Review: Bella Bella

Review: Bella Bella | Vintage Theatre | Aurora, CO | Curtain Up! | Eric Fitzgerald

On Vintage Theatre’s Berg-Young Cabaret Stage, Erika Scotti’s portrayal of Bella Abzug arrives with a kind of electric inevitability, her brass, wit, and battle-hardened charm snapping the room to attention even before the house lights dim. Under Mari Geasair’s confident direction, Harvey Fierstein’s Bella Bella transforms this intimate space into a charged election-night crucible, where the Summit Hotel bathroom becomes a stage for one woman’s fierce clarity and unwavering fire. Based on Abzug’s own writings and words, the script was developed by her daughter, Liz, and close friends and acquaintances.

Fierstein’s humorous script heavily engages with the political issues of the moment, transforming Bella Bella into a form of historical reimagining rather than a straightforward biography. It’s after midnight on September 14, 1976, and Bella is inside the Summit Hotel bathroom, waiting to find out if she will become New York’s first female senatorial candidate—a goal she has pursued for decades.

As she paces through memories of labor battles, civil‑rights marches, antiwar organizing, and the bruising sexism of Congress, the play stitches together a vivid political tapestry all the while name-dropping along the way. What emerges isn’t played as nostalgia but rather a reminder of how ferociously—and how personally—Abzug waged her campaigns, each story landing with the urgency of a woman who knows the country is shifting under her feet.

A ninety‑minute one‑person play is a rigorous, often unforgiving undertaking, especially when the performer must carry both the emotional weight of the story and the responsibility of orienting audiences that may know little about Bella Abzug or the political terrain of the 1970s. Erika Scotti meets that challenge with a fully committed performance—fiery and funny, propelled by Bella’s relentless momentum. At times, though, the sheer magnitude of Fierstein’s writing pulls the focus away from Abzug and Scotti, and the grip on the room loosens as the script barrels through its dense political history. Even so, Scotti’s command of Bella’s colorful voice and presence remains unmistakable, and her stamina in this demanding role is itself a testament to the force required to inhabit a woman who never stopped pushing.

Erika Scotti as Bella Abzug

Mari Geasair’s direction, alongside assistant director Megan Komar, keeps Bella Bella largely grounded and believable, guiding the play with a straightforward hand that lets Bella’s personality and politics take center stage. In a piece this dense—and this dependent on a single performer—focus is everything, and there are moments when the production feels momentarily overtaken by the sheer volume of Fierstein’s writing. Still, Geasair shapes the ninety‑minute arc with care, giving Scotti room to navigate Bella’s humor, fury, and vulnerability without unnecessary embellishment. The result is a production that honors the text’s historical sweep while acknowledging just how challenging it is to keep such a forceful script fresh and tightly reined.

Physically, this production fits naturally on Vintage Theatre’s Berg‑Young Cabaret Stage. Its single setting—the Summit Hotel bathroom just off the grand ballroom—is clearly conveyed through Molly Turner’s costumes, Kevin Taylor’s lighting, and Luke Rahmsdorff‑Terry’s sound design. The space feels intimate without feeling cramped, and the design team emphasizes that closeness. Taylor’s lighting introduces a few somewhat mysterious cues, dimming and tightening to suggest the late‑night uncertainty pressing on Bella as she waits for the results. Turner nods to Abzug’s signature hats, although the physical production sometimes seems like it could benefit from a bit more showmanship to match Bella’s larger‑than‑life presence.

Fierstein’s script is humorous and mostly enjoyable, folding a brisk history lesson into Bella’s late‑night reckoning, and this production meets that challenge with a committed performance from Erika Scotti and Mari Geasair’s sure‑footed direction. It is not without flaws—the density of the writing occasionally overwhelms the room—but there are many winning elements in Vintage Theatre’s Bella Bella. This production captures the spirit, urgency, and unapologetic force of a woman who refused to be sidelined.

Performances are Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday at 7:30 pm through March 18.

For Information and Tickets: https://www.vintagetheatre.org/performances/bellabella