TV Exclusive: BACKSTAGE WITH RICHARD RIDGE- Broadway's New Heavyweight Champ, Andy Karl!

Welcome to BWW's exclusive talk show, BACKSTAGE WITH Richard Ridge. Follow Richard as he visits the theater's best and brightest in their dressing rooms, on their stages and favorite hang outs to talk about their lives, careers and all of the things you don't know, but want to know. In the special interview below, Broadway's new heavyweight champ Andy Karl talks all things Rocky- plus he shares stories about how he got his start in theatre, his past Broadway roles, and more. Check out the full interview below!

Andy Karl recently concluded a return performance on Broadway as Tommy DeVito in Jersey Boys, following his critically acclaimed performance as Neville Landless in the Broadway revival of The Mystery of Edwin Drood, for which he was nominated for a 2013 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical.

A native of Baltimore, Andy's parents enrolled him in an after school theatre program in high school to "keep him out of trouble," and what started as a way to channel his energy soon became a passion. After moving to New York a few years later, Karl quickly made an impression in the theatre community starring in Romeo and Bernadette, for which he received a Carbonell nomination, the Off-Broadway production of Saturday Night working alongside Stephen Sondheim and Kathleen Marshall, and his stand out performance as Luke, the thuggish rapper in the original cast of Altar Boyz. Andy went on to star in numerous Broadway productions including 9 to 5, Legally Blonde (ACCA Award), and On the 20th Century, among many others. His film and TV roles include Joyful Noise; Rob Reiner's And So It Goes (opposite Michael Douglas and Diane Keaton); "Legally Blonde: The Search for Elle Woods"; On the One; and New York, I Love You.