Teen actor gets Broadway break in her own backyard
San Jose's Isabella Esler starring in `Beetlejuice' in San Francisco
Isabella Esler thought she knew exactly what she was going to do after graduating from Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose in May.
“In my head, I was convinced I was going to college,” says the 18-year-old San Jose resident, who had planned to head to New York City to attend Pace University. “Then this whole thing happened.”
This “whole thing” would be the kind of big break most aspiring young actors can only dream of: landing a leading role in a touring Broadway hit musical. So, Pace will have to wait as Esler spends at least a year starring in “Beetlejuice” as it travels to two-dozen-plus cities across America.
Even better, the tour is kicking off during the holiday period in Esler's own backyard, so to speak. She's making her professional acting debut at San Francisco's historic Golden Gate Theatre.
“It is so weird how it worked out that way,” says Esler, whose friends call her Bella. “I know that is not really common to just open in the city that is, like, right next to where you grew up. But it's honestly so amazing.”
That means Esler will be seeing plenty of familiar faces in the crowd, as family and friends turn out to watch her play Lydia Deetz, a quirky teenager dealing with a trio of ghosts. The musical, adapted from Tim Burton's 1988 movie, plays
at the Golden Gate through Saturday.
Esler has performed in local theater productions, primarily at Children's Musical Theater San Jose, for the last dozen years.
“I've always loved music and singing,” she says. “When I was 6, my parents thought, `Oh, let's try theater.' They put me in a CMT show, and I just never stopped.”
She performed in CMT'S “Spongebob Squarepants” musical just a few months ago, playing everybody's favorite underwater squirrel Sandy Cheeks, and has starred in CMT productions ranging from “Once Upon a Mattress” to “American Idiot.”
“I believe her first production here was `The Velveteen Rabbit' when she was 6,” says Dana Zell, CMT'S managing director. “It's been such a joy to watch her flourish.”
Zell is one of the many people who recognized Esler's potential early on.
“There are always some of those special performers you start to notice at such
an early age,” Zell says. “Bella is definitely one of those people who stood out to me for many, many years.”
Her castmates likewise had a feeling she was headed somewhere.
“When we were little, we always made jokes like, `Oh, in 10 years, I'm going to say I knew Bella Esler,'” says San Jose's Leandro Bilello-rodriguez, 18, a fellow actor who estimates he's appeared in eight to 10 CMT productions with her. “And we totally called it. Her singing voice has always mesmerized me. She's gotten to the point where she has what I like to call `creative infinity' with her voice — you get to a point where you know how to use it so well that anything can be created because it's easy for you.”
Yet, Esler's incredible singing voice is only part of the story.
“She has the whole package because she is so sincere and present in every role that she plays,” Zell says. “And you can see that reflected amongst the other cast members. She just has
that special something that makes you want to keep watching her.”
“It's one thing to have talent; Bella has humility — and that's why you want to work with her,” says Bilellorodriguez. “She knows how to be a piece in the puzzle. And she understands that the reason she's doing it is not for fame or money. It's to make beautiful art and to just be a piece in the puzzle.”
Esler is following in the footsteps of fellow CMT alum Alex Brightman, who earned a 2019 Tony Award nomination for best actor in a musical for his work in the title role of “Beetlejuice” on Broadway.
The “Beetlejuice” saga began for Esler in September 2021, when she sent an audition tape to the show's producers “just for fun.” The show was in the process of reopening on Broadway after the COVID-19 shutdown. A couple of months later, she got a call from the show's producers.
“I sent in some tapes,
back and forth. I ended up being asked to go to callbacks for the tour,” she remembers. “So over the summer, I went to New York for a week and did two days of callbacks.”
And she made a big impression.
“Isabella astonished the creative team in her audition for `Beetlejuice,'” says Alex Timbers, the musical's director. “She's smart, complex, funny, and has a preternatural understanding of loss and grief, which are central to the character of Lydia. Isabella also has a stunning voice that blew everyone in the casting room away.”
“I was just so grateful that they even saw my video,” Esler laughs. “I was just so happy that I was being given these opportunities. This really felt right to me — this character, this show.”
It doesn't hurt that the role of Lydia in Burton's movie helped make a star of Winona Ryder, another actor with Bay Area ties.
“I love the movie,” Esler says. “My parents have always been fans of the movie too, so they introduced me to the movie at a young age.”
Esler says she's been working to increase her stamina — the touring company performs up to eight shows per week, and the travel required of a touring show is considerable.
“I honestly don't get to travel that much,” she says. “So, it's really great that I'm going to be going to so many cities that I've never been to before. I'm just excited to experience new locations, new food — new everything.”
Come summer, she'll be back in familiar territory as “Beetlejuice” returns to the Bay Area for an Aug. 1-6 run at San Jose's Center for the Performing Arts.
“I grew up watching so many shows there over the years,” Esler says. “It's kind of crazy that it's now going to be me performing there, rather than watching.”