Derek Klena and Lindsay Mendez are the guest artists for Sleigh Bells Ring, The New York Pops' holiday concert at Carnegie Hall, on December 18 and 19 at 8 PM.
Both nights are in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage, with the orchestra's music director, Steven Reineke, conducting. The choir Essential Voices USA joins them under its own music director, Judith Clurman, for a program of traditional carols and more recent holiday songs.
The two singers go back a long way. Klena was cast opposite Mendez Off-Broadway as Eddie Birdlace in Benj Pasek and Justin Paul's Dogfight at Second Stage, and the pair later played Fiyero and Elphaba opposite each other in Wicked on Broadway, in the show's tenth-anniversary year.
Klena earned a Tony nomination for originating Nick Healy in Jagged Little Pill, created roles in The Bridges of Madison County and Anastasia, and succeeded Aaron Tveit as Christian in Moulin Rouge!. The concerts come two weeks into his limited run as Jay Gatsby in The Great Gatsby at the Broadway Theatre, which begins on December 5.
Mendez won the Tony Award for Carrie Pipperidge in the 2018 Broadway revival of Carousel, and was nominated again for Mary Flynn in Merrily We Roll Along opposite Jonathan Groff and Daniel Radcliffe, a performance she first gave at New York Theatre Workshop. Her television work includes Elsbeth on CBS.
Tickets for both performances are sold through The New York Pops. Before then, the orchestra has Denée Benton and Jordan Donica on the same stage for one night on November 20.
