# Karla DeVito
**Karla DeVito** (born 1953 in Mokena, Illinois; also credited as Karla Jayne De Vito) is an American singer and actress known for touring as [Meat Loaf](https://www.edgepedia.org/meat-loaf)'s female vocalist on the *Bat Out of Hell* world tour, for playing Mabel in the Broadway revival of *The Pirates of Penzance*, and for the song "We Are Not Alone" on the soundtrack of *The Breakfast Club* (1985).[1](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/karla-devito-84924) • [2](https://karladevito.com/) • [3](https://academia-lab.com/enciclopedia/karla-de-vito/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1953, Mokena, Illinois, USA; also known as Karla Jayne De Vito[1](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/karla-devito-84924) |
| Breakthrough | Female vocalist on the Meat Loaf / Jim Steinman *Bat Out of Hell* world tour[3](https://academia-lab.com/enciclopedia/karla-de-vito/) • [2](https://karladevito.com/) |
| Broadway | Mabel (understudy, then replacement) in *The Pirates of Penzance* (1981–82); Mary Jane Wilkes replacement in *Big River* (1985)[1](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/karla-devito-84924) |
| Solo albums | *Is This a Cool World or What?* (Epic, 1981); *Wake 'Em Up in Tokyo* (A&M, 1986)[4](https://www.allmusic.com/album/is-this-a-cool-world-or-what--mw0000615735) • [2](https://karladevito.com/) |
| Best-known song | "We Are Not Alone", co-written with Robby Benson for *The Breakfast Club* soundtrack (1985)[2](https://karladevito.com/) • [5](https://open.spotify.com/track/4uqGgf8XCUxn1LSN6uzMZC) |
| Marriage | Married actor Robby Benson in 1982; two children, Lyric (born 1983) and Zephyr (born 1992)[1](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/karla-devito-84924) • [2](https://karladevito.com/) |
| Screen work | Voice of Miranda Wright in *Bonkers* (1993) and Cassidy in *The New Batman Adventures* (1997); guest roles in *Sabrina, the Teenage Witch* and *Fired Up*[6](https://www.archytele.com/person/karla-devito) |
## Early life and Chicago theater
DeVito grew up in Mokena, Illinois, attending Willow Crest Elementary School and Lincoln-Way High School in New Lenox, where she sang and acted.[3](https://academia-lab.com/enciclopedia/karla-de-vito/) • [2](https://karladevito.com/) She enrolled at Loyola University in Chicago as a theater major, with interests also in political science and anthropology, and joined the Chicago cast of the musical *Godspell* during her first year.[3](https://academia-lab.com/enciclopedia/karla-de-vito/) • [2](https://karladevito.com/)
In 1971–72 she studied with Jo Forsberg at the Second City Company in Chicago and performed in Second City's children's theater group alongside [Bill Murray](https://www.edgepedia.org/bill-murray).[3](https://academia-lab.com/enciclopedia/karla-de-vito/) In 1973 she joined the cast of the musical *Hair*, and her official biography notes that she performed in the Studebaker Theater production of *Godspell* before joining the national touring companies of *Hair* and *Godspell*.[3](https://academia-lab.com/enciclopedia/karla-de-vito/) • [2](https://karladevito.com/) IBDB credits her, as Karla Jayne De Vito, as an original cast performer in the Broadway production of *Godspell* (September 1972 to August 1973).[1](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/karla-devito-84924)
## The Bat Out of Hell tour and the Ellen Foley videos
DeVito became lead singer of the 1970s band Orchestra Luna, and through that connection joined the cast of songwriter [Jim Steinman](https://www.edgepedia.org/jim-steinman)'s show *Neverland*, staged as a workshop production at the Kennedy Center in 1977.[3](https://academia-lab.com/enciclopedia/karla-de-vito/) Two months later she went on tour with Meat Loaf and Steinman in support of the album *Bat Out of Hell*, her most widely remembered engagement.[3](https://academia-lab.com/enciclopedia/karla-de-vito/) • [2](https://karladevito.com/)
Her face became famous for a voice that was not hers: in the music videos for "[Paradise by the Dashboard Light](https://www.edgepedia.org/paradise-by-the-dashboard-light)" and "Bat Out of Hell", DeVito appears singing, synchronized to the original studio vocals of [Ellen Foley](https://www.edgepedia.org/ellen-foley), who had recorded the album's female parts before leaving the tour.[3](https://academia-lab.com/enciclopedia/karla-de-vito/) A Q Magazine interview with Steinman recalled the intensity of the stage pairing: "They came to the studio and did Paradise By The Dashboard Light, and the intensity of the performance and all this sexual energy between Meat and Karla DeVito was mind-blowing."[7](https://jimsteinman.com/Q%20Magazine%20September%202006.pdf)
## Broadway and solo recording career
After the tour DeVito returned to the stage in [Cole Porter](https://www.edgepedia.org/cole-porter)'s *Jubilee* and a production of *A Midsummer Night's Dream*, then took the female lead in [Gilbert and Sullivan](https://www.edgepedia.org/gilbert-and-sullivan)'s *The Pirates of Penzance* on Broadway.[3](https://academia-lab.com/enciclopedia/karla-de-vito/) She joined the 1981–82 revival first as [Linda Ronstadt](https://www.edgepedia.org/linda-ronstadt)'s understudy for the role of Mabel, then replaced Ronstadt in the lead; IBDB records her as understudy to the original Mabel and as a replacement performer from the January 8, 1981 opening.[2](https://karladevito.com/) • [1](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/karla-devito-84924) A 1981 Billboard advertisement for her debut album noted that she had won rave reviews as Ronstadt's replacement while also recording with Jim Steinman and Blue Öyster Cult.[8](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/80s/1981/BB-1981-10-03.pdf)
