"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.
Ireland
Orfeh Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Behind all bad hair decisions? Love!
You're lost without your love
You're heart is on the floor
I can help you, I've been there before
When I need to relax I just put on some tracks
From this CD I bought for the store
Isn't that relaxin'? It's called Celtic Moods!
I play this and it never fails
I pretend like I'm in Ireland
With Enya and the whales
When my telephone gets disconnected
Or I spend every night alone
I pretend like I'm in Ireland
Where the Irish bagpipes drone
Smell the grass as a rainstorm is endin'
People smile while I stroll pass their farms
With a red headed sailor named Brenden
And we dance without moving our arms
In bar once I met this guy, Dewey
And he bought me like fourteen beers
And he told me that he was from Ireland
So I lived with him ten years
If I squinted he looked like my sailor
Through my boozy delusional fog
But he dumped me for some slut named Kayla
Took my trailer and took my dog
In Ireland they know how to love you
You embrace in the misty Irish breeze
And if your Irish boy tires of you
You're allowed to shoot him in the knees
Hey, you look like that poster for Ireland
Long blonde hair and that sweet sunny face
Oh no, wait that's the poster for Sweden
Oh, screw it, I'll never see either place
But a girl sweet as you has a future
You have hope as each new day dawns
Girls like you always get to see Ireland
Give my love to the leprechauns
In Orfeh's song "Ireland," the singer tries to console her friend Elle, who is going through a tough time by telling her how she likes to unwind and pretend she is in Ireland. The singer mentions a CD called "Celtic Moods" which she uses to relax, and the song suggests that listening to it is like being transported to Ireland. The song also references a red-headed sailor named Brenden whom the singer dances with, and how Dewey, an Irishman she met at a bar, lived with her for ten years before leaving her for someone else. The song ends on a positive note with the singer telling Elle that she has hope and girls like her always get to see Ireland.
While the song is light-hearted and humorous in tone, it touches on some deeper themes like heartbreak and the desire to escape one's problems. The singer uses the idea of being in Ireland as a way to take a mental break from her troubles and reminisce about happier times. Additionally, the song hints at the stereotypes that people often associate with Ireland in terms of its weather, music, and romantic affairs.
Line by Line Meaning
Elle! Do you know the number one reason
Behind all bad hair decisions? Love!
Love is a powerful feeling that can make us do crazy things, like making bad decisions with our hair.
You're lost without your love
When you're in love, it can feel like you're incomplete without your partner.
You're heart is on the floor
Being heartbroken can make you feel very low, like your heart is on the ground.
I can help you, I've been there before
The singer has experienced heartbreak before and wants to offer her help to someone going through the same thing.
When I need to relax I just put on some tracks
From this CD I bought for the store
Isn't that relaxin'? It's called Celtic Moods!
The singer finds relaxation and comfort in listening to Celtic music, specifically the album 'Celtic Moods.'
When I'm lonely or feeling dejected
I play this and it never fails
I pretend like I'm in Ireland
With Enya and the whales
The singer uses music to escape her loneliness, imagining herself in Ireland with the singer Enya and the whales.
When my telephone gets disconnected
Or I spend every night alone
I pretend like I'm in Ireland
Where the Irish bagpipes drone
The singer continues to use her imagination to transport herself to Ireland when she feels disconnected and alone.
Smell the grass as a rainstorm is endin'
People smile while I stroll pass their farms
With a red headed sailor named Brenden
And we dance without moving our arms
The singer paints a vivid picture of her imaginary trip to Ireland, including the smells, sights, and a red-headed sailor with whom she enjoys a dance.
In bar once I met this guy, Dewey
And he bought me like fourteen beers
And he told me that he was from Ireland
So I lived with him ten years
The singer shares a story of meeting a man in a bar who claimed to be from Ireland and with whom she lived for ten years.
If I squinted he looked like my sailor
Through my boozy delusional fog
But he dumped me for some slut named Kayla
Took my trailer and took my dog
The singer admits that she may have confused her Irish sailor with the man she met in the bar, but eventually he left her for someone else and took all her things.
In Ireland they know how to love you
You embrace in the misty Irish breeze
And if your Irish boy tires of you
You're allowed to shoot him in the knees
The singer describes Irish love as being very affectionate, but with certain consequences if things don't work out.
Hey, you look like that poster for Ireland
Long blonde hair and that sweet sunny face
Oh no, wait that's the poster for Sweden
Oh, screw it, I'll never see either place
The singer mistakes someone for a poster girl for Ireland, but then realizes it's for Sweden and feels that she'll never have the chance to see either place.
But a girl sweet as you has a future
You have hope as each new day dawns
Girls like you always get to see Ireland
Give my love to the leprechauns
The singer encourages the listener that someone as sweet as her has a bright future and will have the chance to see Ireland someday, and sends her love to the mythical creatures known as leprechauns.
Contributed by Mackenzie A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.