"My mother had a psychic premonition that I’d be a singer like Orpheus," Orfeh once explained in an interview. "She didn’t know what gender I’d be, but she said, ‘Boy or girl, the name is Orfeh.’ I love it when people think I came up with it—like I chose to call myself this unpronounceable word. That’s a name only a mother could come up with!"
Growing up in the city, Orfeh attended New York City public schools. Immediately after graduation from a performing arts high school, she landed a record deal with EMI Records, headlining the early-1990s dance group Or-N-More. Life suddenly became a whirlwind of coast-to-coast concerts, music video shoots and press appearances for Orfeh as the group's self-titled album and single "Everyotherday" were released. Although the Top 40 album swiftly went gold and the single climbed to 1 on the club music charts, Orfeh soon watched her life play out like a bad episode of Behind the Music.
"My recording career went wrong," she has said. "Really, really wrong. We had the business manager that stole all the money, the hit record that was about to become a mega-hit record and suddenly the rug was pulled out from under us. After being on the road for years and devoting my life to recording, I found myself at home saying, 'What do I do now?'" Even if Or-N-More may have been no more, Orfeh's talents as a songwriter earned her a much coveted publishing deal with Warner/Chappell and she has written and produced songs for other artists. She also remains a member of NARAS, which gives her nominating and voting privileges for the Grammy Awards.
Thanks to the success of Rent, hip and funky belters like Orfeh were in vogue in musical theater and Broadway soon came calling. Although Orfeh made her Broadway debut in the fall of 1998 as understudy to all the female leads in the original company of Footloose, she was soon sought after for more prominent stage roles. As part of the ten-member company of The Gershwins' Fascinating Rhythm, Orfeh belted out modern interpretations of Gershwin classics alongside talents like Adriane Lenox, Sara Ramirez and Patrick Wilson. Although the revue closed after just 17 performances, Orfeh already had her next gig lined up.
A hit from London, the stage version of the John Travolta disco film classic Saturday Night Fever arrived on Broadway in a flurry of press and ticket sales. In fact, by the time it opened on October 21, 1999 at the Minskoff Theatre, it hardly mattered that critics mostly dismissed it. What they definitely didn't dismiss was the work of Orfeh as Tony Manero's jilted sidekick Annette, especially singling out her powerhouse rendition of the disco smash "If I Can't Have You" in the first act. She also caught the eye of Rosie O'Donnell, who immediately booked Orfeh on her popular talk show to sing the song. Saturday Night Fever went on to run for 15 months on Broadway, with Orfeh missing no performances.
Saturday Night Fever brought Orfeh more than just a pile of good reviews. When a tall, good-looking Broadway newcomer took over the role of Joey in the show, she was smitten. His name was Andy Karl and by the end of the Broadway run of the show, he was hers. A few weeks later, in early 2001, they eloped in Miami. The married Karls call Manhattan home.
Andy has since made a name for himself as an original cast member of the off-Broadway smash Altar Boyz, and Orfeh has been lucky to perform alongside her husband on several occasions since Saturday Night Fever. In Me and Mrs. Jones at the Prince Theater in Philly, they got to sing soul classics alongside Lou Rawls. Later, they returned to the Prince to co-star in the musical adaptation of Bright Lights, Big City. With Legally Blonde, they finally get to play off each other in a big way. Orfeh is Paulette, the unlucky-in-love Bostonian hairdresser who becomes best friends to Elle Woods, and Karl is Kyle, the UPS man of her dreams. Needless to say, Orfeh is thrilled to get to bend-and-snap for her husband eight times a week on Broadway.
She's also been seen on the Broadway stage in highly-touted Actors' Fund of America benefit concerts of Dreamgirls and Hair and in two off-Broadway musicals: as rock icon Janis Joplin in Love, Janis and as trailer park stripper Pippi in The Great American Trailer Park Musical.
On TV, Orfeh's played a tough chick from Staten Island on Sex and the City, a sassy secretary on Chappelle's Show and a grieving working class widow on Law & Order: Criminal Intent. She can be seen on the big screen in Julie Taymor's upcoming movie musical Across the Universe.
