ST. LOUIS – Mandy Gonzalez, a member of the Broadway cast of "Hamilton" since September, had several reasons to be excited about her trip to St. Louis this week.
“I got to have my first toasted ravioli which was amazing,” said Gonzalez, backstage at the Sheldon Theater for a benefit concert.
There’s also a more personal connection to St. Louis for Gonzalez, whose 95-year-old grandmother Marie Belle Cohen, grew up in St. Louis before moving to California.
“She grew up here in St. Louis in an apartment, I’m not sure, it may have been around the Loop,” said Gonzalez. “She’s the youngest of seven kids and she lived here for 13 years and she used to tell me about the summers in St. Louis and how it used to get so hot that she and her siblings would go sleep in the park.”
Gonzalez credits her grandmother for encouraging her singing.
“She would sing songs to me, old songs and I would sing back. I was the only grandchild that did that and I had a really big voice and she said to my mother, ‘She’s going to hurt herself. We need to put her into lessons.’ I’m only here because of the support she gave me as an artist.”
Gonzalez’ Tuesday night benefit concert at the Sheldon Theater was in support of “December" Magazine, a non-profit literary magazine based in St. Louis. “December" is one of the few literary magazines that pays its contributors.
“I read it and I thought it was incredible, like no other magazine I’d seen before and I said ‘Of course I’ll come,’” said Gonzalez. “It takes support to do what you love and I think that the arts need to be supported in all avenues.”
Mandy Gonzalez is having a moment that actors dream of. She tours in support of her album “Fearless”. Unless she’s acting in the tv drama “Madam Secretary” in a recurring role as the President’s assistant. Except when she’s performing on Broadway in Hamilton.
“The most beautiful thing for me about 'Hamilton' is that it’s brought the world to Lin,” said Gonzalez about her longtime friend, Hamilton creator Lin Manuel-Miranda. “He’s like a brother. He just has this energy that radiates light and you’re drawn to him and this talent and this heart he just wants to share with everybody.”
Manuel-Miranda hired Gonzalez to perform in his first Broadway hit “In The Heights”.
Gonzalez is pleased with her success and said her husband and 6-year-old daughter keep her grounded.
“I think I take it as it comes along,” said Gonzalez. “I’ve worked so hard for this to happen, but it would mean nothing without my family.”
For more information about “December” Magazine www.decembermag.org. Mandy Gonzalez’ website is mandygonzalez.com.
