By Andrew Poretz . . .
The New York Pops orchestra, under the direction of Maestro Steven Reineke, is one of the hippest and exciting orchestras out there, with innovative programs and daring choices, whether covering music from Star Wars, Motown classics, or film scores, and at this concert, even some rap. On November 21, the Pops program at Carnegie Hall celebrate the music of Lin-Manuel Miranda with Everything I Know: Mandy Gonzales Sings Lin-Manuel Miranda. This program, conceived by Gonzales, premiered in September with the Boston Pops orchestra.
Miranda, a playwright, screenwriter, songwriter, actor and singer, is best known for his musicals In the Heights and Hamilton, and is an Oscar away from achieving “EGOT” (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award winner) status. A New York native of Puerto Rican descent, Miranda grew up in Washington Heights, and still lives there.
Gonzales, an accomplished film, TV, stage actor and author, possesses one of the most powerful and versatile contemporary voices of our time (Miranda playfully calls her “The Beast”). She starred as Angelica Schuyler in Hamilton for six years.
An overture of Miranda’s music set the tone for the evening, making liberal use of with several percussion instruments like a marimba and congas that have strong connections to Latin musical traditions. Gonzales came to the stage, resplendent in a gold gown, to sing “One of a Kind” (Vivo). Her voice is rich, powerful and rangy, and she has a huge stage presence.
She performed “Spanish Me, English Me,” a song Miranda co-wrote for Sesame Street’s first bilingual album, Sesame Mucho. She often sang this to her young daughter. She referred to it as “Sesame Mucho.”
The star took to a stool for Breathe, from In the Heights. The story here is potent, and Gonzales’s singing was passionate, her powerful voice here very Shirley Bassey. It was personal, intimate, and “real.”
A fascinating mashup piece, “Preciosa”/“Almost Like Praying,” combined elements of “Maria” from West Side Story with the 1937 patriotic composition by Puerto Rican composer Rafael Hernández Marin. The overall piece is credit to Marin, Leonard Bernstein, Miranda, and Stephen Sondheim.
This show is very much in the form of an intimate cabaret show on steroids, with much storytelling and personal anecdotes to set up each song. Much of the audience was familiar with even Miranda’s lesser-known works like 21 Chump Street, apparently modeled on the old TV show that made Johnny Depp a star, 21 Jump Street. The Pops performed a medley of “One School” and “What the Heck I Gotta Do,” about a 25-year-old cop going undercover as an overaged high-school student, only to to be asked to the prom by a real student (a duet of Gonzalez and stage actor Philippe Arroyo). Pieces like this helped paint a picture of Miranda’s influences and career trajectory. For this writer (I’ve seen only Hamilton and the film of In the Heights), it was enlightening).
A huge concert highlight was the Hamilton Suite, which had Gonzalez reprise her Hamilton role in duets with Arroyo. It included a playful section with them singing several measures of “Lin-Manuel, history has its eyes on you,” borrowing a song from the musical.
The second half of the program included wonderful performances of songs from In the Heights, Encanto (the very funny “We Don’t Talk About Bruno)”, Vivo and Moana, though one of the best parts of the show was a segment called Lin-Man and the Beast: A Mixtape. Here, Gonzales and the orchestra, performed a medley of popular songs from mixtapes Miranda often made for his friends. Miranda would call himself “Lin-Man,” and his nickname for Gonzalez and her formidable singing chops was “The Beast.” This was the most “inside baseball” moment of the show. “The Beast” certainly did blow the roof off the joint. Miranda, from his family box on the stage right side of the audience, could be seen reacting with great glee throughout this segment.
Gonzalez became visibly emotional talking abo her grandparents, and performed the beautiful ballad “Everything I Know” from In the Heights.” She performed it for her late “abuela,” her voice breaking with emotion at the song’s conclusion. This was real for her.
The exciting finale featured a mash-up of Miranda’s “Cheering for Me Now” with Kander and Ebb’s “New York, New York,” created with by Miranda with Kander for a Broadway adaptation of the New York, New York film. The orchestration quoted music by Gershwin and the song “On Broadway.”
The spectacular encore had Gonzalez’s “Fearless Squad” of some 53 young people join on and in front of the stage for, “Fearless,” which Manuel wrote for the squad. Miranda himself appeared for curtain calls.
This was an extraordinary and unique concert by the New York Pops. Before closing the show, Maestro Reineke announced that the April 27, 2026 gala and performance would honor Steven Schwartz. This is not to be missed. For more information, visit https://newyorkpops.org/.
Photos: Rebecca Michelson
