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SPENCER SHER PRESENTS Isabella Esler and Giselle GutierrezIN Lydia Squared |
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| October 16, 2026 | ||
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Aidan S. Wells |
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ADDITIONAL ARRANGEMENTS BY NOAH TURNER
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Meet the Company
Giselle Gutierrez
Born in Plant City, FL, Giselle Gutierrez could not be more excited to make her Solo Debut at 54 Below. She has been singing and annoying her parents and sister since she could speak. Her love for music only grew when she received her first guitar at 8 years old. Determined to learn, she taught herself from YouTube videos. She took every opportunity she could to sing and perform - from talent shows to open mic nights at her local coffee shop called Krazy Kup. There, she would perform covers and eventually, her own original songs. The owner saw something in her and allowed her to start playing there when she was just 12 years old. That's where she truly found her love for performing. She started theatre relatively “late” in her career, beginning in her senior year of high school. The first musical she ever did was Bright Star, as Alice Murphy, a role that completely changed her life and made her realize she wanted pursue musical theatre as a career. She then auditioned for every theatre school she could, getting rejected from all of them. Discouraged, she decided to go to the University of Central Florida as a Theatre Studies BA major. There, she got into the fall musical, "Working", as a part of the ensemble and understudied the lead. It was during her understudy rehearsals that she was noticed by the director, who offered her a position in the BFA MT class of 2026. In the spring, her high school theatre teacher spontaneously sent her a screen shot from the Telsey office instagram about a virtual open call they were holding for the role of Lydia in the First Broadway National Tour of Mrs. Doubtfire the Musical. She decided to submit, this being her first professional audition ever. Two weeks later she received an email stating she had a callback in New York in 3 days. She scrambled to get a plane ticket and made it to New York. She did her final callback and 2 weeks later received the call that changed her life. The next year and a half would consist of touring with the National Tour of Mrs. Doubtfire, traveling to 42 different cities performing the show 427 times. Giselle can now be found in New York City singing at 54 Below, The Green Room 42 and other cabaret venues. None of this would be possible without the support of her family and friends who have believed in her from the beginning. Huge shout out to Spencer for pushing her to make this dream become a reality! Currently, Isabella is making her off-Broadway debut as Veronica in Heathers. Last year, she made her Broadway debut as Lydia Deetz in Beetlejuice after touring with the company for a year and a half. She also starred in the new Canadian musical Life After as Alice Carter, earning a Dora Mavor Moore nomination for her performance.
Isabella Esler
Currently, Isabella is making her off-Broadway debut as Veronica in Heathers. Last year, she made her Broadway debut as Lydia Deetz in Beetlejuice after touring with the company for a year and a half. She also starred in the new Canadian musical Life After as Alice Carter, earning a Dora Mavor Moore nomination for her performance.
Spencer Sher
Spencer Sher is a Theatrical Producer, Arts Administrator, and Drummer. He made his 54 Below producing debut in July 2024 with 54 Sings Vulfpeck and his Green Room 42 producing debut in January 2025 with Fake Bands/Real Songs. He is the Creator and Producer of the podcast, “And the EGOT Goes To…”, of which he hosts the Tony Awards episodes and the Co-Host and Broadway Reviewer for the international Musical Theatre podcast, “Thrash n’ Treasure”. Keep an eye out this year for his new concert series, “In Their Own Words”, which uses interviews given by composers throughout their careers to add context to their library of work, premiering on August 4 with The Songs of Jason Robert Brown. Tickets are available at tinyurl.com/itowjrb. He is currently in his "convince his friends to do solo shows" era, in which he has successfully convinced his friends Sean Steele (Kinky Boots), Giselle Gutierrez (Mrs. Doubtfire), Delaney Brown (Jagged Little Pill) and Sara Al-Bazali (Heathers) to let him conceive and produce solo shows for them, and he is having the absolute time of his life getting to work with his friends and he can't wait for everyone to see what Giselle has been working on.
Aidan S. Wells
Aidan S. Wells is a New York-based music director and conductor. Beyond an expansive history as a pianist on and off-Broadway, Aidan served as Associate Conductor for the South Kansas Symphony until 2020, and has conducted productions ranging from Queen’s We Will Rock You to Gershwin’s Crazy For You. As a pianist, he specializes in original and devised contemporary works, such as stage adaptations of Over The Garden Wall and, recently, Fantom.
Aidan has held instructor positions at Southwestern College and New York University, and is a fixture in the NYC cabaret scene, having music directed dozens of performances already in 2026 alone. Additionally, Aidan is the Founder and Artistic Director of AfterThought Production, a media and performing arts company in NYC.
Ronan McKinnon
Ronan McKinnon is a versatile and vibrant freelance bass player in the NYC area. He is known for appearing anywhere where great music is being played regardless of the style or genre and has been seen playing both electric and upright bass in many esteemed venues such as The Town Hall, The Rose Theater, Times Square, New York City Center, and Alice Tully Hall. Ronan McKinnon has made music alongside a number of musical giants such as Bill Frisell, The Clark Sisters, Salieu Suso, Sandbox Percussion, Bobby Sanabria, George Lewis, Doyeon Kim, Wyclef Jean and Jason Mraz. Additionally Ronan McKinnon frequently engages in multidisciplinary art, in 2023 he was the principal bass of the Mannes Opera’s production of The Magic Flute and in 2024 he was in the orchestra for The Martha Graham Dance Company’s production of Rite of Spring as well as numerous off broadway productions and occasional collaborations with the NYC civil rights focused orchestra, Protestra.
