LOUD & WITH FEELING To Have 54 Below Debut

54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, will present "Loud & With Feeling" by Spencer J. Vigil on Friday, January 3rd, 2025. Loud & With Feeling is a musical based on a true-to-life experience about a group of Queer students in the first 24 hours of their sit-in protest. Their quest to fight for LGBTQ+ rights at their Private Christian University is stifled after their favorite professor is fired! Throughout the night, the group uncovers a lot of their own personal histories as they search for belonging, connection, and a collective future. With a pop-synth score and resemblances to shows like Rent, Fun Home, and Elizabeth Swado's Runaways. Loud & With Feeling showcases the Joy, Triumph, and Community that everyone longs to be a part of.

Producing team Spencer J. Vigil and Quinlan Hanrahan are ecstatic to highlight a Trans and Disabled-led show that exudes community care and discovering joy in the most unlikely of spaces. Hosting the night is actor and Obie Award winner, Dickie Drew Hearts, from Dark & Disabled Stories, and writer Spencer J. Vigil as they guide the audience through the night of behind the scenes storytelling about exactly what it takes to get songs out of your head and onto the page. In an epic, not-to-be-missed event, Loud & With Feeling will have you asking what you can do for those in your own communities.

Music direction is by Joey Jubayr. Loud & With Feeling at 54 Below features performances by Dickie Drew Hearts (Dark & Disabled Stories at The Public Theater), Max Kantor (Rough Trade at The Tank), Shane Taylor Pretty, Adrian Rifat (Ragtag Theatre's Cinderella), James Suarez, Manu Trujillo, and Diana Victoria. The band includes Berklee Alumni Yen Nien Hsu on Electric Guitar, Mitch Lee on Drums, and Cat Barker on Bass.

Loud & With Feeling features additional Music by Joshua Evan Eiger. Orchestrations by Joey Jubayr and Arrangements by Joey Jubayr and Joshua Evan Eiger.

Loud & With Feeling by Spencer J. Vigil plays 54 Below (254 West 54th Street) on Friday, January 3rd, 2025. Cover charges are $29 (includes $4 in fees) - $40 (includes $5 in fees.) Premiums are $51 (includes $6 in fees) - $73 (includes $8 in fees.) There is a $25 food and beverage minimum. Tickets and information are available at www.54Below.org. Tickets on the day of performance after 4:00pm are only available by calling (646) 476-3551.

MORE ABOUT SPENCER J. VIGIL

Spencer (he/they) is a Transgender Theater Maker who happens to also belong to the BIPOC & Disabled Community. Through their work they strive to tell authentic stories that are restorative in nature. They are in the business of healing; healing communities, healing past traumas, healing the self that is between where they are now and where they wish to be in the future. This means they often highlight communities that go unseen in the musical theater cannon. In their work they always wish to hold on to what has made them fall in love with theater in the first place. Connection. Vulnerability. Access. Knowledge. Especially in theater where the collaboration comes full circle and every sense is tested to each own interpretation. Theater is the closest they ever feel to God and Magic.

Spencer began Loud & With Feeling in December of 2020, but the musical drastically evolved when there was a sit-in protest at his alma mater, Seattle Pacific University, in the spring/summer of 2022. Spencer's time speaking up and advocating for LGBTQ+ folks on his conservative campus led him towards this story he wanted deeply to share with others. "A lot of what's in the show are stories about my friends and I. I wanted to take this niche experience I had and show someone unlike myself that maybe we aren't all that different. I think fundamentally, all folks want is to feel safe, a sense of belonging and community, like they know themselves on a deep level. If I can do that- maybe I can create the type of change I'd like to see in this industry and this world for that matter." Vigil shares.

In the fall of 2022 Vigil left for New York to continue this project at Berklee NYC. It's at Berklee where Spencer learned invaluable lessons. "My time at Berklee allowed me to learn from the very best in the industry and I hold those moments very dear to me. I was learning so much about myself, my craft, and it made me fall in love with theater all over again. My time there taught me not to take things for granted, there is always time to learn and always time to grow."

Loud & With Feeling is coming off two sold-out Concert Readings at The Parkside Lounge last August. The event was produced in association with The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council as a recipient of their Cultural Engagement Grant. Spencer is thrilled to be able to produce this night at 54 Below and hopes you'll join us to celebrate Queer Joy and Resistance.

MORE ABOUT 54 BELOW

54 Below, a recipient of the 2022 TONY AWARDS Honor for Excellence in the Theatre, is a non-profit organization with a mission to preserve the music of Broadway and expand the art of the cabaret while growing opportunities for diverse communities of emerging and established artists and providing unparalleled audience experiences.

It was founded as a place for the Broadway community to celebrate Broadway performers, both established and new, who sing not only the music of Broadway and the Great American Songbook, but also new material intended for Broadway and off-Broadway stages. One of the most in demand venues in the city presenting over 700 shows per year, the club features fine dining and superb scenic, lighting, and sound designs entirely imagined by Broadway designers. For performers, writers, musicians, and more, 54 Below gives opportunities to advance their craft, expand their repertoires, and develop their voices in a way that is more personal, making them stronger as artists. It gives Broadway fans an opportunity to see their favorite artists in a different way, deepening their relationship and understanding of their talent.

54 Below celebrates Broadway musicals and writers of the past and present, promoting an ongoing engagement with their work. It is also a place for innovation in musical songwriting and performance. Collaborations born at 54 Below give rise to and help develop new theatrical projects and new musicals. In addition, its popular streaming video activities and audio recordings support these activities, helping to build a new Broadway audience worldwide, both in age and geography.

Located at 254 West 54th Street, the club presents live shows at 7pm and 9:30pm. Tickets and information at 54below.org.

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