SYDNEY, Australia — Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musicals are now a global phenomenon, bringing hip-hop and the American immigrant experience to theatergoers worldwide. But when producers in Brisbane, Australia, recently announced plans to stage “In the Heights” — a homage to Mr. Miranda’s Latino neighborhood in New York — promotional posters announcing the cast caused an uproar.

The problem: Everyone appeared to be white.

“Calling the casting of this show ‘whitewashed’ is an understatement,” wrote Chris Peterson, founder and editor in chief of OnStage Blog, whose post led to a dramatic backlash that stretched across continents. “It might as well be a mass-bleaching of the show with how they cast these roles with white and non-Latinx performers.” (“Latinx” is a genderless version of the word Latino.)

And with that, Australia’s struggles with cultural sensitivity in media and the arts were thrust onto the world stage, shaming a small theater company into answering the complaints of Mr. Miranda’s outraged American fans, and intensifying this country’s own debate about identity and representation in the arts.

This week, Matt Ward Entertainment, which had planned to present the musical in November as part of a cultural festival at Brisbane Powerhouse, a popular arts venue, canceled the show.