Brianna McDonnell takes to the stage at the Hollywood Fringe Festival for a bold, brilliant, and long-awaited world premiere. There are only two performances left.
For anyone who has followed plus-size media at all, Brianna McDonnell is not a new name. She is a Los Angeles-based performer, creative producer, and founder of The B Word. B Word is a media company built on one very clear premise. That means fat people have the right to see themselves on screen, in editorial form, in stories, and on stage. Completely. without apology.
And now she’s taking that premise into its most personal and powerful form yet.
B is big ” is a one-man play by McDonnell that will make its world premiere as part of the 2026 Hollywood Fringe Festival. The show is directed by Ken Sawyer and has musical direction by Lindsay Aldana. The show runs for one hour and is suitable for ages 10 and up.
The audience has already spoken and the verdict is unanimous, don’t miss this one.
Who is Brianna McDonnell?
If you need a quick refresher, Brianna McDonnell moved to Los Angeles to pursue musical theater. When she couldn’t find herself in the medium she loved, she built her own. The B Word started as a plus-size fashion blog and has grown into a full-service media company producing original content, fashion editorials, and short films. cosmopolitan, microphone, huffington postand yes, here we are at “The Curvy Fashionista”.
We covered her stunning 1970s Laurel Canyon-inspired fashion film in 2021. It was a tribute to Mama Cass and showed that Brianna is exactly the type of creator who doesn’t wait for a seat at the table. She makes a table. She sets it up. Then she invites everyone inside.
B is big is the next chapter. And it might just be the most powerful thing ever.
What is big in B?
This is a solo musical theater experience written and entirely performed by McDonnell himself. Part cabaret, part autobiography, part cultural reckoning. The show tracks her personal journey through life in a larger body, the weight the world puts on the word “big,” and what it actually means to take up space on your own terms.
The origin of the show is just as fascinating as the show itself. In her own words: Post to Instagram Just before the first preview:
“It’s been 10 years since I’ve been on stage. Tomorrow is the first screening of ‘Big with a B’…I’ve had this dream of doing a one-woman show, maybe all my life, but never written it down? Never done Fringe? I was immediately nervous, but excited about the challenge and excited about the idea of facing my own fears.”
She concluded the post with this:
“It’s truly a dream come true. Thank you for dreaming big with me. See you at the theater!”
The context is important. This is not a polished star taking a victory lap. This is a creator who wrote the show, built the production, and despite being away from the stage for a decade, still showed up. All reviews for that room are earned.
Certified reviewer Verina Logan candidly said, “Brianna is bold, smart, and beautiful. With Ken Sawyer’s thoughtful guidance, the show is highly entertaining, heartfelt, and smart.”
Accredited critic Azul Glynn called it a rare play that made you laugh many times, cry many times, and had a carefully selected musical accompaniment. What is her message to someone on the fence? If you’ve ever felt too small, too much, or too big, and it makes you feel small, please see this play.
That’s not polite applause. That is the perception of life.
What would happen if that story were set on stage?
There’s a certain kind of theater that isn’t just about having fun. It pinpoints your location. It finds a part of you that has been waiting to be seen and holds out a mirror. that’s what B is big is currently being played for viewers, and the people talking about it afterwards is proof of that.
Certified Critic Logan Allison called the show a fearless performer’s return to the stage and said the show was so serious that it felt like sitting and listening to a friend. The word earnest comes up many times. Not polished. Not executed. Honesty that can only come from someone who has lived the story.
The show follows Brianna’s life chronologically, weaving original songs and familiar Broadway hits into the story. Accredited critic Elizabeth Herron describes the experience of watching Ken Sawyer’s production flow beautifully through the story, with the piano and singing perfectly intertwined with the story. She said the production used red velvet curtains, a lighted vanity mirror, a piano, a video screen and even some candlesticks to create Brianna’s world. It’s specific. It’s the theatrical version. And it lands.
What this show really conveys is the weight of two words beneath the cabaret production and music: “fat” and “normal.” Accredited Critic Elizabeth Herron said those two words carry a lot of weight, both literally and figuratively, and that Brianna tells a heartwarming story of growing up surrounded by them, sharing her journey from childhood to the present, from her huge success to her acting and musical pursuits, to her final ABBA performance that brought audiences to tears.
That last detail is important. This is a show that will make you laugh and catch you off guard with how much it moves you. Accredited critic Donna Rice said it was a journey the audience did not expect, one that brought days of laughter, tears, and empathy. And certified critic Jennifer Lin said Brianna’s powerful stage presence, voice and comedic timing make the show relatable to anyone who has ever felt less than or been told they were too much.
That’s the through line. It’s not just plus size women. It’s not just fat people. Anyone who has ever felt like they were the wrong size, in every sense of the word.
Certified critic Julia Hymowitz, who saw the show as a musical theater buff, said her only criticism was that she wanted to hear the songs in full. The festival format required cuts. The audience wanted more. That’s the biggest possible problem for the show.
And certified reviewer Nathaniel Dorquist, who saw an early preview, simply said: It’s amazing to see what a multi-hyphenate like Brianna can produce for a festival like this.
the multihyphenate who wrote it, starred in it, and founded a production company behind it. That’s something that isn’t talked about enough. Brianna McDonnell didn’t wait for the show to get the green light. She made it exist.
Why is this important now?
We are at a cultural moment where plus-size representation is both more visible and more threatened than ever. Plus sizes are more present in fashion campaigns than they were 10 years ago. There’s also a new cultural obsession with thinness, weight loss pills sold as solutions to the so-called problem of existing in a larger body, and an entertainment industry that still too often treats fat women as punchlines and cautionary tales.
B is big Lands in the middle of them all and refuses to play along. This is a show rooted in the complete experience of being a woman with a large body navigating the world, the fashion industry, the entertainment industry, and her own identity. That’s not a small thing to put on stage. It’s a creative act of resistance disguised as cabaret.
And the audience feels it every second.
2 performances left. Get your tickets.
B is big The final two performances will take place at The Cats Crawl (Main Space), 660 N Heliotrope Dr., Los Angeles, CA 90004.
Saturday, June 20, 2026, 4:30 p.m.
Sunday, June 28, 2026, 12:00 p.m.
Get your tickets at hollywoodfringe.org/projects/13892 For more information about Brianna McDonnell and The B Word, please visit: thebwordblog.com.
2 shows. One stage. go.
Source: The Curvy Fashionista – thecurvyfashionista.com
