Apr. 4, 5, & 6, 2025
Showstoppers! Celebrating Iconic Women of Broadway
In this spectacular Broadway show, you’ll hear electrifying showstoppers from Wicked, In the Heights, Hamilton, and more in the voice of the extraordinary Mandy Gonzalez.
About This Concert
“Everyone deserves the chance to fly” (Wicked). In this spectacular Broadway show, you’ll hear electrifying showstoppers from Wicked, In the Heights, Hamilton, and more, each with a nod to powerful female characters who never let anyone bring them down.
Possessing one of the most dynamic and expressive voices on Broadway, no one’s better suited to these songs than Mandy Gonzalez. As a special treat, Mandy also shares a song written just for her by Lin-Manuel Miranda.
What to Expect:
- Marvel at one of the most unbelievable voices on Broadway as Mandy Gonzalez belts iconic songs to the back row
- Mandy’s numerous Broadway accolades include starring as Angelica Schuyler in Hamilton, and originating the role of Nina Rosario in In the Heights
Join us at our Annual Salute to Educators concert as we honor Houston-area educators who work tirelessly to help students grow and succeed during the Sunday performance on April 6. As part of this celebration, we will present the Spec’s Charitable Foundation Award for Excellence in Music Education to this year’s award recipient, Grace Lewis. Click here to learn more >
Tickets
Saturday, Apr. 5
Encore After Party for All Ticket Holders
The celebration doesn’t end when the concert does!
All ticket holders, whether you attended Friday or have tickets for Sunday, are invited to a free Encore After Party after Saturday’s performance.
Enjoy a live DJ, great photo ops, and signature cocktails while keeping the magic going. Don’t miss it!
Artists
Steven Reineke
conductor
Mandy Gonzalez
vocalist
Sponsored by
Ellen A. Yarrell
Sponsor
Extras
Annual Salute to Educators Concert & Spec’s Charitable Foundation Award for Excellence in Music Education
Join us at our annual Salute to Educators concert as we honor Houston-area educators who work tirelessly to help students grow and succeed during the Sunday performance on April 6. As part of this celebration, we will present the Spec’s Charitable Foundation Award for Excellence in Music Education to this year’s award recipient, Grace Lewis.
Grace Lewis
Spec’s Charitable Foundation Award for Excellence in Music Education 2025 Recipient
Grace is an accomplished double bassist, conductor, and visionary music educator dedicated to expanding orchestral opportunities for students in underserved communities. She is the Director of Orchestras at G.W. Carver Magnet High School in Aldine ISD, conductor for the Pearland Youth Orchestra and the director and founder of Collegia, an initiative that provides after-school music programs for young students in underserved communities.
Grace's impact on the young musicians at her school and throughout her feeder pattern is profound. We are excited to celebrate Grace and other distinguished educators in Houston on April 6!
Grace was selected from four semifinalists, each nominated for their exceptional dedication to music education within their school and community. As partnering educators of the Symphony, these finalists have made a significant impact on the arts in our region. This season’s distinguished semifinalists are Jesse D. Espinosa, Jordan Stewart, and Marcus Wilmore.
Program
STYNE/RAMIN-GINZLER
Overture to Gypsy
A. LLOYD WEBBER/CULLEN
“With One Look” from Sunset Boulevard
BERNSTEIN
“Somewhere” from West Side Story
J. KANDER/TBC
“But the World Goes 'Round” from New York, New York
L. MIRANDA/LACAMOIRE-SHERMAN-SHIRAR
“Breathe” from In the Heights
GARCÍA/S. REINEKE
“Conga” from On Your Feet!
