They say the neon lights are bright on Broadway, but this weekend, all the action is taking place with the Houston Symphony for The Best of Broadway with Jeremy Jordan. The Tony- and Grammy-nominated Broadway star returns by popular demand as Principal POPS Conductor Steven Reineke leads a concert full of musical theatre’s best hits Friday through Sunday at Jones Hall.

“It's going to be a lot of songs from things that I've done in my career and some of my favorite songs from Broadway over the years,” Jordan said. “I don't think any of the numbers are chill, so to speak. It's all epic music, so I'm really excited to bring down the house with every number. They should all be really exhilarating.”

This decades-spanning journey through Broadway’s greatest hits includes Henry Mancini’s “Overture to a Pops Concerti”, West Side Story’s “Something’s Coming,” Smash’s “Broadway, Here I Come,” Waitress’ “She Used to Be Mine,” Les Misérables’ “Bring Him Home,” Oklahoma!’s “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’,” and Newsies The Musical's “Santa Fe.”

“It's definitely a healthy mix so that everybody has something they can love and enjoy,” he said. “Hopefully, people that might not know some of the newer stuff will get to know some of that, and people that don't know some of the older stuff, they'll get to know that. And the orchestra is just fantastic.”

Jordan talks a big game about how “epic” the performance will be, but he’s got the gargantuan voice to match. Not to mention those oh-so charming looks. Combine that with his acting talent, and it is no wonder he has snagged roles both on Broadway and in Hollywood.

Jordan is perhaps best known on stage for his role of Jack Kelly in Newsies The Musical as well as his many roles on television, including series regulars on CW’s “Supergirl,” NBC’s “Smash” and Disney’s “Tangled.” He’s even dipped his toe in the Hallmark Channel pool water with 2021’s “Mix Up in the Mediterranean” in the twin roles of Josh and Julian Northrup.

His film highlights include “The Last Five Years” opposite Anna Kendrick, “Joyful Noise” with Queen Latifah and Dolly Parton and “American Son” with Kerry Washington.

He’s also got that je ne sais quoi that keeps the audience’s attention. Just take a look at his commanding performance at New York City’s 54 Below.
Jordan, who originally hails from Corpus Christi, says it was his grandmother who planted the seed of performing.

“My grandma used to teach the youth program at a community theatre, so I got sort of half-coerced into doing shows there. I secretly liked it, but I was really shy as a kid,” he said. “I think what theatre did was it helped me come out of my shell, and it showed me that I could pretend to be other people. I wasn't always the most comfortable in my own skin, so acting was a nice excuse to be somebody else. Acting has a really fun, exhilarating energy that I still connect with today.”


Now that he’s made a name for himself, Jordan is able to compare performing for film and television versus a live audience. (Spoiler alert: Houston audiences are in for a treat because he favors live performances.)

“I'm always going to choose live performances over anything else, any day. It's just so much more exhilarating,” he said. “You have a connection with the audience, and there's less pressure. It's that one thing that you get to share with this one audience, and there's a really beautiful energy to that. Live performance has always been my preference.”

The man of many talents isn’t abandoning his film and television career, though. He’s got big plans in the works.

“The thing that I'm most excited about is I have a big movie coming out on March 31 called ‘Spinning Gold’,” he said. “I play a record executive named Neil Bogart. It's a biopic from the 1970s. He was the head of Casablanca Records, and they discovered acts like Donna Summer, KISS, Parliament and Village People.”

Houston Symphony’s The Best of Broadway with Jeremy Jordan takes place 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Jones Hall, 615 Louisiana. For tickets or information, call 713-224-7575 or visit houstonsymphony.org. $42 - 165