Miss America's Ugly Daughter

See it if This was an enjoyable play about real people I didn't know about. Sad and funny. Clever staging and premise.

Don't see it if you don't enjoy one-person shows. Can be slow at times and painful to watch (I know people just like that)

See it if You enjoy stories about strained mother/daughter relationships. Very entertaining & interesting true story that I was not familiar with.

Don't see it if You dislike one person shows. Grant is not the best actress however I very much enjoyed her play so it ultimately did not matter.

See it if you don’t mind another 1 person show. This one has some broad appeal, speaking to those whose parents didn’t love them enough or correctly.

Don't see it if You don’t need to see anyone else work out there issues on stage. I think maybe more women maybe could relate to this with their mothers.

Also This is yet another of what I call “Theatre as Therapy” shows. Playwright/star works out some childhood or life trauma with a biographical show. It’s interesting enough but if we’re going to be honest, the acting is average at best and the power of the story is not so universal. At least I hope it’s not. You had a privileged upbringing by a mother that was self centered and self involved because her mother never wanted her and now your surprised that you didn’t realize you grew up not caring about this woman. Oh, and along the way heartache and life happened. Shocker.... Read more Read less

See it if A play about a mother who is unemotional about her daughter.

Don't see it if Very uneven throughout, never gets deep enough into each others lives.

See it if u want to see an an unappreciated daughter deliver a hate letter to her once-famous, former beauty queen (& profoundly narcissistic) mother.

Don't see it if u want to avoid a mostly humorless, action-free "Bessie Dearest"; ur not interested in participating in Grant's personal catharsis/therapy.

Also There are several inexplicable musical transitions that do nothing more than provide the audience the opportunity to see the most non-ironically awkward, rhythmless dancing you'll ever witness on stage. How has director Brandstein let that happen?

Overall, this show, while interesting (in a prurient, prying way) to anyone who grew up in NY when Bess Myerson was constantly in the public eye, is tough to sit through. With respect to Barra Grant the writer (and real-life subject), this play would almost certainly be better served by having Grant portrayed by a professional actress. Barra Grant is no performer, and her stiff, gawky delivery is mostly a distraction from a generally well-constructed script.... Read more Read less

See it if you want to learn about Bess Myerson from her daughter's point of view with good projections and revealing, yet guarded information.

Don't see it if you expect anything more than a one-person show where the interaction between mother and daughter is all by interruptive telephone calls.

See it if Sad/Funny true relationship between mother and daughter.

Don't see it if one woman show, that is slow at time.

See it if If you enjoy insight into a life, this is a little better than most "woe is me" shows since the author is self-deprecating.

Don't see it if another show about how someone could not escape an abusive situation because of a lack of independence is a turn of.

Also Barra Grant has a somewhat entertaining stage presence and he writing is solid, but do we really need to know that her life agenda was set by an emotional abusive mother for almost 70 years?... Read more Read less

See it if you remember Bess and want to see some of the curtain pulled back on what her life really was all about. Also, this one's more for gals.

Don't see it if you don't know about Bess and are tired of one-person shows that turn, almost inevitably, into therapy sessions.

Also I truly expected to be disappointed with this, but instead my friend and I were tremendously moved. Bess was an icon for gals growing up in those days, and her beauty was right up there with Liz and Ava. Wikipedia says that she valued intelligence more than beauty, but that really didn't play out for poor Bess.

Grant gives as non-emotional an account of what it was like to be Bess's daughter as could reasonable be expected, and I found the play stuck with me, asking questions the answers to which had to be very sad.

I applaud Grant for having the courage to tell this story. I found it very helpful, and almost cathartic. I don't think this play would resonate with men as much as it does with women.

This is not a cheerer-upper, but then, it wouldn't be interesting if it were. Give it a shot, ladies. I think you'll be glad you did.... Read more Read less

See it if You are interested in the true life of Bess Meyerson and her narcissism, this your play. It read like Page 6 from the NY Post.

Don't see it if You want a happy biography.

See it if This sad mother-daughter tale is horribly written and overwrought, with a forced resolution.

Don't see it if There were potentially ways that this sad story could have been more compelling or even watchable

Also but they were all left out. Where were the photographs of the epoch/times and the daughter/ Why only backdrops of a cityscape?

This was therapy for the writer and I wish​ I hadn't seen it.

