Ngali Shaw is still wrapping his head around having secured a role in a modern mega-hit penned by one of musical theatre's biggest names.
Shaw hits the stage as Benny in Lin Manuel-Miranda's quadruple Tony Award-winning debut musical In The Heights when it opens in Naarm (Melbourne) on August 1.
Manuel-Miranda is best known as the writer and star of Hamilton
The upcoming production's New York City-setting is a long way from Shaw's beginnings as an actor in Dubbo. He wasn't convinced it was for him when his mum came into his bedroom during the COVID-19 pandemic holding up an ad from a casting agent she had seen online.
It was seeking Indigenous actors, no experience required, Shaw told National Indigenous Times in the final weeks of rehearsal.
After dismissing the idea, and acting, he paused from making music to give it another think.
"I'll give it a try. So I ended up auditioning for it. It was a little self tape at the time," Shaw said.
Shaw was the "sports guy" through his youth, playing rugby league while dabbling in music.
His audition was knocked back, but not without encouraging words and getting himself on the casting company's radar.
By the next week they'd sent over what would become his first successful audition - a guest role on Seven Network drama series RFDS: Royal Flying Doctor Service.
Fast forward five years and the Wiradjuri, Murawari and Kunja actor's CV has grown to include a list of TV credits, an Australian mainstage debut with Arrernte playwright Declan Furber Gillick's Jacky and the lead role in Nathan Maynard and Isaac Drandic's sports drama-comedy 37.
He was also named the inaugural recipient of the Brian Walsh Award for best emerging talent at the 2024 AACTA's.
Shaw said he owes a lot to the Dubbo Ballet Studio for honing his skills in creative performance.
"It's a whole different world," a self-described "raw" Shaw, now based in Sydney's west, said of taking on musical theatre and a US hit.
"At one point in my life, I was set on music…I really wanted to do music. But singing here on stage, musical theatre, and singing in my room is completely different. It's a whole different style, whole different energy," he said.
The dancing requirements come more familiar, but he's still adjusting to the American accent he'll adopt for the show.
"I'm not as good as these other people," Shaw candidly joked, speaking about his fellow cast members.
"I'm still wrapping my head around the fact that I am good enough to be here," he told National Indigenous Times,
"I wouldn't be here if it wasn't."
Shaw joins Sydney run returning stars Ryan González as Usnavi and Olivia Vásquez as Vanessa alongside Mariah Gonzalez as Nina Rosario and Steve Costi as Sonny as fellow fresh faces to the cast of 19.
In The Heights tells the story of community and culture in a Latin-American neighbourhood in New York City's Washington Heights, love, working-class life and the ambitions and dreams of those who call it home.
As Benny, bodega owner Usnavi's cousin who works with him at the shop, Shaw is looking forward to portraying the humour, charisma and confident charm of the role, he said.
It's also a story that feels close to home.
"In a way I sort of, you know, grew up in this sort of environment," Shaw said.
"Something about it feels familiar.
"There's something about Benny and me that feels familiar. Something about his story."
During the "stressful" final weeks before showtime, he assured any nerves quickly fade when it matters.
"It's just the lead up," he said.
"As soon as I hit the stage, it's gone. Or as soon as I start rehearsing, it's gone."
Heading to the states for real, whether later this year or next is top of the priority lists for the young actor, where he plans to build on his latest successes on stage while chasing the next big thing on the screen.
In The Heights opens its limited run at the Melbourne Comedy Theatre on August 1.