Bella Bella

See it if you admire Bella. Gr stories, one liners, calls to action.HF has fun hamming it up. No drag. Simple staging. Weird bathroom set. Time flies.

Don't see it if you want Bella re-incarnated. HF never becomes her. Message: women need more opportunities...let one star in Bella Bella.

See it if Brilliant writing & acting of this must-see story & theme. Relevant, thought-provoking and timely. Extremely empowering. Harvey is genius!

Don't see it if Go see it.

Also Much more than a biography of Bella Abzug, this is an enlighting discussion of women's political powers and potential.
After so many recent biographical shows that do little more than recite Wikipedia entries, this was an incredible experience of getting to know a historical figure intimately, personally and emotionally.
This should be a mandatory school material.... Read more Read less

See it if Informative solo show about Bella Abzug. Harvey is great and the play does a good job at both informing and entertaining the audience .

Don't see it if You aren't in the mood for a one person show.

See it if If you want a cookie show that's more about fierstein than Bella. Fu ny moments but not great.

Don't see it if More a history lesson than a show. Very fluff.

See it if You trust Fierstein to truly engage an audience, while telling an interesting story about a historic, but now lesser-known political figure.

Don't see it if You dislike solo shows, political shows, and/or historic fiction/human interest stories.

See it if Like Harvey Fierstein. Second if like or want to know more about Bella Abzug. Who was a strong woman that was part of making changes.

Don't see it if You never heard of Bella Abzug or you hate anything about politics. One man show.

Also Harvey is dress in black top and pants, barefoot with painted toenails. He has a big red hat on around two time. This brings me back to a young kid and did not know what was really going on. But I remember seeing Bella with her hat on her head on TV. The memory that came back as I watch this show.... Read more Read less

See it if Larger-than-life actor invokes essence of larger-than-life wonk.NY politics intersect feminist truth:"I never entered a race I didn't win."

Don't see it if No impersonation.No drag save varnished toes.Harvey,like Bella, strains to be heard.Offer a mic."A woman in hat &gloves isn't told to fetch"

Also "Why does a woman have to be qualified if a man just has to be a man?" Title=Beautiful Bella... Read more Read less

See it if You want to see a major tour de force of acting and playwriting by New York’s own inimitable Harvey Fierstein portray Bella Abzug *********

Don't see it if Only reasons not to see this is you don’t enjoy one actor shows or you have no interest in Abzug, her life and times.

See it if you want to see a clever and entertaining performance by Harvey Fierstein of a very colorful and relevant woman.Funny and serious at times.

Don't see it if you are not a fan of Fierstein, don't like any one person shows or hate Bella Abzug.

Also Set in a bathroom but there is no bathroom humor. Powerful and entertaining performance by Fierstein. Even if you do not agree with Abzug's views you can still appreciate very intelligent writing and humor in this show.... Read more Read less

See it if You want to see the masterful Harvey Fierstein up close in an intimate venue.

Don't see it if Lots of names are thrown at you in the story, and I had to use Wikipedia afterwards to understand many of these stories. Can get confusing.

See it if you remember Bella Abzug or want to learn why she was so significant.

Don't see it if you don’t like solo shows and aren’t interested in politics or if you would rather not listen to Harvey's raspy voice for 90 minutes.

Also The writing cleverly mixes entertainment and information. I find it a bit ironic that Harvey chose to cast a man (himself) to portray a woman in a play about female empowerment. A few program notes and a Yiddish glossary would have been helpful.... Read more Read less

See it if Harvey captures Bella's feistiness, but not her voice. It's a lesson in her career. Nostalgia for me and an eye-opener for millennials.

Don't see it if In a hotel suite bathroom -- reminded me of "Hillary and Clinton" with jokes but without the other characters -- which might have helped.

See it if interested in seeing Harvey as Bella. Touches on all the major points leading up to the eve of 1976 Democratic NY Senatorial primary.

Don't see it if expecting to see Harvey in drag. He's not. Though not particularly looking or sounding like Bella,he humorusly captures her feisty qualities

See it if Harvey is terrific!!! The production and play are nearly flawless. Just see it.

Don't see it if You don’t like solo performance. If you have never heard of Bella Abzug, you might not get it.

Also It would have gotten 100 but at times Harvey was inaudible.

See it if you want an honest, insightful depiction of one of NY's first female leaders. Fierstein presents a loving and accurate performance.

Don't see it if you don't like a man playing a female role or you don't like Bella Abzug.

See it if you want to see Harvey Fierstein entertain you will teaching you some history.

Don't see it if you don't care for Harvey or his style of delivery or if you're not interested in Bella Abzug (you should be, interesting lady!)

Also It's interesting that a show that presents a call-to-action for women to be more involved in everything is narrated by a man, but that may be due to outside forces.
This is true-to-form HF!... Read more Read less

See it if You like Harvey Feinstein who is very enjoyable as Bella Abzug. His one man show goes over so many poignant memories of Ms. Abzug’s life.

Don't see it if You do not like a long monologue. I found it entertaining and quite funny.

See it if You love Harvey, no matter what. You want to learn something new about Bella Abzug. You can be satisfied with half baked,

Don't see it if Unfortunately respecting & admiring H.F did not help. He was there all 90 minutes, yet I felt his absence. His glittering energy was awol

See it if You love Harvey Fierstein (who doesn’t?), you like bio plays and are interested in women’s rights.

Don't see it if You don’t like one-person plays.

Also I enjoyed this play but I couldn’t help but wonder how it would be if Harvey had cast an actress in the part. Yes, it was fun to see him as Bella. He nails the roller coaster trajectory of the woman’s story: comedy, poignancy, and umbrage.

But he is such a unique performer, with that distinctive voice, that I never felt I was actually watching Bella Abzug. I found myself wondering how it would be if an actress in costume played the part.... Read more Read less

See it if You are interested in the long, uphill climb of women professionals and women politicians.

Don't see it if you cannot accept Fierstein playing Abzug or don't like one-person shows.

Also Took me a few minutes to get over Fierstein in contemporary man's clothes playing Bella, but he gives himself over to her spirit so completely.... Read more Read less

See it if you are interested in NY political history, remember Bella Abzug or are a Fierstein fan. 1970s politics feel strangely relevant today.

Don't see it if you can't deal with Harvey's voice--this is just him for 90 minutes. Helpful to understand a few words of Yiddish although not necessary.

Also There was some sort of malfunction with many of the assisted listening devices resulting in a pretty constant buzzing noise throughout the theater, to the extent that Harvey commented. Afterwards, people who were using the devices said they couldn't hear anything and asked for tickets to return for another performance. I wasn't using the device but the buzzing was annoying and distracting,... Read more Read less

See it if well written work about an important woman who inspired and created essential political change interests you; perfectly structured & paced

Don't see it if you think the role should have been performed by a magnificent, talented woman and not a man

See it if you want to see Harvey Fierstein perform in an incredibly relevant and well acted one person play about Bella Abzug.

Don't see it if you are not liberal and believe in female empowerment. This show was clearly written to make a statement about our current political climate

See it if you want to see a great actor at work. Weather you like the politics or not, you will appreciate this great performance.

Don't see it if don't like one man shows or you are turned off by ancient NY politics.

See it if you want to see master comic actor portray Bella Abzug on stage. He wrote it and "owns" the character. The play is highly political.

Don't see it if if you don't like one person plays or don't know who Bella Abzug was or don't care about woman's political issues