenoweth, receiving a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. Also in 2015, Karl joined the recurring cast of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Sergeant Mike Dodds, the son of Peter Gallagher's character Chief William Dodds — a reunion with Gallagher following their work together on On the Twentieth Century. His character was killed off, ending his run on the series in 2016.

In January 2016, it was announced that Karl would play Phil in the musical adaptation of Groundhog Day, the role originated on film by Bill Murray in 1993. The production ran at The Old Vic in London from July 11 to September 17, 2016, and Karl's performance in that engagement earned him the 2017 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical. He reprised the role in the Broadway production, which opened April 17, 2017, and also received a Tony Award nomination for Best Leading Actor in a Musical, bringing his total Tony nominations to three. The Broadway run closed September 17, 2017. That same year, Karl received the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical for his work in Groundhog Day.

In May 2018, Karl was announced as the star of Pretty Woman: The Musical, originating the role of Edward Lewis following Steve Kazee's departure from the production. The show ran on Broadway from 2018 to 2019. In February 2020, he appeared in an Off-Broadway fiftieth anniversary concert version of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat as Potiphar, performing opposite his wife, Orfeh, who played Potiphar's Wife. Karl subsequently joined the Broadway production of Into the Woods in 2022 as a replacement cast member, and in 2025 joined the Broadway production of Moulin Rouge! in a replacement role.