ROANOKE, Va. – Controversy over a casting selection for a Mill Mountain Theatre production leads to a temporary show cancelation.
“In the Heights” is an award-winning musical based on the Latino community residing in New York City and portrayed by Latino actors.
While the show was created to embrace and uplift Latino cultures, the Mill Mountain Theatre’s production received some heat when one of the main cast members was not Latino.
Two weeks ago, the Mill Mountain Theatre faced online outrage after a non-Latina was cast to play Vanessa, a Latina main character role in a production of “In The Heights.”
The theatre quickly apologized in a Facebook post and hired a consultant to assure diversity and an appropriate portrayal of the story.
David Allen, the theatre’s board of directors president, said the original show director made the casting selection.
“We acknowledge we were not as thoughtful in that process as we needed to be,” he said. “We needed to do a better job on the front end and assure we were thinking holistically about the authentication of that role and assuring we had the right person in place. And clearly we did not do that.”
The actress, director and creative services team left after the controversy unfolded.
The theatre then reached out to Brenda Ortiz Flores, who auditioned for the role back in March.
The actress said she already worked with the Roanoke theatre in the summer in a bilingual production.
“It was very surprising for me because I just had that great experience here where it was very accurately cast,” she said.
Hector Flores Jr. quickly became the new director and choreographer and said it’s important to have Latinos leading behind the scenes too.
“You need people who are going to steer the story who know and come from these places,” Flores Jr. said.
Ortiz Flores said there are always Latino actors waiting for their shot.
But she said it’s an actor’s responsibility to not audition for roles that they do not identify with.
“The little mermaid is a fictional character right?” she said. “But I’m not going to go to a ‘Color Purple’ audition because that is not my place to be.”
After a knee-jerk reaction to cancel the show, the theatre is bringing the show back and performances will run from April 13 to April 24.
You can purchase tickets on their website.
Flores Jr. tells said he is proud that the Mill Mountain Theatre did not give up on the production and still wanted to uplift Latino voices.
“They are not just writing the wrong but showing the world that this theatre is a good place,” he said. “That this theatre is building bridges.”
He said the theatre staff has been working alongside him and the cast every step of the way to assure production is accurately portrayed and this mistake will never happen again.
On Monday, Mill Mountain Theatre released an updated statement on their Facebook to add to their initial apology.
“We have been listening to our cast and understand the damaging consequences of our previous decisions,” the statement said. “The theatre is committed to learning from this experience as we move forward with the cast and doing the work to implement thoughtful, authentic diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) initiatives to guide the future of our work in theatre and in the Roanoke community. We’re appreciative to this entire cast for the grace they have given us to continue working together. And we’re grateful to still fulfill our goal of bringing In the Heights to Roanoke. We know our work is just beginning, and we are fully committed to doing better.”
Ortiz Flores said having representation on the stage matters because it’s indicative of the truth of the diverse society today.
“As a person of color no one is going to tell you can do it unless you see yourself reflected up there,” she said. “It’s not just about the White story. It’s about all of our stories and that’s why it’s important to see us reflected.”