Her debut solo album, *Is This a Cool World or What?*, was released by CBS/Epic in 1981, produced by Bill House and John Jansen; on her first solo tour she opened for [Hall & Oates](https://www.edgepedia.org/hall-and-oates) and [Rick Springfield](https://www.edgepedia.org/rick-springfield).[2](https://karladevito.com/) AllMusic's review described her as coming across as "Linda Ronstadt channeling Kate Bush", noting her dramatic delivery on "Heaven Can Wait", a Jim Steinman song.[4](https://www.allmusic.com/album/is-this-a-cool-world-or-what--mw0000615735) The album's thirteen tracks include covers of [John Fogerty](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-fogerty)'s "Almost Saturday Night" and Randy Newman's "Just One Smile" alongside DeVito's own compositions.[4](https://www.allmusic.com/album/is-this-a-cool-world-or-what--mw0000615735)
**Film song and second album.** In 1985 she co-wrote "We Are Not Alone" with her husband, [Robby Benson](https://www.edgepedia.org/robby-benson), for the soundtrack of *The Breakfast Club*; the fast-paced synth-rock song plays during the library dance montage and runs 3:37 on the A&M soundtrack album.[2](https://karladevito.com/) • [9](https://thebreakfastclub.fandom.com/wiki/%22We_Are_Not_Alone%22) • [5](https://open.spotify.com/track/4uqGgf8XCUxn1LSN6uzMZC) Her second solo album, *Wake 'Em Up in Tokyo*, followed on A&M in 1986 with songs written with Benson.[2](https://karladevito.com/) In 1989 the group Desolation Angels released its only album, *Anthem*, with DeVito singing lead on "Walk Away Renee" and "White Bird".[2](https://karladevito.com/)
On Broadway she later appeared as a replacement for Mary Jane Wilkes in the musical *Big River* from July 9 to September 1, 1985.[1](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/karla-devito-84924)
## Screen work
DeVito's screen credits include guest roles on television and voice work in animation. In 1990 she co-starred with Benson in *Modern Love*, the first film they made together, written and directed by Benson.[2](https://karladevito.com/) • [6](https://www.archytele.com/person/karla-devito) She voiced Miranda Wright in the animated series *Bonkers* (1993) and Cassidy in *The New Batman Adventures* (1997), appeared as Mary in the *Sabrina, the Teenage Witch* episode "A Girl and Her Cat" (December 1996), and guest-starred in *Fired Up* (1997).[6](https://www.archytele.com/person/karla-devito) • [10](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/161984/karla-devito) Apple TV lists her as a writer in connection with kids and family programming in addition to her guest appearances.[11](https://tv.apple.com/us/person/karla-devito/umc.cpc.5ebdhlmojowdehi35qi48wrom)
## Recent work
DeVito and Ellen Foley finally performed together at Pat Cerasaro's 54 Below in New York City in 2015, in a tribute to Jim Steinman; in 2021 they recorded a duet on Paul Foglino's "I'm Just Happy to Be Here" for Foley's album *Fighting Words*.[2](https://karladevito.com/) She is featured on the 2025 tribute album *Play On: A Raspberries Tribute*, singing the closing track "I Can Remember", an eight-minute epic from the Raspberries' debut, in a performance the Variety review said nailed the album's most epic track.[2](https://karladevito.com/)
## Personal life
She met Robby Benson when he was cast as Frederic, the male lead opposite her Mabel, in *The Pirates of Penzance*; they married in 1982.[2](https://karladevito.com/) • [1](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/karla-devito-84924) Their daughter Lyric was born in 1983 and their son Zephyr in 1992.[2](https://karladevito.com/)
## References
1. [Karla DeVito – Broadway Cast & Staff, IBDB (Internet Broadway Database)](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/karla-devito-84924)
2. [Bio – Karla DeVito (official site)](https://karladevito.com/)
3. [Karla De Vito – AcademiaLab](https://academia-lab.com/enciclopedia/karla-de-vito/)
4. [Is This a Cool World Or What? – Karla DeVito, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/album/is-this-a-cool-world-or-what--mw0000615735)
5. [We Are Not Alone – Karla Devito, Spotify (The Breakfast Club Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)](https://open.spotify.com/track/4uqGgf8XCUxn1LSN6uzMZC)
6. [Karla DeVito: Movies, TV Shows & Biography – Archytele (TMDB data)](https://www.archytele.com/person/karla-devito)
7. [Q Magazine, September 2006 – Jim Steinman interview (PDF)](https://jimsteinman.com/Q%20Magazine%20September%202006.pdf)
8. [Karla DeVito – Is This A Cool World Or What? advertisement, Billboard, October 3, 1981](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/80s/1981/BB-1981-10-03.pdf)
9. ["We Are Not Alone" – The Breakfast Club Wiki](https://thebreakfastclub.fandom.com/wiki/%22We_Are_Not_Alone%22)
10. [Karla DeVito – TVmaze](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/161984/karla-devito)
11. [Karla DeVito Movies and Shows – Apple TV](https://tv.apple.com/us/person/karla-devito/umc.cpc.5ebdhlmojowdehi35qi48wrom)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 1970s to 1990s › Surnames D to Di*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license