Orfeh

Orfeh was born and raised in New York City and attended LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts. Shortly after graduating, she received a record deal and released Life in the Movies in 1987 as part of the group Genevha, which she formed with musical partner Mike More. The duo later formed Or-N-More and signed with EMI Records. In 1991, they released their self-titled album, which earned gold status. The single “Everyotherday” reached No. 46 on the Billboard Hot 100. After Or-N-More disbanded, Orfeh signed a publishing deal with Warner/Chappell Music and continued writing and producing songs for other artists. She co-wrote “Wishing On You” for the soundtrack of the Disney film Model Behavior (2000).

Orfeh made her Broadway debut in 1999 as Rusty in Footloose at the Richard Rodgers Theatre. That year, she also appeared in The Gershwins’ Fascinating Rhythm at the Longacre Theatre and played Annette in Saturday Night Fever at the Minskoff Theatre. She later starred in Me and Mrs. Jones and Bright Lights, Big City at the Prince Theatre in Philadelphia. In 2001, she played Janis Joplin in the off-Broadway production of Love, Janis. Her stage credits also include the 2001 Actors Fund benefit concert of Dreamgirls, in which she was credited as a photographer, and the 2004 Actors Fund benefit concert of Hair.

In 2005, Orfeh played Pippi in the off-Broadway production of The Great American Trailer Park Musical at Dodger Stages. She received Grammy Award and Drama Desk Award nominations for her work on the Hair benefit recording and was nominated for a Tony Award, Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics Circle Award for her performance as Paulette in the 2007 Broadway production of Legally Blonde. She remained with the production until it closed on Oct. 19, 2008. Her other stage credits include Love, Loss, and What I Wore at the Westside Theatre in 2011 and The Radium Girls, presented as a reading at The New 42nd Street Studios in 2023.

From July 2018 to August 2019, Orfeh played Kit De Luca in the Broadway production of Pretty Woman at the Nederlander Theatre. In February 2020, she played Mrs. Potiphar in an off-Broadway 50th anniversary concert of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at Lincoln Center Theater. In August 2024, she joined the Broadway cast of Chicago as Matron “Mama” Morton for a limited engagement at the Ambassador Theatre. In 2025, she made her West End debut as Tess in Burlesque at the Savoy Theatre, beginning performances July 10.

Orfeh has made television appearances in Gossip Girl, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Sex and the City. Her voiceover credits include the video games Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne (2003), Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004) and The Warriors (2005), as well as work for Wachovia bank.

As a recording artist, Orfeh released her debut solo album, What Do You Want From Me, in 2008. Her recording credits include Genevha’s Life in the Movies (1987); Or-N-More’s self-titled album (1991); The O’Jays’ Emotionally Yours (1991); Freedom Williams’ Freedom (1993); the Model Behavior soundtrack (2000); Deborah Gibson’s M.Y.O.B. (2001); the Actors Fund recordings of Dreamgirls (2002) and Hair (2004); The Great American Trailer Park Musical cast recording (2005); Carols for a Cure Volume 7 (2005); the Legally Blonde cast recording (2007); Carols for a Cure Volume 9 (2007); and Carols for a Cure 14 (2012).

Her additional recording work includes Michael Mott’s Where the Sky Ends and Where the Sky Ends: The Dance Remixes (2014); the singles “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” (2015), “What the World Needs Now Is Love” with Broadway for Orlando (2016) and “Forget My Name” (2016); and the live album Legally Bound: Live at Feinstein’s/54 Below, recorded with Andy Karl in 2017. In 2021, she released a mash-up of “Yesterday,” “Time After Time” and “Shallow” with Karl and Andrew Logan. Her subsequent releases include “Forever I Do” and “Hotel California” (2023), followed by “Peep Show,” “Hurt Me,” “Live My Life” and “Back in Love Again” (2025).