BWW: You've seemingly mastered many different mediums as a young artist, but your history is certainly connected to the stage, can you give us a bit of your past training, your road as an actor.
JG: I don't know about 'mastered', but I find myself enjoying many different mediums. I have a love for performance, and the stage is actually where I feel most comfortable in life. I've grown up around the lights and cameras; my mother was an anchor for CNN, and my Father a politician. My formal training began at University of the Arts with vocal performance, then music theater. I was one of the "lost ones" in college who had a great deal of natural ability but not the focus to mold it to any specific standard. Although I regret not working harder in school, I've been fortunate to grab the opportunities given to me, and use them as my training grounds. I can proudly say that I've been a consistently working member of the professional entertainment community for the past 6 years, and I'm continuing to grow and learn as I go.
BWW: Vocally, how are you shaping the role, do you find you use different aspects of your technique for something like a more intimate reading?
JG: Fred takes a journey from being a boy to a man in this story. He's innocent, but not naive. So while I'm keeping him simple, and young at the start, I'm taking care to let his power and depth (vocally) grow as the show goes on.
BWW: You've done so many varied and interesting things so far as a singer and actor, did you always intend for your career to have such a wonderful bilateral focus from the start?
JG: I've always wanted to be an entertainer. There weren't really any places I wouldn't go in my mind as a child...which would later lead to difficulty focusing in school, but ultimately to my career path being varied and successful. I host TV shows, a radio show, sing, act, and do voiceovers. I feel like a vaudevillian player bouncing from town to town getting work where he can and making a good living doing it. In todays economic climate I feel fortunate that I can mesh into a bunch of different roles as an entertainer.
BWW: What inspires you as an artist? Do you pick songs or do they "pick you"?
JG: Events from my own life inspire me the most. I write almost all of my music (at this point) so I pick the songs. I actually write a lot of melancholy songs, which always strikes me as odd because I'm a very jovial person. It's just my way of expressing my sadness in a constructive manner, and making room for the joy that is my day to day companion.
Justin is currently hosting two shows for the TVGuide network (Idol Tonight, and Reality Chat: Idol Wrap), he also has his own radio show on blogtalkradio.com, the virtual host for Disney's American Idol Experience. You can also find him video blogging weekly for Fanccast.com.
He currently stars in season three of CMT's highest-rated original series "Gone Country," alongside legendary artists such as Sheila E. and George Clinton, and hosts a twenty-minute pre-show video recorded exclusively for the new American Idol Experience attraction at Walt Disney's Hollywood Studios in Orlando, Florida. Since starring on American Idol, Mr. Guarini participated in the national Idols Live! Tour and performed for sold out audiences across the country. Mr. Guarini completed two studio albums including "Justin Guarini" produced by RCA Records and Clive Davis, and "Stranger Things Have Happened," and is currently working on his third album. He also starred in the films "From Justin to Kelly" with Kelly Clarkson and "Fast Girl" with Mircea Monroe and Caroline Rhea.
For more info on Justin check out, www.justinguarini.com.
For more information on The Awakening of Angel DeLuna visit, theawakenin.web704.discountasp.net.