The daughter was physically difficult to watch-- clearly has serious health issues, as well so much facework she doesn't look human. Plus, the dancing sequences were truly agonizing to watch.... Read more Read less

See it if you like stories of dysfunctional families.

Don't see it if you don't like solo shows, especially lacking a strong performer.

See it if You want to revisit a pop culture moment in NYC history.

Don't see it if You are expecting something campy or fun. There are a few laughs but it comes across more depressing than entertaining.

See it if Barra Grant might be a story teller but she isn't actress which is needed during this LONG 90 minute one-woman show riddled with clichés.

Don't see it if The craziest thing about this "show" is that the talented Anna Holbrook is off-stage for the ENTIRE show as the voice of the mother.

See it if you are interested in Bess Meyerson, mother-daughter relationships, family dysfunction, personal stories

Don't see it if you don't like solo shows or intimate theater.

See it if you know who Bess Myerson was and wonder what happened to her and you love meeting the stars at the end of the show.

Don't see it if you've never heard of Bess Myerson and you have no desire to meet the stars after the show.

See it if you have a generous spirit & bear up through almost monotone acting for the ultimate redemption.

Don't see it if you're judgmental of people doing the best they can (in this case "acting") while baring their soul to the world.

Also Barra's heartbreaking story is worth the telling and I give her credit for putting it out there. Unfortunately, she's not a good actress which makes this hard to take. Ultimately, she (and we) are triumphant, but I can't help but wonder how great an evening it could've been with a real actress playing her and some more clever theatrical staging or re-crafting of how the story was told. I'm glad I saw it but wish it had realized a grander potential.... Read more Read less

See it if you're interested in less than healthy mother-daughter relationships or sad solo tales

Don't see it if you're looking for something well paced or positive

Also I think the show was trying to show the positive end to a story with a lot of sadness, but it just brought me down. I found myself regularly looking at my watch during the show, which is never a good sign.... Read more Read less

See it if If you remember Bess Meyerson, want to learn about an important Jewish woman (more than a pop culture reference or tabloid headline)!

Don't see it if If you don’t like watching mother/daughter relationships play out, one woman shows, or aren’t interested in Bess Meyerson.

Also We’ve all seen and read enough stories of high powered famous women and their daughters to know how much of this is going to play out: narcissistic, dismissive mother; put-upon, needy daughter. Yes, you get a healthy dose of both here, but there is also the theme of understanding and forgiveness: understanding what drives people, forgiving both people in the relationship for their parts in the dynamic. and how it’s possible to change the pattern for the next generation. You don’t have to be famous to identify with the message, and Barra Grant makes this important lesson entertaining.... Read more Read less

See it if you've any interest in a former pop culture New Yorker and Miss America! You know how the children of narcissistic celebrities turn out!

Don't see it if you don't enjoy a "telling" one-woman show about the former Miss America.

See it if You enjoy true story one person shows done excellently. Very absorbing and enjoyable. Sad but true story.

Don't see it if You do not like solo performances.

See it if You are interested in one woman’s journey with what she considered a bad mother and overcoming all the obstacles to find the bright light

Don't see it if It’s big Broadway you are after.

See it if You want to see what happens to the life of an abused child who doesn’t really get over her childhood. A neat package of a play.

Don't see it if You don’t want to see a woman in her 70s dragging the memory of her mother through the mud. She may deserve it but it’s a Sad life journey

See it if You like biographical one person shows. You will laugh, you will wince & be moved by the story Ms. Grant shares about life with her mother.

Don't see it if You don't care for biographical one-woman shows.

Also This was a very well written, staged and performed one-woman show. It felt like a healing exercise to a life long wound to the psyche a mother inflicted on her daughter.

The tale she spun of a narcissistic mother, who, raised in an emotionally dysfunctional and deprived home life, brutally damaged her daughter's self esteem.

A dysfunctional relationship between mother and daughter is not uncommon. We all know a Bess Myerson type and possibly possess some of those traits, but when she is the person who raised you, it is hard to ignore.

This show was a good illustration of the scientific concept of the nature vs. nurture dynamic. When there is self awareness of one's shortcomings and bad personality traits, one may work to compensate for them, when there isn't, victims are left in the whirl-wind of parental dysfunction.

As brutal a picture as Ms. Grant acted out for us of her mother, Ms. Myerson, in the end it came full circle to the whole purpose of doing this show: forgiveness.... Read more Read less

See it if You followed career of Bess Myerson

Don't see it if You are expecting an action packed production. If you are up for something uplifting