Lin-Manuel Miranda’s father Luis flew to Puerto Rico on Wednesday to begin casting for the production Hamilton, starring Lin-Manuel, expected to take stage January 2019.

As well as casting, Luis Miranda is also assisting with the logistics as he announced on Twitter that auditions would be held at the university of Puerto Rico. Luis Miranda and his wife are both originally from Puerto Rico.

Hundreds of people applied to audition on Wednesday, however they have not concluded.

When being interviewed about the possibility of the show not happening because of damage suffered by the storm Lin-Manuel enthusiastically declared that the show would go on even “if I have to play Hamilton with a f—-ing flashlight under my face in one hand and a dueling pistol in the other.”

He also stated: “Bringing [Hamilton] to Puerto Rico is a dream that I’ve had since we first opened at The Public Theater in 2015… When I last visited the island, a few weeks before Hurricane Maria, I had made a commitment to not only bring the show to Puerto Rico, but also return again to the title role. In the aftermath of Maria we decided to expedite the announcement of the project to send a bold message that Puerto Rico will recover and be back in business, stronger than ever.”

Lin-Manuel composed a benefit single, “Almost Like Praying” that reached over 5 million streams with the proceeds going to the Hispanic UNIDOS Disaster relief and Recovery Program. Hamilton earned 11 Tony Awards in 2016 including Best Musical.

You can read more about the Hamilton production in Puerto Rico here:

http://www.playbill.com/article/hamilton-will-hold-auditions-in-puerto-rico-june-13