CHARACTERS/CASTING/AUDITION PIECES

CASTING NOTE: Licencing agents for In the Heights, Origin Theatrical have approved culturally inclusive casting as per our team’s Director’s Statement accessible below.

  • Sonny – Male. 16-25. Usnavi’s little cousin.
    • Song: In The Heights (bars 1 – 37) or Benny’s Dispatch
    • Track: See tracks for Usnavi and Benny
    • Script Fragment: ITH-SONNY-and-GRAFFITI-PETE.pdf
    • Character Ethnicity: Latino
    • Casting: Latino/Hispanic/South American/Māori/Pasifika/Asian/Indian/Indonesian
  • Graffiti Pete – Male. 20’s. A neighbourhood street artist.
    • Song: In The Heights (bars 1 – 37), Benny’s Dispatch or something in a similar style to the show.  If your chosen song is not from the show then please bring a device to play the music from and phone adaptors (to 3.5mm jack).
    • Track: See tracks for Usnavi and Benny
    • Script Fragment: ITH-SONNY-and-GRAFFITI-PETE.pdf
    • Character Ethnicity: Latino
    • Casting: Latino/Hispanic/South American/Māori/Pasifika/Asian/Indian/Indonesia
  • Female Ensemble x5 – Ranging in age from 20-50, preferrably with movement ability.
    • Song: Any female solo song from the show, or something in a similar style.
    • Track: Please provide the track you practice with.  If your chosen song is not from the show then please bring a device to play the music from and phone adaptors (to 3.5mm jack).
    • Casting: Latino/Hispanic/South American/Māori/Pasifika/Asian/Indian/Indonesian/Pākeha
  • Male Ensemble x6 – Ranging in age from 20-50, preferrably with movement ability.
    • Song: Any male solo song from the show, or something in a similar style.
    • Track: Please provide the track you practice with.  If your chosen song is not from the show then please bring a device to play the music from and phone adaptors (to 3.5mm jack).
    • Casting: Latino/Hispanic/South American/Māori/Pasifika/Asian/Indian/Indonesian/Pākeha

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

Kia ora!

My name is Mel Martin-Booker and I am currently the immediate past President for HMT, as well as the intended director for In the Heights in 2025.

I’m a Pākeha (non-indigenous), queer, disabled woman who was raised with two younger brothers by a single mother, in a very poor neighbourhood of Hamilton, NZ. In the Heights speaks strongly to the way I feel about my hometown and community; it gives a voice to people like me who feel like they don’t belong in either of the worlds they exist in, as well as to the diverse cultures that populate our most impoverished communities.

To me, In the Heights is a story of a community coming together, of finding home in the places you least expect, of overcoming the adversity placed on us all by society’s inequitable treatment of minority groups. More importantly, it’s the story of immigrants who have come to a great nation in search of freedoms not afforded to them on the islands they call home.

And while In the Heights specifically tells the story of immigrants living in America from places like Cuba and the Dominican Republic, it is a universal story for Māori, and for Pasifika peoples living in Aotearoa (New Zealand) as we settle into a time of fighting for the continued national recognition of te ao Māori.

It’s my aim to engage the Hispanic and Latin communities here in the Waikato region; but I would also like to include the possibility of casting those of all indigenous cultures. Our membership (and thus the people that are most likely to audition) consists of a range of indigenous cultures from Asian/Indian, to South American, Māori and Pasifika.

With so little in the way of musical theatre specifically for our Māori and Pasifika members and audience, shows like In the Heights offer intentional performance opportunities for people of colour, where they can bring the mana (supernatural force within a human being) of their cultures to a rich retelling of the diverse Washington Heights community.

As President for the society, I have been on a mission to diversify our membership and show selections. We started last year with the sellout season of Hairspray, showing that there’s a need for a wider range of faces and voices on our stage.

I will want to be casting most roles as closely to the character description as possible, with actors who identify as Hispanic, Latin, Indian/Asian, Māori and Pasifika, or other indigenous cultures.

Potential casting could look something like:

  • USNAVI – Latino/Hispanic/Māori/Pasifika, male
  • VANESSA – Latina/Hispanic/Indian/Asian/Māori/Pasifika, female
  • BENNY – Pākeha (non-indigenous)/African American To my mind Benny is “other”, so their ethnicity really just needs to not be the same as the actors playing the Rosario’s.
  • NINA – Latina/Hispanic/Māori/Pasifika, female
  • ABUELA CLAUDIA – Latina/Hispanic/Māori/Pasifika, female
  • CAMILA ROSARIO – Latina/Hispanic/Māori/Pasifika, female
  • KEVIN ROSARIO – Latino/Hispanic/Māori/Pasifika, male
  • CARLA – Latina/Hispanic/Indian/Asian/Māori/Pasifika, female
  • DANIELA – Latina/Hispanic/Māori/Pasifika, female
  • SONNY – Latino/Hispanic/Māori/Pasifika, male
  • PIRAGUA GUY – Latino/Hispanic/Māori/Pasifika, male
  • GRAFFITI PETE – Latino/African American/Indian/Asian/Māori/Pasifika, male
  • ENSEMBLE – A range of ethnicities, genders and ages.
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