That show-must-go-on mentality extends beyond the actors most recent turn on the Great White Way and into the legacy that is the Sardi’s wall.It’s the Broadway equivalent of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Sardi’s, the legendary theater-district hangout where caricatures of stage legends line the walls, honored Groundhog Day’s Andy Karl Wednesday with his very own portrait. “I love the resemblance,” the 2017 Tony nominee mused of his drawing by Richard Baratz. “He’s much more handsome than I am, actually.” Karl’s modesty was made up for by the enthusiastic group of family, friends, and colleagues who came out to mark the moment and the man of the hour. The cast of Groundhog Day, which had just wrapped the matinee, were joined by Karl’s former stagemates, including Richard H. Blake from Legally Blonde, The Wedding Singer, and Saturday Night Fever, and Terence Archie and Kevin Del Aguila from Rocky. Karl’s real-life leading-lady, wife Orfeh, and his Groundhog Day equivalent, Barrett Doss, were also on hand. “Andy’s one of the most giving and game actors I’ve ever worked with,” Doss said. “It’s a great honor to work with someone who has as much fun doing what he does—and it makes it more fun for us.” Doss recalled that when she was photographed in the April issue of Vogue (she was also featured in June), he displayed a similar sense of candor. “He was the same way when he did his Vogue shoot,” she said. “But I know he keeps the magazine in his dressing room!” In a fitting twist, both Karl and his caricature were dressed in smart gray suits, and the actor took the same considered approach to his autograph, scrawling the words champions adjust next to his signature on the portrait. The not-so-hidden meaning behind the phrase was a nod to the serious leg injury Karl sustained during previews. “That was the big statement that we all had in our heads to help us get through it,” Karl said. “Be a champion of Broadway; adjust, get up there, and just make it happen.” That show-must-go-on mentality extends beyond the actor’s most recent turn on the Great White Way and into the legacy that is the Sardi’s wall. “This is a throwback to when I first came up here 20 years ago to try to be an actor in New York, and I looked at these pictures and thought, ‘There’s the goal, there’s the mission, and you’re going to be part of this legacy’ . . . This is it.”
POST: 2024-04-29