BELLA OF THE BALL

There’s a line in Harvey Fierstein’s Bella Bella, about the firebrand politician and feminist Bella Abzug, that is completely of-the-moment, although referencing a U.S. president from 45 years ago.

“Gerald Ford, who has forevermore proven that no matter what you do, you can get away with it as long as you have powerful friends,” Abzug says in the play. She could just as well be referring to Donald Trump and his cronies.

And that’s the way Fierstein, who eventually ties America’s past to its present, especially in terms of the treatment of women who enter the boys’ club of national politics. The 2016 presidential election and the sexist treatment of Hillary Clinton, akin to how Abzug was treated, was the impetus for the show.