New Latinx Musical 'Ybor City' Heads to La Jolla for LTC Carnaval Concert Reading in August 2026

A brand-new historical musical with deep roots in American immigrant history is heading to Southern California next summer, and the creative team is actively casting now. 'Ybor City,' a new work set in 1918 Tampa, Florida, has been selected as part of the Latinx Theatre Commons Carnaval of New Latinx Musicals, one of the most significant development festivals for new Latinx theatrical work in the country. Rehearsals and a concert reading are scheduled for August 24 through 30, 2026, at UC San Diego in La Jolla, California, presented in partnership with the La Jolla Playhouse and TuYo Theatre. With casting underway and production more than a year out, working actors, music directors, and theatrical production professionals have a genuine window of opportunity to pursue this one early.

At the helm is director Dámaso Rodriguez, one of the most respected voices in contemporary Latinx theater. Rodriguez is the founding Artistic Director of Artists Repertory Theatre in Portland, Oregon, where he built a reputation for bold, culturally rooted storytelling and rigorous ensemble work. His experience with new play and new musical development makes him a natural fit for a festival context like the LTC Carnaval, where the goal is to push a work forward through performance and collaboration rather than deliver a polished final product. For actors and production collaborators, working with Rodriguez signals a rehearsal room that values process, text, and community as much as performance.

The book for 'Ybor City' is written by Anita Gonzalez, a scholar, playwright, and performance artist whose work sits at the intersection of history, cultural identity, and theatrical form. Gonzalez has written and directed numerous productions exploring the African diaspora and Latinx experience, and her academic background, she is a professor whose work spans multiple universities, brings a research-grounded rigor to the material. The score is composed by Dan Furman, a composer and lyricist with experience in new musical development across regional theater. Together, the creative team is constructing a story around the Afro-Cuban and Italian immigrant communities who built Ybor City's cigar industry side by side, communities whose proximity never quite dissolved the racial and cultural walls between them. The subject matter is specific, deeply historical, and theatrically rich, promising a production that will require performers who can carry both the emotional and the rhythmic complexity of the material.

Casting is being handled by Victor Vazquez CSA, a casting director with strong ties to the Latinx theater community and a track record in new work development. The CSA designation signals a professional-level casting process, and actors with backgrounds in musical theater, Latinx performance traditions, and period storytelling should take note. Given the production's themes and setting, the creative team will almost certainly be seeking performers with authentic cultural fluency as well as strong vocal and movement skills. Agents and managers representing Latinx musical theater performers should be in contact with Vazquez's office sooner rather than later, as concert readings at festivals like the LTC Carnaval tend to cast lean, with every role carrying significant weight.

The producing partners behind this production represent some of the most important institutional forces in contemporary Latinx theater. The Latinx Theatre Commons, a national network of artists, institutions, and advocates, founded the Carnaval of New Latinx Musicals specifically to address the historic underrepresentation of Latinx stories and creators in the American musical theater canon. The La Jolla Playhouse, the Tony Award-winning institution on the UC San Diego campus, has a storied history of developing new musicals that go on to significant national and Broadway lives, from 'Come From Away' to 'Diana' to 'The Who's Tommy.' Its partnership on this festival is not ceremonial. The Playhouse brings with it world-class facilities, a deep production infrastructure, and a development culture that takes new work seriously. TuYo Theatre, a San Diego-based company dedicated to Latinx performance, rounds out the partnership with community rooting and local knowledge that grounds the festival in the region it calls home.

For theatrical production professionals in the San Diego and greater Southern California area, this is worth watching closely. The UC San Diego campus in La Jolla offers professional-grade rehearsal and performance facilities, and productions operating within the Playhouse's orbit typically have access to experienced local crew, production management, and design talent. A concert reading format generally runs lean compared to a full production, but the involvement of the La Jolla Playhouse and LTC means the production and stage management infrastructure will be handled at a professional level. Stage managers, production assistants, music directors, rehearsal pianists, and choreographers with Latinx theater experience are all roles that could come into play as the production takes shape over the coming months.

With August 2026 still a comfortable distance away, the production is in the early stages of assembling its team, which means now is exactly the right time to make contact. ProductionList.com carries the full listing for 'Ybor City,' including production contacts, the casting director's information, and the latest status updates as the project moves through development. Whether you are a performer ready to submit, a music director looking to get involved in new musical development, or a theatrical production professional in the San Diego area keeping an eye on what is coming to town, the full details are waiting for you there. Bookmark it and check back regularly as the team fills out and the production moves closer to its August window.

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