2026 Guest Mentors

We are thrilled to make an early announcement about two of our celebrity guest mentors joining us for Songbook Academy 2026!

Browse our 2026 program faculty and keep an eye out for future guest mentor announcements later this season as we reveal the full panel of special guests joining us this July!
 

Guest Mentors:

MANDY GONZALEZ - Guest Mentor

Mandy Gonzalez is an accomplished film, TV, stage actor and author. She possesses one of the most powerful and versatile contemporary voices of our time. Mandy has starred on Broadway in the megahit Hamilton as Angelica Schuyler. She also originated Nina Rosario in the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, In The Heights, for which Mandy received a Drama Desk Award. Mandy also starred as Elphaba in the Broadway production of Wicked, blowing the roof off of New York’s Gershwin Theatre each night as she belted out the signature song, Defying Gravity. She most recently guest-starred as Norma Desmond in the Tony-winning revival of Sunset Blvd.

Mandy also received an OBIE Award and overwhelming critical praise for her performance in the Off-Broadway production of Eli’s Comin’. Television viewers have had the pleasure of seeing Mandy in her recurring roles in the hit series Madam Secretary, BULL, Quantico, and alongside Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez in Only Murders in the Building. Equally at home on the big and small screen, she has appeared in Across the Universe directed by Julie Taymor, After starring opposite Pablo Schreiber, and Man on a Ledge with Sam Worthington. Mandy can also be heard as the voice of Mei in Disney’s Mulan 2, and as the voice of Mother Rose on the Disney Plus and Disney Jr. series Alice’s Wonderland Bakery.

A frequent concert soloist, Mandy has performed with symphony orchestras around the world.  Highlights include: Carnegie Hall with The New York Pops, Boston Pops, Philly Pops, The National Symphony Orchestra, Houston Symphony, and Atlanta Pops to name a few.

She recently brought her concert, Everything I Know: Mandy Gonzalez sings Lin Manuel Miranda, to Carnegie Hall to rave reviews. The show is a dynamic production that pairs Gonzalez’s powerhouse voice and emotive prowess with a full accompaniment, creating an unforgettable celebration of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s iconic works. Mandy will be performing this show with symphonies across the country in 2026.

Mandy is also an accomplished author who published a Young Adult series, FEARLESS, with Simon and Schuster.

TELLY LEUNG - Guest Mentor

Telly Leung (he / him) is a Chinese-American performer, recording artist, director, producer & performing arts teacher best known for his performances on Broadway in Aladdin, In Transit, Allegiance, Rent, Pacific Overtures, and Flower Drum Song. His Off-Broadway debut was in The World of Extreme Happiness at Manhattan Theatre Club. Selected regional credits include the world premiere of My Best Friend’s Wedding - The Musical (Ogunquit Playhouse), Rent: The Hollywood Bowl (directed by Neil Patrick Harris), M. Butterfly (Philadelphia Theatre Company), The Taming of the Shrew (Shakespeare Theatre Company), Hello, Dolly! (The Muny), and Miss Saigon (Pittsburgh CLO). Internationally, he has performed in London (George Takei’s Allegiance), Taipei (Wedding Banquet - The Musical), and Tokyo (Jesus Christ Superstar). 

TV audiences will recognize Telly from his recurring roles on Warrior (HBO / Netflix) and Glee (Fox), as well as guest star appearances on Grey’s Anatomy (ABC), Law & Order: Criminal Intent (NBC), Instinct (CBS), Odd Mom Out (Bravo), and Deadbeat (Hulu). He can be seen song coaching the next generation of young Broadway performers as for the Jimmy Awards in the PBS documentary, Broadway or Bust. 

His voice can be heard on many original Broadway cast albums as well as his own solo recordings: I’ll Cover You (2012), Songs for You (2015), All I Want for Christmas is You (2018), New York State of Mind - The Remixes (2019), and You Matter (2021) available on all digital music platforms. He has performed in concert at Carnegie Hall, The Boston Pops, The Memphis Symphony Orchestra, The Arizona Music Festival, The Baltimore Symphony as well as cabaret & jazz clubs around the world like 54 Below & Birdland (New York), Crazy Coqs (London), and JZ Brat (Tokyo).

His directing credits include Yellow Face (Theatre Raleigh), Titanic (CMU), A Little Night Music and Godspell (University of Michigan), Rent (UC Irvine) and he served as the co-director for the 2022 Ford’s Theatre Lincoln Medal Ceremony honoring South Carolina Congressman James Clyburn & music mogul Clive Davis. As a director, he is passionate about developing new work and has helped authors present their work at industry readings via NAMT (National Alliance of Music Theatre), K-Musical Roadshow by KAMS (Korean Arts Management Services), and The Rhinebeck Writer’s Retreat.

His producing credits include Grind (a musical short film starring Anthony Rapp), Ensemble (a documentary following the lives for 13 Broadway dancers on the one-year anniversary of the Covid Broadway shut-down), and The Nice List, an original holiday musical that had a sold-out world premiere at Bristol Riverside Theatre in 2025. He holds a BFA from Carnegie Mellon University's School of Drama, and is pursuing his MFA from The University of Idaho. He is currently playing The Phantom in Masquerade, the immersive Phantom of the Opera directed by Diane Paulus. He is a proud member of AEA, SAG-AFTRA, and SDC. He currently lives in Harlem with his husband, James Babcock.