Next year’s musical will be “In the Heights” and the play will “Lord of the Flies”, drama director Christopher Gerken announced at this year’s drama banquet.

“There was a huge scream of excitement for Lord of the Flies,” Gerken said. He added that there was less of a reaction towards the announcement of the musical, which likely stems from worries about casting.

“In the Heights” is a musical about a largely Dominican-American barrio community in Washington Heights, New York. Gerken said that the musical focuses more on the element of community than race, so he should be able to do the show without a largely Latino cast.

The musical involves rapping and Latin rhythms along with hip-hop and salsa dancing. Some students have already begun preparing for the auditions.

“I’m hoping to take some salsa lessons over the summer and maybe a couple hip-hop classes, though I’ve done hip hop before,” sophomore Erin Craig said.

Lord of the Flies is centered around a group of boys left stranded on an island when their plane crashes, and chronicles their struggles as they try to survive.

“If you change the gender of the characters it can be quite problematic to the piece, so I’m hesitant to do that,” Gerken said. “However I don’t have a problem casting females in male roles.”

Although theatrical interpretation of literature is unprecedented at Whitman, members of the drama department seem to have the same relaxed but excited view as Gerken.

“I look forward to his take on it,” said Bryan Eng, who performed in last year’s musical “Anything Goes” and plans to audition next year. “We’re all wondering how he will pull these shows off, although he never ceases to amaze.”