​Recent & Upcoming

'A Picture of Two Boys' by Nick Malakhow, as a part of Abingdon Theatre Company's (New York) Virtual Festival of Short Plays, with introductions by Tony® winner Kenny Leon, and featuring actors Jeff Gorti (Helen Hayes Award winner) & David Castillo. October 2020

After shutting down due to the pandemic, 'Bon Appétit!' went virtual from The Woman's Club of El Paso, starring mezzo-soprano Cherry Duke (Fort Worth Opera, Los Angeles Opera) as the iconic chef Julia Child. February 2021

As Artistic Director of El Paso Opera, Justin created #CurbsideOpera, a bring-the-music-to-the-people initiative that has reached thousands, having made over 100 stops in one quarter from a Texas-sized pickup truck mobile stage, inspiring companies nationwide to follow suit.

Justin stage directs Robert Xavier Rodriguez' 'Frida' for the International Summer Opera Festival of Morelia (México). June 2021 (postponed due to COVID-19; new date TBD)

"Giving Voice" celebrates Latinx opera artists in response to the racially motivated Walmart act of terror. The industry panel discussion featured Justin, baritone Luis Alejandro Orozco (Washington National Opera, Florida Grand Opera, San Diego Opera), mezzo-soprano Stephanie Sanchez (Arizona Opera, San Jose Opera, Glimmerglass) & bass-baritone Ricardo Herrera (San Francisco Opera, Gotham Opera, Cincinnati Opera); the main event virtual recital from Opera America headquarter's Scorca Hall in Manhattan was headlined by Orozco and featured pianist Michael Lewis (Cincinnati Opera, The Glimmerglass, Tri-Cities Opera). October 2020

Pittsburgh Festival Opera "Opera in the Neighborhood" digital "opera film" production of Pauline Viardot's 'Cendrillon' in a new adaptation by Seamus Ricci. Spring & Summer 2021

El Paso Opera brings back live performance with audiences to the "sombrero opera house" Abraham Chavez Theatre under the baton of Jorge Parodi (Manhattan School of Music, Juilliard, Opera Hispánica) and starring soprano Catalina Cuervo (New York City Opera, Florida Grand Opera, The Atlanta Opera) and bass-baritone Ricardo Herrera (San Francisco Opera, Gotham Opera, The Atlanta Opera), with sets and puppetry by artist and award-winning designer Afsaneh Aayani. This production of Robert Xavier Rodriguez' 'Frida' is supported by a competitive OPERA America Next Stage Grant. March 2022

'The Broken Hearts of a Corrupted White House' by Matthew Paul Olmos (Princess Grace Award, National Latino Playwriting Award) as a part of Kane Repertory Theatre's (outside Chicago) New Play Lab, and featuring Steppenwolf ensemble members Karen Rodriguez (Goodman, Victory Gardens), & James Vincent Meredith (New Victory Off-Broadway, Goodman), as well as Steven Rishard (TV's 'The Americans', Lincoln Center). September 2020

Live & In Color (New York) online 24-hour Play & Song Festival; 'The Appointment' by Ryan Duncan (Broadway's 'Getting the Band Back Together' & 'Shrek the Musical'), featuring Jonathan Burke (Broadway's 'The Inheritance', 'Choir Boy', 'Tuck Everlasting') & Meetu Chilana (Cirque du Soleil). May 2020

Live & In Color (New York) online 24-hour Play & Song Festival; 'Dad in the Dark' by Joey Merlo (New York Foundation for the Arts Artist Fellow; Playwright-in-Residence at Off-Broadway's Abingdon Theatre Company), featuring Marc Sinoway ('Hunting Season'; 59E59 Theaters' and Edinburgh Festival Fringe's 'The Waiting Game') & Joanna Parson ('The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel'). May 2021

Justin stage directs Daniel Catán's opera 'Florencia en el Amazonas' for Arizona State University. Spring 2021 (postponed due to COVID-19; new date TBD)

A live digital remote presentation of John Logan's 'Never the Sinner' for the University of Houston's School of Theatre & Dance. April 2021

Biography

Justin (he/him/his) is a Latinx professional freelance theatre director · an Assistant Professor for The John Wells Directing Program at Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Drama, one of the world’s top-ranking theatre conservatories · the Artistic Director of El Paso Opera, a professional regional company · ​London-trained in theatre directing at the top-ranked East 15 Acting School. His work is at the intersections of the performing arts, education, community building, and the championing of underrepresented voices.

Professional and Artistic Values

Justin's art and teaching aim to normalize the voices of the underrepresented and historically marginalized, including the championing of diversity, equity, inclusion, intersectionality and interculturalism. As a theatre-maker, he explores the performer-spectator dynamic and exploits an audience’s necessary role in theatrical creation.