Broadway star Mandy Gonzalez will headline a benefit concert at Napa's Uptown Theatre on September 18, bringing the music of Lin-Manuel Miranda to downtown Napa for a night that pairs star power with a deeply personal cause. Gonzalez, who spent more than six years playing Angelica Schuyler in Hamilton, is the granddaughter of Northern California farmworkers, and the show, titled “Everything I Know,” will raise money for the Miranda Family Fund and the Napa Valley Farmworker Foundation.
The concert takes place at the Uptown Theatre, located at 1350 Third St. in downtown Napa, according to the Napa Valley Register. Gonzalez previously performed this same “Everything I Know” program at Carnegie Hall in New York before adapting it for the Napa Valley benefit, according to Wine Industry Advisor. The evening will feature selections from Hamilton, In the Heights, Encanto and Moana, spanning the body of work that has earned Miranda a Pulitzer Prize, a Grammy, an Emmy and a Tony.
A Personal Connection to the Cause
Gonzalez said bringing the show to Napa is deeply personal to her, and that she is proud to support the Miranda Family Fund while honoring farmworkers, per the Register's report. Her family history as descendants of Northern California farmworkers gives the benefit's beneficiary organizations added resonance beyond a typical celebrity fundraiser stop.
The Napa Valley Farmworker Foundation, founded in 2011 by the Napa Valley Grapegrowers, provides adult literacy, education and professional development to nearly 3,000 vineyard workers annually and has served more than 33,000 workers and family members since it was created, according to the Napa Valley Farmworker Foundation. The other beneficiary, the Miranda Family Fund, operates through the Hispanic Federation and supports emerging Latino artists, fellowship programs, civic engagement and immigrant community initiatives across the United States and Puerto Rico, per the Hispanic Federation.
Broadway Royalty Takes the Stage
Gonzalez originated the role of Nina Rosario in Miranda's Tony Award-winning musical In the Heights, winning a Drama Desk Award for the performance, before moving on to her long run as Angelica Schuyler in Hamilton, according to The Kennedy Center. Beyond her collaborations with Miranda, she has also starred as Elphaba in Wicked and played Princess Amneris in Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida, per the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra.
The Napa show will be hosted by Tony Award winner Anthony Veneziale, who co-founded the Broadway improv hip-hop group Freestyle Love Supreme alongside Miranda and also co-founded Freestyle+, per Wine Industry Advisor. The event will include live stage appearances by Miranda's parents, Luis A. Miranda Jr. and Dr. Luz Towns-Miranda, a video greeting from Lin-Manuel Miranda himself, and featured performances by local youth artists sharing the stage with the Broadway veterans.
Truchard's Downtown Napa Entertainment Push
The Uptown Theatre is owned by vintner John Anthony Truchard, who also owns the Napa Music Hall. Truchard said live performance belongs alongside Napa Valley's wine, food and hospitality experiences, and that the two venues were created as destinations combining world-class artists, hospitality and community experiences, according to the Register. The Uptown opened as an Art Deco movie palace in 1937, seats 863 people, and was acquired by Truchard and his wife Michele in mid-2022, per The Napa Wine Project.
Truchard donated Napa Valley wine and culinary offerings for the concert's benefactor and VIP packages, which also include a private reception and post-concert celebrations. VIP ticket holders will head to a post-concert gathering at Napa Music Hall, the live-music venue operating inside the 146-year-old, renamed Opera House, according to the Hispanic Federation. Together, the Uptown Theatre and Napa Music Hall present roughly 350 live events annually in downtown Napa under Truchard's ownership, per PR Newswire.
Tickets and Details
Tickets for “Everything I Know” range from $100 to $1,500 each, with the benefactor and VIP tiers featuring Napa Valley wine and culinary offerings alongside the private reception access.
