Justin Mortelliti

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.

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 acting conservatory Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University, where he earned his BFA in acting and theater arts.

He also studied in London, England at The London Academy of Theater.

Mortelliti is married to fellow actor Mark Evans and together they have one child, a daughter, Larsen Jean.

In New York City, 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 Los Angeles, he appeared 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.

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 also 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 (as 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.

He released his first solo EP, ‘The Fall and Rise’ on January 1, 2007.

‘The Fall and Rise’ was recorded with producers John DeGrazio and Andrew Manzano.

His song ‘The Fall’ was featured in the independent film ‘Dog Tags’ (TLA Releasing) and as the theme song for the webseries ‘Gossip Boy’.

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.

Justin also toured the US and Canada as the lead singer of Kidz Bop Live in the summer of 2008.

Mortelliti originated the role of Dylan Klebold in the Off-Broadway, World Premier of the play ‘The Columbine Project’ in 2009 for which he won an Artistic Director's Achievement Award – Best Lead Actor in a Drama.

Mortelliti was nominated for Best Lead Actor in a Musical for his performance in the role of Mr. Darcy in 'Pride and Prejudice' at the San Francisco Bay Area Critics Circle Awards.

Justin was discovered singing at a local mall by manager and producer Sam Riddle who was putting together a boy band called Nxt Level (originally called Groove).

Justin performed with the group and recorded a partial album with producers Alain Bertoni and Cristian Hamm in Cologne, Germany.

This was his first experience as a recording artist.

Mortelliti released two singles with singer Shannon Hunt under the pop duo Stefi & Pepper, ‘Big Hair’ on December 2, 2010 and ‘I Want Your Love’ on October 12, 2012.

And his song ‘You Amaze Me’ was featured in the film ‘Eating Out: The Open Weekend’ (2011).

He played the role of Drew in the original Las Vegas cast of Rock of Ages, which opened in 2012.

Mortelliti was on the original cast recording for the rock musical ‘The Bedroom Window’ which was released on August 28, 2012.

In January 2013, ‘The Fall’ began spinning on regular rotation on 99.7 FM The Highway Vibe in and around Las Vegas and parts of Nevada, Arizona, and Southern California.

Mortelliti's 2nd solo EP, ‘The Prince of April’ was released in the summer of 2014 and produced by Bryan McAdams.

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.

Mortelliti appeared on Broadway in the original cast of 'Escape to Margaritaville' which opened in March 2018 and later that year starred opposite Dove Cameron as Christian in The New Group's production of Clueless: The Musical Off-Broadway.

Justin originated the role of Mr. Darcy in the new musical Pride and Prejudice in December 2019, at Theatreworks Silicon Valley, and was nominated Best Lead Actor in a Musical for the San Francisco Bay Area Critics Circle Awards.