Bella An American Tall Tale Analysis

Much like the greek tragedies, the hero of Bella: An American Tall Tale has a major tragic flaw, but this flaw might be a bit too big to handle. Bella, the main character, faces many problems caused by her large posterior. Bella: An American Tall Tale at the Dallas Theater Center captivates audiences with its hysterical script, talented actors, and spectacular technical elements.
The musical begins with Bella (Ashley D. Kelley), a kind yet naive young girl whose large derriere both causes and solves her many problems, getting onto a train. She plans to meet her boyfriend Aloysius (Clifton Oliver) and marry him. However, she faces many obstacles hindering her journey. For example, a Mexican cowboy jumps through her window and whisks away a woman on the train and a traveling circus makes her the star of their freakshow. This show touches on the many different

The stage starts off mostly bare except for a few rows of chairs set to look like the seats of a train. The simple set allows for more movement for the actors and also prevents any distractions that large sets often cause. Throughout the show, the set changes to show the different locations that Bella visits. During one scene that takes place in Bella’s dreams, a projector casts lights that look like stars across the bare stage to reveal Tommie Haw (Paolo Montalban), an Asian cowboy that tells Bella about the Californian railways. The bare stage provides a dramatic and dreamlike scene.
The costumes provide additional humor to an already hilarious play. Bella’s costumes help show the development of her character throughout the show. They all have a large padding on the behind to show her large backside. The most interesting costumes, however, are worn by the freaks in the circus. The freaks’ costumes range from a beard on a lady to a hunchbacked man. The odd costumes that the freaks wear add to the peculiarity of the scenes that take place in the