Justin Mortelliti
| Justin Mortelliti | |
|---|---|
| Born |
August 30, 1980 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Origin | Washington Township, New Jersey |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, singer/songwriter, recording artist |
| Website | http://www.justinmortelliti.com |
Justin Mortelliti (born August 30, 1980 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American actor, singer/songwriter and recording artist.
Mortelliti was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His family moved to Washington Township, Gloucester County, New Jersey in 1982 where he spent his childhood with his mother, Marilyn Mortelliti, father, Nicholas Mortelliti, older brother, Gregory and younger brother Adam. He was raised Roman Catholic and graduated from Washington Township High School in 1998. Mortelliti began studying violin at the age of 8 and was a competitive gymnast most of his childhood. Mortelliti’s first theatrical experience was in a D.A.R.E. to keep kids off drugs program assembly where he was chosen by his 5th grade teacher to play the victim of a drug overdose. Upon entering middle school at Orchard Valley Middle School, Justin became drawn to musical theater, appearing on stage as a Dodo Bird in Alice in Wonderland, The Lion in The Wizard of Oz and Aladdin in Aladdin. In 8th grade, Justin auditioned for the role of Oliver in a local theater’s production of the musical and won the title role. From there he moved on to his first professional theatrical performances at The Ritz Theatre when he appeared in Oliver, Gypsy and Oklahoma. Justin continued performing throughout high school in musicals and plays including, Bye Bye Birdie (Randolph Macafee), The Pirates of Penzance (Frederic), Leader of the Pack (Jeff Barry) and Grease (Danny Zuko) and joined a local summer theater group called The Gloucester County Summer Drama Workshop. Around this time Justin began writing music for fun. In 1996, a local talent agent spotted Justin in one of the school plays and he began auditioning professionally, leaving school on a regular basis to board a Greyhound bus to NYC for auditions.
Mortelliti was accepted into the ultra competitive acting conservatory, Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University where he earned his BFA, graduating in 2002. He also studied in London, England at The London Academy of Theater.
Upon moving to NYC in 2002, Mortelliti appeared in ‘Final Play’ at The Sanford Meisner Theater and played the role of Pippin in NewArt Theater Company’s Production of the musical. Mortelliti briefly performed with the improv-comedy troop ‘The Grown-Up Playground’.
In 2006, Mortelliti moved to Los Angeles, where he appeared as an understudy in ‘Happy Days: The Musical’ at The Falcon Theatre, under the direction of Garry Marshall, ‘Twist’ at The Avery Schreiber Theatre, and The House of Yes (Marty) with Priscilla Barnes at Stage 52. Mortelliti originated the role of Porter in the world premier of the new musical ‘The Bedroom Window’ at The Odyssey Theatre for which he won a StageScene LA Award for Outstanding performance by a lead actor/musical. In 2008, Mortelliti played the role of Roger in the West Coast Regional Premier of the rock musical RENT. He then originated the role of Dylan Klebold in 'The Columbine Project' which transferred to an Off-Broadway theater in NYC for which he won an Artistic Director's Achievement award for Best Lead Actor in a Play. He also originated the role of Jared in the World Premier play ‘Expecting to Fly’ at The Elephant Theatre in Los Angeles, which he was runner up to Alfred Molina for a Ticket Holder Award - Best Actor in a Play. Mortelliti performed with the Los Angeles based 'For the Record' appearing in their productions of 'Boogie Nights' and 'Scorsese: American Crime Requiem' which premiered at The Wallis in Beverly Hills in 2016. He also played the role of Drew in the original Las Vegas cast of 'Rock of Ages' which opened in 2012.
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