Orfeh balances her theater work with an adventageous side career as one of the top voiceover artists around. She can also be heard on video games Max Payne 2, Grand Theft Auto/San Andreas and The Warriors and is one of the primary female voices heard on MTV and VH1.
In addition to her acting work, Orfeh continues to work on her music and hopes to release many solo albums in the future.
Falling in Love
Orfeh Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
They always slip away when you're near.
I can barely catch my breath.
Don't you see what you do to me?
So afraid the naked truth might break my heart.
That I don't know how to find a way to start.
How much longer do I have to dream this dream,
Chorus:
So good at hiding what I feel inside.
So bad at showing, but I can't deny it all.
The sun is shining, but love's got me blind.
If I jump, would I fall?
Or would we be falling in love.
If I could only find the book or recipe
That could make me make you make a move on me...
I know a hundred things to say but what to do?
When it comes to me and you...
Chorus
I know to talk my way out of a ticket and
I know how to make an angry school girl smile
And when I need to I can get a little wicked
But I don't have a clue when it comes to you, yeah...
Chorus X2
Falling in love...
The sun is shining but love's got me blind
If I jump, would I fall?
Or would we be falling in love?
The lyrics to Orfeh's song Falling In Love depicts the internal struggle of the singer towards confessing her love to somebody. She is fully aware of the words that her love interest wants to hear, but somehow, they always seem to evade her mind whenever she's close to him. With the mere presence of this person, she becomes breathless, and this person has an immense power over her emotions. The singer is afraid that admitting her true feelings to this person will lead to heartbreak, and she's uncertain of how to begin the conversation. The singer has been living in her thoughts for quite a while, and she's curious about when she'll eventually wake up from this daydream.
The chorus highlights the singer's inability to express her emotions openly. She's an expert in concealing what she feels but dreadful at revealing it. She acknowledges that she's blinded by love, and she's unsure about the next step to take in this situation. She's contemplating jumping into the unknown or falling in love, which is a direct reflection of her indecisiveness. In the second verse, the singer admits to having several ideas and certainty that she could communicate with this person effortlessly. However, she is still at a loss about what to do when it comes to admitting her feelings to her love interest. The singer further revealed her versatility in human interactions, but when it comes to this person, she's clueless.
Line by Line Meaning
If I only knew the words you long to hear,
I wish I knew how to please you and make you happy.
They always slip away when you're near.
But whenever I'm close to you, those words escape me.
I can barely catch my breath.
Being around you leaves me breathless and nervous.
Don't you see what you do to me?
You have a powerful effect on me and I can't help but be drawn to you.
So afraid the naked truth might break my heart.
I am scared that if I reveal my feelings, I might wind up getting hurt.
That I don't know how to find a way to start.
I don't know how to begin to express the emotions that I keep bottled up inside.
How much longer do I have to dream this dream,
I don't want to keep dreaming about what could be. I want to take action and make it happen.
Before I wake up?
But I am not sure if I am ready to face reality yet.
I know to talk my way out of a ticket and
I am confident in some areas, like talking my way out of trouble.
I know how to make an angry school girl smile
I can even turn someone's bad mood around if I have to.
And when I need to I can get a little wicked
But I can also be a bit mischievous when it's called for.
But I don't have a clue when it comes to you, yeah...
But when it comes to my feelings for you, I don't know what to do or say.
So good at hiding what I feel inside.
I have become excellent at keeping my emotions hidden from others.
So bad at showing, but I can't deny it all.
However, I cannot deny the feelings I have, even though I struggle with showing them.
The sun is shining, but love's got me blind.
Although the world around me seems bright and happy, my infatuation with you has clouded my vision.
If I jump, would I fall?
If I take a risk and confess my feelings, will it end in rejection and heartbreak?
Or would we be falling in love?
Or will it be the start of a beautiful, romantic relationship between us?
Falling in love...
I am open to the possibility of falling in love with you.
Contributed by Wyatt Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.