Broadway Acting Duo Orfeh And Andy Karl Acquire Rights To Mystery Novel ‘The Dancer’

Greg Evans
·2 min read

EXCLUSIVE: Broadway’s Tony- and Grammy-nominated couple Andy Karl and Orfeh have acquired the rights to Eric Bernat’s 2016 mystery novel The Dancer. The deal marks the duo’s first collaboration with Michael Moore Agency, the theater and literary agency run by Michael Moore (not the filmmaker) and Kevin Pope.

“We are beyond excited to be collaborating with Eric to bring his novel to the screen,” said the couple in a joint statement, adding, “We’ve been thinking of ways to help stories get told and ten pages into The Dancer, we knew this project was for us.”

Set around 1985 in New York City against the backdrop of the growing AIDS epidemic, The Dancer follows Joey, a man who becomes the focus of a homicide investigation after accidentally discovering the body of a murder victim. In order to prove his innocence, Joey has to uncover the roots of the murder that date back to to the 1950s. The dark novel explores the complicated subjects of AIDS, death, politics and those disenfranchised in our society.

“We’ve always been drawn to great storytelling – it’s what we love about being actors,” said Orfeh (of Broadway’s Legally Blonde The Musical, Saturday Night Fever, Footloose) and Karl (Jersey Boys, Pretty Woman, Groundhog Day and TV’s Law & Order: Special Victims Unit). The couple described the noir murder mystery as “fueled by New York City history and the Broadway community.”

Orfeh is represented by Untitled Entertainment. Andy Karl is represented by Principal Entertainment. They are both represented by ICM Partners and Felcher & Freifeld.

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