Andre Wakkerman
Andre Wakkerman is a New York City musician, songwriter, and educator. A founding member of The Third Rails, he performs throughout the city as a singer, guitarist, and pianist. He also teaches piano, guitar, drums, and music theory through his private studio. Andre is grateful for the opportunity to share his love of music both on stage and in the classroom.
Noah Turner
Noah Turner is a New York-based pianist, conductor, music director, and arranger. Recently he has worked as Music Director for Blue Hill Troupe's She Loves Me (2025) and Cinderella (2024), Associate Music Director on the International Tour of The Sound of Music in Manila, the Music Assistant on Joy the Musical (with Music Supervisor Andy Einhorn), and Music Director/Conductor of the Jersey Boys 2nd National Tour. He actively works as a music director at cabaret venues throughout the city such as 54 Below and Green Room 42. He has previously worked with Spencer Sher on 54 Sings Vulfpeck, Gimme Gimme: The Songs of Jeanine Tesori, Great Big Stuff: A Tribute to David Yazbek, and the upcoming Delaney Brown: Too Tall For The Bubble, Lydia Squared, and the “In Their Own Words” shows. Noah received his Master’s degree in Collaborative Piano from NYU Steinhardt, and has a Bachelor’s degree in Composition from SUNY Fredonia.
A Note From Spencer
When I sat down to start writing this note, I started to think about how I first asked Giselle to be in one of my shows. It was early 2025, I had seen a video of her singing All I’ve Ever Known from Hadestown on TikTok. Immediately, I was enthralled with her voice. A few months later, I DMed her to see if she was interested in being a part of my upcoming Jeanine Tesori cabaret. In the 407 days since that show, Giselle has become of my favorite collaborators and a close friend. Tonight, she gets to make her NYC solo debut at the iconic 54 Below. I’m writing this because I think it’s important for her to know just how special tonight will be. As you’ll see tonight, this show is so special. The featured guests we have are incredibly talented, and some of the nicest people I’ve ever worked with. There is an original song by Giselle in this show that I absolutely love, and there’s some fun medley moments too. I feel incredibly lucky to have Giselle as a friend, and I’m so proud to be a part of this show- I can’t wait for everyone to see it! (although I think at this point in the solo show process, she’s probably ready to kill me). I’m so proud to be a part of this show- I can’t wait for everyone to see it!
This process has been a really special one. Our original music director and arranger was Noah Turner, who unfortunately had to leave us in May as he booked a gig in Houston. Of course, you'll still hear his genius medleys tonight. I'm really proud of the work we did on the Lydia and Tenor medleys, and I can't believe that Noah continues to say yes to my crazy ideas. Taking up his mantle, is the incredible Aidan S. Wells. It's been great to finally get the chance to work with Aidan. Throughout this process, he's been another person to bounce ideas off of, and I can't wait for the opportunity to work with him again. It's been really inspiring to see the friends who have come to support Giselle during this process, all of whom it's been a pleasure to work with. This whole process started with me sending Giselle a playlist called "Songs Spencer Wants Giselle to Sing", so it's been fun helping Giselle figure out what songs she wanted to force her friends to sing with her. (Two of those songs are still in the show! I'd love to hear your guesses as to what they are...) Sara, Kendall, Cody, César, Tati, Bella, Jonathan, and Joe have been great throughout this process, and I can't wait for the next chance I have to work with them all.
You can keep up to date on my upcoming shows by following @spencersherproductions on instagram. I hope you all had a fantastic time tonight with Giselle, and we'll see you at the next one!
Speaking of what’s next, I have three amazing shows coming up to talk about!
I’m incredibly excited to be working on a (rescheduled) solo show with my friend, Sean Steele on July 25. Sean Steele has gone from working cattle to playing football to building computers to making homemade fondue to pouring latte art to opera stages to regional theater stages and to off Broadway and more. This show is a love letter to all of the beautiful people that shaped him into who he is today. The original performance was rescheduled due to his illness in February and I can’t wait for people to get the chance to see it.
Tickets are available at tinyurl.com/seansteele
My new concert series, In Their Own Words is premiering on August 4 at the Green Room 42. The series uses previous interviews to add context to a single composer's catalog. The first composer in the series is the incredible Jason Robert Brown! You can see some of tonight's performers (Sara, Kendall, Tati, Bella, Giselle, and Joe) and some other amazing performers (Delaney Brown, Ian Laudano, Syd Sider, Will Stotts, and more). Tickets are available at tinyurl.com/itowjrb
You saw her tonight, and now you can see her make her 54 Below solo debut on October 4!
Sara Al-Bazali, fresh off her internet-viral run as the standby Veronica Sawyer and Heather Chandler in Heathers Off-Broadway makes her 54 Below solo debut in Wait for It. Featuring music from Hamilton, Shrek, and new arrangements of some of her favorites, the show is a journey through the music that has shaped her life and career. Featuring special guests to be announced.
Tickets are available at 54below.org/saraalbazali
