Review: Real Women Have Curves Is the Realest Musical on Broadway Right Now

In a garment workshop in 1987 Los Angeles, a handful of women from various Latin American countries are rushing to finish an order. Nearly four decades after the premiere of Josefina López’s play Real Women Have Curves, its musical adaption has arrived at the James Earl Jones Theatre on Broadway at a time when its many themes remain deeply necessary. Its title alone is a phrase worth declaring on Broadway, especially after years of frustratingly slow process in broadening representation beyond sizes zero through six, and it scores an all-around 10 in the story it wants to tell.

In Real Women Have Curves, first-generation Mexican American aspiring journalist Ana García (Tatianna Córdoba) has just scored a full ride to Columbia University. However, amid writing for the local paper and working alongside the seamstresses at her older sister Estela (Florencia Cuenca)’s dress shop, she has yet to tell her parents the news of her cross-country move.

We become acquainted with Ana’s ongoing inner monologue with the ballad “Flying Away,” a classic musical-theater “I Want” song that steals our hearts. Córdoba’s voice is youthfully bright and silky smooth on the surface, with an underlying strength that channels the number’s soft-rock tone. Though we know that Ana has the drive to succeed in New York, as the only American citizen in the family, she is the one helping navigate the challenges of lacking documentation while they work to make ends meet. She fears her family, especially her mother, Carmen (Justina Machado), will hold her back — but also struggles with whether they could survive without her.

The former quickly proves itself true. When Ana hints that she might have bigger dreams than sewing dresses, Carmen quips that she should “sleep less.” Machado puts forward the sardonic edge of the role expertly, earning plenty of knowing laughs from the audience. But underneath the no-nonsense exterior, she offers a palpable vulnerability in Carmen’s strength and sacrifice for the family. Urging Ana to keep her head out of the clouds only echoes Carmen’s own discarded dreams.

Rooting for Ana comes easily with Córdoba’s intrinsic charm. The true heart of the show, though, are the supporting actors. Offering gorgeous vocals, Cuenca sparkles as radiantly as Estela’s dazzling dresses (which are designed by costumers Wilberth Gonzalez and Paloma Young). Aline Mayagoitia soars as Itzel, a sweet young migrant who gets entrapped by ICE. Her voice flutters through every note as ethereally as a nightingale.

Jennifer Sánchez (Rosalí), Shelby Acosta (Prima Flaca), Carla Jimenez (Pancha), and Sandra Valls (Prima Fulvia), who steal their spotlight moments as the dressmakers, their expressiveness and absolute joy shining throughout. Mason Reeves is irresistibly sweet as Ana’s adorkable love interest, Henry.

With a smartly adapted book by Lisa Loomer and Nell Benjamin, Real Women Have Curves benefits from the brilliant way director/choreographer Sergio Trujillo devises the story. Rather than focusing solely on Ana, he sets it up as a family-forward ensemble piece, though Ana’s is still the central narrative. Because of this, the subplots don’t feel like accessories, but rather stepping stones for Ana’s realizations.

Joy Huerta and Benjamin Velez’s provide a Mexican ranchera-tinged score that does not feel as much of a centerpiece as the storyline itself is, but it serves as a fine backdrop to the plot, punctuated with plenty of percussion and trumpet (the orchestrations are credited to Huerta, Velez, Nadia DiGiallonardo, and Rich Mercurio). The master touch is Trujillo’s choreography, steeped in salsa and similar fast-paced, high-energy Latin dance forms, all set against Arnulfo Maldonado’s thoughtful and warm set.

An epiphany of self-acceptance erupts in the show’s most liberating moment, when Ana encourages her fellow Latinas to “take up space” by stripping to their undies. The women of all sizes and ages dance and sing the title song. For anyone who has long protested how only the smallest percentage of the American population is actually seen onstage, these few fleeting moments of visibility are a salve for years of sidelining. For those who don’t see the problem with that…perhaps they are the group who most need the exposure.

As pertinent as that notion is, it’s just one empowering theme in this triumphant musical. While some might find the plot to be all-over-the-place, it’s about Ana’s experience. Serving as a slice-of-life, it is desperately needed now, at a time when so many women like her are dehumanized on a daily basis, whether because of their body, race, or immigration status. Just as beauty is so much more than meets the eye, Real Women Have Curves offers far more than just its body-positive title. It may not be the flashiest musical of the season, but it’s real. The realest thing Broadway has seen in quite some time.