STYNE/LACAMOIRE-SHIRAR
“Everything's Coming Up Roses” from Gypsy
J. KANDER/T. BERENS
“Gimme Love” from Kiss of the Spider Woman
BERNSTEIN/RAMIN-KOSTAL
“Mambo” from Symphonic Dances from West Side Story
S. FLAHERTY/S. REINEKE
“Ragtime” from Ragtime
L. MIRANDA/LACAMOIRE-SHIRAR
“Satisfied” from Hamilton
S. SCHWARTZ/SHIRAR
“Defying Gravity” from Wicked
S. SCHWARTZ/BUYS-PURCELL
“Meadowlark” from The Baker's Wife
SONDHEIM/J. TUNICK
“Send In the Clowns” from A Little Night Music
J. KANDER/GIBSON
Suite from Chicago [with cut]
S. FLAHERTY/BROHN
“Back to Before” from Ragtime
L. MIRANDA
“Fearless”
Program Notes
Discover the stories behind the music with program notes and gain deeper insight into our concert, Showstoppers! Celebrating Iconic Women of Broadway.
Visitor Info
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Houston Symphony Principal POPS Conductor Steven Reineke is one of North America's leading conductors of popular music. He is in his second decade as music director of The New York Pops at Carnegie Hall. Additionally, he is principal pops conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Steven is a frequent guest conductor and can be seen on the podium with the Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, and Detroit Symphony Orchestras. On stage, he creates and collaborates with a range of leading artists from the worlds hip-hop, R & B, Broadway, television, and rock including: Maxwell, Common, Kendrick Lamar, Nas, Ne-Yo, Bob Weir, Trey Anastasio, Barry Manilow, Cynthia Erivo, Ben Rector, Cody Fry, Sutton Foster, Amos Lee, Dispatch, Jason Mraz, and Ben Folds, among others. In 2024, he led the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) on PBS's Next at the Kennedy Center featuring Ben Folds DeClassified with Jacob Collier, Laufey, and dodie. He was previously seen with the NSO on PBS on Great Performances with hip-hop legend Nas performing his seminal album Illmatic. In 2017, he was featured on National Public Radio's All Things Considered leading the NSO—in a first for the show's 45-year history—performing live music excerpts between news segments. As the creator of hundreds orchestral arrangements, Steven’s work is performed worldwide and can be heard on numerous Cincinnati Pops Orchestra recordings. His symphonic works Celebration Fanfare, Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and Casey at the Bat are frequently performed in North America, including performances by the New York Philharmonic and Los Angeles Philharmonic. His Sun Valley Festival Fanfare was used to commemorate the Sun Valley Summer Symphony’s pavilion, and his Festival Te Deum and Swan’s Island Sojourn were debuted by the Cincinnati Symphony and Cincinnati Pops Orchestras. His numerous wind ensemble compositions are published by the C.L. Barnhouse Company and are perennially performed by concert bands. A native of Ohio, Steven is a graduate of Miami University of Ohio (2020 Alumnus Distinguished Achievement Medal), where he earned bachelor of music degrees with honors in both trumpet performance and music composition. He currently resides in New York City with his husband Eric Gabbard.
Mandy Gonzalez, an accomplished film, TV, stage actor, and author, possesses one of the most powerful and versatile contemporary voices of our time. She is currently guest starring as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard on Broadway. Her first Broadway role was in Aida, and she has since originated the role of Nina Rosario in the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, In The Heights, for which she received a Drama Desk Award. She is also among the Broadway greats who have taken on the role of Elphaba in Wicked, and most recently, she starred in the megahit Hamilton as Angelica Schuyler for six years.
Along with being a stage actor, Gonzalez has been featured in television and movie roles, including The Good Wife, Madam Secretary, Across the Universe, Quantico, and Only Murders in the Building. A frequent concert soloist, she 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.
Gonzalez released her debut album Fearless in 2017, which debuted in the top 20 of iTunes pop charts. In her quest to create positive change, she is the proud founder of #FearlessSquad—a social media movement for inclusiveness and positivity. Gonzalez is also an accomplished author who recently published her Young Adult series, Fearless—a four-book middle-grade series that follows young thespians whose brushes with the supernatural teach them about theater, friendship, and themselves.
Gonzalez is deeply committed to advocating for underserved communities and schools. She serves on the boards of BCRF (Breast Cancer Research Foundation) and BCEFA (Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS), where she actively promotes awareness and fundraising efforts.