Mentor

A Program by Justin Showell

The Showell
Mentorship
Program

The belief

The stage doesn’t belong to the privileged few. It belongs to every child who ever felt a story stirring inside them.
Why this exists

Access to the arts is not evenly distributed. The path from dreaming about Broadway to standing on it is navigable — but it requires guides, resources, and someone who has walked it before.

I grew up knowing the stage was where I belonged. Not everyone gets that certainty handed to them. The Showell Mentorship Program exists to close that gap — offering direct access to a working Broadway professional for young artists who deserve a seat at the table.

This is not a masterclass. This is a relationship.

Who this is for
01

Young Black Artists

Artists who deserve to see themselves in the rooms where Broadway gets made.

02

Aspiring Musical Theatre Students

Passionate performers ready to take their craft seriously and understand the industry.

03

High School Performers

Students weighing college programs, BFA auditions, and their next step.

04

Inner City Youth

Young people who light up on a stage but may not have a pipeline connecting them to professional training.

What’s offered

One on One

Private Mentorship Sessions

Direct 1-on-1 time. Audition material, craft, mindset, and navigating the industry as a young artist of color.

Open Access

Industry Q&A Office Hours

Regular open sessions for real questions — auditions, agents, college, mental health, all of it.

Community

The Showell Cohort

A curated group of mentees who grow together. Peer accountability and a community built around lifting each other.

Why me

I’m not just a Broadway actor. I’m someone who remembers what it felt like to want this and not know if it was possible. I cried to my dad on the way to work at a gym two months into New York. He told me: so long as love is at the center of what you’re doing, you’re in the right place.

I believe the next generation of Broadway — more diverse, more powerful, more reflective of this country — is already out there. Waiting for a door to open. I want to be that door.

Selected credits

Broadway

Floyd Collins — Lincoln Center Theater

National Tour

Hamilton — u/s Lafayette / Jefferson

Off-Broadway

Buena Vista Social Club — Atlantic Theatre Co.

Regional

Porgy and Bess — The Kennedy Center

Coming soon

Interest list
now open

The program is in development. If this is for you — or for a young artist in your life — get on the list.