Tony and Grammy Award-winning performer Leslie Odom Jr. will headline this year’s Pops on the Heights gala, according to marketing materials for the event. This year’s Pops on the Heights, scheduled for Sept. 27, will be the 27th iteration of the fundraiser.
Pops on the Heights, which is BC’s largest annual fundraiser, has raised just under $72 million total over the course of its run. Proceeds from the event fund student scholarships.
Odom is best known for originating the role of Aaron Burr in Hamilton, a performance that earned him the 2016 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical and the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album as a principal soloist.
Odom, who made his Broadway debut in a production of Rent at the age of 17, also appeared in Broadway’s Leap of Faith, off-broadway’s Venice, and an off-Broadway revival of Tick, Tick… Boom!—where he first worked with Hamilton composer and lyricist Lin-Manuel Miranda, according to his biography.
Odom is also known for portraying the character of Sam Strickland in NBC’s Smash from 2012 to 2013, and he has made appearances in several other TV shows, including Law and Order: SVU, Grey’s Anatomy, and CSI: Miami.
Odom has also released two solo albums, Leslie Odom Jr. and Simply Christmas, and he is the author of Failing Up: How to Take Risks, Aim Higher, and Never Stop Learning, which was released in 2018.
The 2018 Pops on the Heights featured Lionel Richie as its headliner and raised $13 million for 431 student scholarships—the second-highest amount in the event’s history.
The Boston College Graduate Employees Union picketed outside Conte Forum before Pops on the Heights last year, handing out fliers that emphasized the connection between Jesuit social justice teachings and workers’ rights. The fliers clarified that the union supported the purpose of Pops on the Heights and did not want to interfere with it.
Tickets, which run from $75 to $200, sold out before Odom was announced as the guest artist.
Featured Image Courtesy of Warren Elgort / Wikimedia Commons
