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Mandy Gonzalez honors Lin-Manuel Miranda with Boston Pops

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Mandy Gonzalez honors Lin-Manuel Miranda with Boston Pops


Mandy Gonzalez knew Lin-Manuel Miranda before he was Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Gonzalez, who won a Drama Desk Award for originating the role of Nina Rosario in the Tony-winning “In The Heights,” came up alongside Miranda as he was honing his unique style.

“On Off Broadway, I remember handing out flyers to people, saying, ‘Please come and see the show, it’s really special and we love it.’ ” Gonzalez told the Boston Herald. “We didn’t know then if it would go all the way.”

“In the Heights” did go all the way. The hip hop, salsa and Latin pop-infused musical became a minor sensation on Broadway in 2008 paving the way for the unprecedented success of Miranda’s “Hamilton” seven years later.

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On Sept. 20, Gonzalez will team with the Boston Pops to present the world premiere of “Everything I Know,” a night of Miranda’s music at Symphony Hall.

“Lin-Manuel is not only my dear friend but one of the most transformative voices of a generation, perhaps of this century,” she said. “It’s such a pleasure and gift to present this music. Then when Keith Lockhart said yes to doing it with the Boston Pops, it’s the best of the best, which is what I want the first time I put this show out.”

“And the fact that Lin-Manuel said yes to (me doing) this,” she added with a laugh. “That was the first gift.”

Beyond selections from “In the Heights,” the program will feature Miranda-penned songs from blockbuster movies including “Moana,” “Encanto,” and “The Little Mermaid,” along with lesser known gems such as the mini-musical “21 Chump Street.”

And, of course, there will be songs from “Hamilton,” which Gonzalez knows well from first-hand experience — she played Angelica Schuyler in the Broadway production.

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“Javier Muñoz was playing Hamilton at the time… and I remember we were sitting at the back of the house and Javier, who was in ‘In the Heights’ with me, looked over at me and said, ‘We are in Hamilton,’” Gonzalez said. “We were giggling like kids because it was so exciting. It was the show, it still is the show, that everybody wants to get a ticket to.”

Since her breakout in “In the Heights,” Gonzales has been busy. Beyond her work with Miranda, she starred on Broadway as Elphaba in “Wicked,” acted as Nicole Scherzinger’s alternate in the hit “Sunset Boulevard,” had a recurring role on CBS’ “Madam Secretary,” and much more. Whatever comes up in the future, she knows she’ll need to make time for “Everything I Know.”

“Creating my own project was very, very important to me and I feel like there’s always room for everything,” she said with a laugh. “If that means that on this day I do a Broadway show and on another I do ‘Everything I Know,’ hopefully the audience will follow.”

For tickets and details, visit bso.org

 

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Boston, MA

Your 2026 Red Sox season primer

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Your 2026 Red Sox season primer






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Massachusetts State Police trooper ‘relieved of duty’ after drunken driving arrest in Boston

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Massachusetts State Police trooper ‘relieved of duty’ after drunken driving arrest in Boston


A State Police trooper who was allegedly found “slumped over” in his car at around 5 a.m. in the South End with an open container of High Noon vodka has been “relieved of duty.”

Mass State Police confirmed to the Herald Wednesday night that Trooper Donovan Preston, 31, arrested for alleged drunken driving in Boston this past weekend, “has been relieved of duty.” Preston’s base pay is listed as $80,213.

A Boston Police report states that police arrived at Herald Street on Saturday to see Preston “stopped in lane 2 of the road” with his brake lights on. The suspect was slumped over “with his eyes closed,” the report adds.

“The officer observed that the car was on and in drive. The officer observed an open container of alcohol (High Noon) in the cupholder,” according to the report. The BPD officer then knocked on the window “for approximately 10 seconds before the suspect lifted his head up.”

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Once he picked his head up, police said he appeared “confused and he looked around. The suspect’s vehicle began to roll to which the officer announced, ‘Boston Police. Open the Door.’ ”

Preston stopped on the three-lane, outbound road with his black BMW in the middle of two lanes.

A State Police spokesman said in an email: “Trooper Donovan Preston was relieved of duty and will be subject to a department discipline process.” All other comments were directed toward the police report.

That report, provided to the Herald Wednesday night, added that State Police were notified after Preston’s arrest.

The can of High Noon was logged into the evidence book.

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This latest OUI case comes as State Police Sgt. Scott Quigley is being investigated in an alleged drunken driving fatal crash in Woburn in 2023 that killed a disabled passenger in a van.

In the Quigley case, his blood alcohol level reportedly tested at a .114 at the hospital following the crash (the legal limit is .08). That detail came out in a wrongful death suit filed by the victim Angelo Schettino’s family.

‘Unless he’s s###-faced, I’m not worried’: Mass State Police dash cam catches aftermath of deadly cruiser crash [+video]

The smashed van at the Woburn crash scene. (MSP body camera video screengrab)

 

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TSA wait times hit

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TSA wait times hit



TSA wait times are still painfully long at airports across the country because of the partial government shutdown. Even if you avoid the problem by leaving Logan Airport in Boston, you will likely run into it when you fly home.

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Exhausted travelers flying into Boston from George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, said they spent several hours in TSA lines before getting on their flights Tuesday.

Nay Dedrick of Dorchester was to supposed to arrive in Boston at 6 p.m. Monday, but said she missed her flight after waiting “6 to 8 hours” in the long security line in Houston.

“TSA was only 2 people working,” she said. “The line started downstairs and went all the way down to the basement, and then it goes all the way back up to the third floor.”

So, she slept at the airport and tried again on Tuesday.

“It’s very frustrating. I’m very tired,” Dedrick said after finally arriving home in Boston Tuesday afternoon.

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Travelers wait in long security lines at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas on March 23, 2026.

RONALDO SCHEMIDT /AFP via Getty Images


Mary Jo Kane of Jamaica Plain arrived at the airport in Houston nearly six hours before her 7 a.m. flight to Boston Tuesday.

“I got there at 2-2:15 (a.m.) and then you go to the TSA and it’s kind of like Disney World during school vacation week,” she said.

One thing these travelers had in common is sympathy for TSA agents.

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“I commend them,” Dedrick said.

“These people came in here, they’re not getting paid. Maybe their pay is deferred, but would you come into work?,” Kane said.

TSA agents have now gone 40 days without pay since the Department of Homeland Security stopped getting funding from the government. 

TSA wait times at major U.S. airports (Table)



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