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Julie Garnyé was most recently seen in the National Tour of the musical CATS, in which she played Jennyanydots and was the first understudy for Grizabella. Currently, she is playing Ruthie/Daisy/Dillon in BAT BOY, The Musical at Southern Repertory Theatre in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Originally from Los Altos, California, Garnyé was born Julie Arbagey. She began singing almost before she could speak, claiming Donnie and Marie Osmond, Karen Carpenter and Debbie Boone as the performers she most wanted to emulate. At the age of 6, her choir teacher, Emma Napoli, cast her as The Virgin Mary - the only role with a solo song - in the school Easter pageant, and she was bitten by the performing bug. Dance class and piano lessons followed through elementary and high school.

She received a scholarship from Santa Clara University, a Jesuit University in Santa Clara, California and was a double major in Theatre & Dance and English (with a Shakespeare emphasis). There, she was nominated for the Irene Ryan Award for Best Actress in a Musical for Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris. She consistently performed and worked behind the scenes both at the university and at other venues in the Bay Area, including San Francisco Shakespeare, San Jose Repertory Theatre, American Musical Theatre of San Jose and Theatreworks. After graduation, she was immediately hired as a guest artist at P.C.P.A. Theatrefest, a summer stock in central California, where she performed in The Music Man and The Pirates of Penzance.

Following that experience, Garnyé moved to San Francisco and began to study voice and acting privately. She chose to perform in a children's tour for The American Musical Theatre of San Jose, a show written and directed by Marc Jacobs. The show brought theatre to inner city kids, most of whom had never seen a live perfomance. During that time, she also met vocal teacher Edward Sayegh. An internationally distinguished vocal instructor, Sayegh received his training at The San Francisco Conservatory of Music and The Conservatory of Music in Rome. After two years of study with Sayegh, he moved to Southern California, as did her boyfriend at the time. Garnyé realized it was time to do the same.

She moved to Los Angeles in August, 1999. That same month, her boyfriend of many years, Michael Wrona, asked her to marry him and she accepted. She performed throughout her two years in Los Angeles, in TV Movies of the Week, music videos and musicals. On August 20, 2000, they were married in a beautiful ceremony amidst family and friends at the Santa Clara Mission Church (on the Santa Clara University campus).

The new Mr. and Mrs. Wrona honeymooned in Europe. The last night of their honeymoon was spent in Paris at the exclusive Plaza Athanée Hotel. They were in the hotel bar discussing what name the new Mrs. Wrona would use professionally (Julie Arbagey or Julie Wrona), when celebrated actors James Garner and Joel Grey walked in and sat at the table beside them. Garnyé jokingly stated that since she and her husband could not make a decision, she should ask Garner and Grey what they think. Wrona loved the idea and told her to do it. After much convincing, Garnyé walked over to the table, introduced herself and explained her dilemma. Within minutes, Leonard Hirshnan (Clint Eastwood's Manager) joined the group and the three men soon created a name. They did not like the sound or spelling of Arbagey or Wrona. They thought that, since her first name started with a "J" (as did Garner's and Grey's) that her last name must start with a "G" (as did Garner's and Grey's). There was also the fact that they were in Paris, so it needed to sound French. The solution: Take half of Garner's name and half of Grey's name and combine them. Switch a few letters around and Julie Garnyé was born. The Wrona's still consider it one of their best wedding presents.

Eight months later, Garnyé auditioned for the National Tour of CATS. At the same time, her vocal coach and friend, Gerald Sternbach, called her in to audition for a reading of a new musical in Los Angeles based on Charles Dickens' Great Expectations. Within a month, she had both jobs. Garnyé rehearsed and performed Great Expectations, helmed by celebrated director Richard Jay-Alexander through mid-May of 2001. One week later, she began rehearsing CATS in New York. After a year on the road, she needed a well deserved break and spent some time in Australia, her husband's place of birth. After their Australia trip, he began working in New Orleans, so Garnyé decided to join him there. It was during thistime that she auditioned for and was cast in her current project, BAT BOY, The Musical.