In the Heights' Kyle Beltran Raps on His Broadway Debut

Age: 24

Hometown: White Plains, NY

Currently: Runnin’ "just another dime a dozen mom-and-pop stop-and-shop" as In the Heights’ latest rapping narrator, Usnavi.

Commercial Kid: As a preschooler, Beltran held his family “hostage for hours on end” as he danced to Michael Jackson in his grandmother’s living room. Recognizing his passion, his parents found him an agent at age four, which led to commercial gigs for Nickelodeon and Chuck E. Cheese. “I was always a ham and wanted to be in front of the camera,” Beltran says, adding with a laugh, “but the early 90s were a fashion nightmare with all those bright colors and baggy pants!” The young performer took an Ivy League detour when he was accepted at the University of Pennslyvania, where his parents hoped he would study law. After freshman year, however, he transfered to Carnegie Mellon to concentrate on musical theater. Initally, he struggled to gain confidence. “I went through a lot of school being scared," he confesses, "but something just clicked in me senior year, and I realized there’s no room for fear. As soon as I made that decision, everything took off.” He’s not lying: During his last semester, Beltran landed jobs in Kingdom, a musical at San Diego's Old Globe, and off-Broadway’s Ten Things to Do Before You Die opposite Tracie Thoms.

Headed to the Heights: During that fateful senior year, Beltran learned that In the Heights was holding auditions for the show's national tour and began writing letters to everyone he knew in the business, hoping to secure an appointment. His efforts were rewarded when a family friend put him in touch with Vanessa Williams. Beltran headed to the Ugly Betty set, where the actress introduced him to her former backup singer, original Piragua Guy Eliseo Roman. “Tenacity pays off," Beltran says of his networking. "Nobody gives you a career on a silver platter.” His audition brought new challenges: “I’d rapped in my car, but that was the first time I’d ever done it in public,” he recalls. The first time was a charm, however, and six months later Beltran found himself at “Usnavi Camp,” where he spent a day showing his stuff to the Heights creative team, including original star and composer Lin-Manuel Miranda. “He didn’t necessarily mentor me in the way I anticipated, because I was so young,” Beltran says. “He just respected me and was straightforward saying, ‘You can rap your ass off. Don’t stress, just do your gig.’”

Dream Role: Beltran won the role of Usnavi just as he learned he’d also been cast as C.C. on the Dreamgirls national tour, which would launch at the same time as In the Heights. He had an important decision to make. “I love Dreamgirls, but C.C. is a role I will get to play at some other point,” he says of his choice, “Usnavi is the sort of the role that comes along once in a lifetime. [Director Thomas Kail] calls it the Latino man’s Mamma Rose. I’m half black and half Puerto Rican, so to celebrate that part of my culture and wave those flags every night on stage—who could pass that up?”

On the Road: The Heights tour kicked off in October 2009. Despite being such a New York-centric show, Beltran says audiences across the country responded enthusiastically. “I got to meet so many people from different backgrounds who were moved. I’d have people in Wisconsin coming up to me saying it reminded them of their Russian grandma.” Nine months into the tour, however, Beltran panicked when friends in New York called him to say they knew who’d been cast as his replacement. “I was like, ‘Um, I’m not leaving!’ I called my agent asking if I was being fired!” On the contrary: The show’s producers wanted to move him up to Broadway!

When You're Home: “These days, it’s just a joy,” Beltran says of playing Usnavi on Broadway. “To step outside the stage door and have all these people hold out their Playbills and tell you how you’re inspiring them…that used to be me!” There’s plenty of autograph-hungry fans at the Richard Rodgers Theatre these days, as Beltran stepped into the production at the same time as American Idol winner Jordin Sparks. “She’s so sweet and has the voice of an angel,” he says of his famous co-star. “We play [online Scrabble] all the time, and I’m totally killing her.” But the best part of Beltran’s job is continuing to explore a great role. “I have so much energy, so my Usnavi is bouncing off the wall at all times. I love being in his shoes every day.”