You always hear people say things like “What is meant for you will come to you” or “if it’s meant to be, it will be”. But sometimes it can be hard to believe these statements, especially, if things aren’t going the way you planned or going anywhere at all. Therefore, it takes a level of belief and confidence in your aspirations to keep going after what is meant for you.
Not everyone has this unwavering belief but there are a good few who do. One of those people is 23-year-old Du-wayne (pronounce Ju-Waine) Hinds from Barbados. He is a young creative who never stopped going after what he wanted and now he is a performer in The Lion King Broadway. But we all know with all amazing accomplishments comes a story behind it and here’s a bit of Duwayne’s.
His Beginnings
From a very young age Duwayne was involved in the arts. He was never that boy who came home from school and played Nintendo or with much toys, he was always very interested in the creative side of life.
Du-wayne started ballet at the age of seven at the Barbados Dance Theatre and also african with Tyrone Trotman. He went on to doing theatre, ballroom, modern, participated in school productions, pop bands and choirs. He was also a part of the Barbados Dance Project which is headed by his cousin Jamal Callender.
However, Du-wayne had taken a hiatus from dance for about seven years because he became overweight which had him feeling insecure.
“I think during those years dance became like the background. I started to focus a lot more on trying to do what society would want me to do and I remember starting to dream about being a gynaecologist and a paediatrician and all sorts of weird non sense. Because it was hard for me to envision myself on a stage by looking at myself in the mirror at that time. But, It didn’t take me much longer to realize I really can’t aspire to do medicine and all these other things because my heart was so after the arts and the creative. So I just made the decision to lose weight and mould myself into the person I am now.”
Pursing Music
Music was something that was kind of inert for Du-wayne but always there. He never put much effort into it but started to develop it more seriously as he got older. Music eventually became something personal to him and a means of defining himself as he writes and produces his own music. He also goes based on feeling so Du-wayne’s music can be described as Indie but also soulful because of the rawness of it.
In 2016 he dropped his first EP called Breathe which came from a very reflective place. It included songs like Down and Maze that depicted situations that were happening in his personal life. This EP was about him finding himself spiritually, sexually and physically. It’s one to this day that he is still very proud of.
Theatre
Because of his love for music, when Duwayne finished secondary school he went to the Barbados Community College to purse music. However he got into the Theatre Arts program instead and he believes that this was the universe and God speaking to him.
“Theatre became such a love and theatre also opened me up so much more. It allowed me to see how people think and how I think and it really stimulated by growth. As a result of doing theatre at BCC I went on to University to do Theatres Arts at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine. Even though that wasn’t an option at all.”
Du-wayne’s originally wanted to attend the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York/Los Angeles. He had scored the highest in his audition and won two partial scholarships but it was still hard for him to go overseas and sustain himself because of the cost of tuition and accommodation. He tried to raise funds through fundraisers and concerts but in the end, it didn’t work out. Apparently, he took too long to attend the school as it was a year after auditions so he lost both scholarships and would have to audition again.
But he wanted to get a degree so he made the decision to go to Trinidad and attend UWI, St Augustine. It was hard and depressing for him because he was doing stuff he already did at BCC and didn’t feel like he was growing. But he realized that he had to challenge himself and use Trinidad and a stimulator for his growth. So it’s quite funny that the Lion King audition happened in Trinidad after it all.
The Lion King Audition
The Lion King is something Du-wayne always wanted to be a part of so when he found out about the audition, he started to work even harder and mould himself into the part.
The Audition was divided into dancing and singing where Du-wayne was the only person in Trinidad who did both. He started the singing audition with the song “I Need you now” by Smokie Norful which was chosen by one of his mentors. As he was singing, he started to notice how impressed the casting directors and coordinators were. This made him inwardly freak out but he kept his cool and tried to not be distracted by their reactions.
“At the end of it, the casting director was like wow you have such an amazing voice and he was like “Can I ask a question? Is it possible for you to come back tomorrow?” and in my head, I was like is this a callback? This is not even 10 seconds into them commenting on the performance and he’s asking me to come back tomorrow so I was like of course.”
The casting director then gave him two parts; Simba and Hyena. When he was given the script for Simba, Du-wayne was baffled and extremely happy because it was the main role he was going for.
Unluckily, the week of the auditions Du-wayne came down with a bad flu so for the callbacks the next day, his voice wasn’t the best. Because of this he felt a little nervous but had to stay positive and not let the insecurity about his voice ruin his potential chances of getting the part. Fortunately, the coordinators realized he had an infection and liked him even more, instructing him to stay on for the latter half of the audition.
“I remember during the audition I went by the pool side and I put on my headphones and I did like a 20 minute meditation because I believe so much in visualizing and believing what you want and controlling your own self and mind to go after what you want and I kind of created that world. And I remember when I open my eyes there was nothing that could make me nervous, I just knew something good would come from this audition even if I didn’t get the part.”
And something good did come out of it because less than two days after the audition, Du-wayne got an email from the theatre production coordinator about a role in Lion King. He got a one year contract for the role of Simba Cover and will also be part of the ensemble at the West End Theatre in London. This means he will be the understudy for Simba, playing the role some nights, and will also be part of the dance and some of the songs on stage and off stage. Rehearsals for the production began in March and the show started in May 2019.
“I think this whole experience just made me realize you really need to believe in yourself. I’ve always believed in myself but it just made me believe in myself even more to the point where I feel I can manifest anything that I think and believe. This I what people call trusting and believing in God and having faith but also putting effort because it didn’t just start with me seeing a flyer and choosing a song. It started from when I was 12/13 knowing and looking at myself in the mirror and realizing if I wanna be what I wanna be then I need to mould myself into who I want to be.”
Believing in his goals
It wasn’t easy for Du-wayne as nothing you really want ever is. He spent days and nights without money, would cry, miss opportunities, felt like he wouldn’t make it but one thing is that he always stayed positive. He could have given up on his goals and worked in a store or teach somewhere but he believed in his purpose and stuck it out.
“Another reason why I went so hard for this lion king role not just physically but like spiritually I had to believe it because I been in a space where nothing has been happening. I have just been in a space where I have been seeing situations fall and me not being able to help. I just couldn’t deal so I kind of went into this audition thinking that this was the only thing possible and I feel like that’s why it’s so surreal because I feel like I was fooling myself. I felt semi-crazy going into the audition because I was legit moving off of pure spiritual energy. Physically, I felt like crap and also my physical body was telling me you are crazy. This is just one audition out of the million and one auditions they have already done and mine is out of the million and one CVs that they can’t possibly contact and de men contact me. My first actual job is the thing that I have dreamt of and I am so happy to tell anybody that.”
Follow and stayed updated on Du-wayne’s journey.
