Interview: Mandy Gonzalez Brings World Premiere of her EVERYTHING I KNOW Tribute to Lin-Manuel Miranda to Boston

Mandy Gonzalez first met Lin-Manuel Miranda when she was cast to play Nina Rosario in the 2007 off-Broadway and 2008 Broadway premieres of “In the Heights.” Born in professional respect, Gonzalez says her relationship with Miranda has since come to mean much more to her.

With that in mind, the singer and actor developed “Everything I Know: Mandy Gonzalez Sings Lin-Manuel Miranda,” a concert tribute to Miranda that will have its world premiere with Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops at Symphony Hall on September 20, with a New York Pops reprise set for Carnegie Hall on November 21.

“I have such a deep friendship with Lin that I wanted to be the one to do this concert, just as Barbara Cook and Bernadette Peters have done Stephen Sondheim shows,” explained Gonzalez by telephone from her home in New York recently. “I think there is a space for this, because Lin’s music keeps touching us and bringing us together. He deserves to be on every platform. Lin is one of the transformative voices of today, of the century really. His songs speak to joy, struggle, hope, and belonging.”

Included on her Boston Pops set list will be the music of Tony, Emmy, Grammy, and Pulitzer Prize-winning Miranda’s groundbreaking Broadway successes, “In the Heights” and “Hamilton,” as well as the melodies he has written for movies like “Moana,” “Encanto,” and “The Little Mermaid,” and lesser-known songs such as “Delivery” (from “Working”) and “21 Chump Street” (from “This American Life”).

“Some of the music I’ve done before, and some I’ll be doing for the first time. I feel a deep connection to all of it,” says Gonzalez, who was the first replacement in the part of Angelica Schuyler in the Broadway company of “Hamilton.” Her six-year run in that show cemented her connection with Miranda, whom she met in 2005 while she was starring in the short-lived “Lennon” on Broadway.

“I got a call at that time telling me about a young songwriter who was working on a new show set in Washington Heights, with a score that blended hip-hop, salsa, merengue and soul. I went to the audition for ‘In the Heights,’ with Lin along with the director, Tommy Kail, and the music director, Alex Lacamoire, in the basement of the Drama Bookshop.

“The first day, Lin said, ‘None of you know this music.’ Then he told Lac, which is what we call Alex, to ‘hit it,’ and he sang the whole score. It was amazing, but it made perfect sense, too, because it was his spirit and his energy in those songs,” recalls the Santa Clarita, California-born singer.

Their bond was immediate and deep, according to Gonzalez, who describes the songwriter, actor, and singer as “like a brother.”

“That experience was the first time I was not the only Latino in the room. I am my family’s American dream,” says Gonzalez, whose father is Mexican and whose mother is Jewish and of Polish and Romanian origin. “To find someone who understood that made me feel seen for the first time.”

In more literal terms, Gonzalez has been seen, and noticed, by New York audiences since her earliest Broadway roles in “Dance of the Vampires” and “Aida.” Since then, her legion of fans has only grown thanks not only to “In the Heights” and “Hamilton” but also to her memorable appearances as Elphaba in “Wicked” (2010–2011) and as the alternate Norma Desmond in last season’s Tony Award-winning revival of “Sunset Boulevard.” She did considerable research before taking on the part of the reclusive silent screen star attempting a comeback.

“It was incredible to be able to play Norma Desmond. It was also incredible to be working on that show with its visionary director, Jamie Lloyd. He encouraged me to bring my truth to that role. To prepare, I read Gloria Swanson’s autobiography, ‘Swanson on Swanson,’ because she not only starred in the film, but ‘Sunset Boulevard’ was in some ways her story.

“I also read Patti LuPone’s book, ‘Patti LuPone: A Memoir,’ because she originated the role in the musical in London, and I thought about Glenn Close and Betty Buckley and others who were Norma Desmond before me,” says Gonzalez. “To live within a character like that, you must not only open up your throat, but also expose your vulnerability, and give everything to it.”

With “Sunset Boulevard” now in her rearview mirror, Gonzalez is focused on her musical tribute to Miranda.

“The first time I did Lin-Manuel Miranda music in concert was in 2023, when I performed with the Boston Pops on the Fourth of July. One of the songs I did that night was ‘Everything I Know,’ from ‘In the Heights.’ It was then I got the idea to put together this show with director Dick Scanlan and my musical arranger Dan Lipton. The three of us felt we could really weave a story using Lin’s music and I believe we’ve done just that. Lin gave me his full okay, and he shared some ideas for the concert, too, which are wonderful.”