It's already a beloved play and a hit film. Now Real Women Have Curve is a Broadway musical. Based on the play by Josefina López, this funny, joyous, and empowering new show features music and lyrics by Grammy winner Joy Huerta of the Mexican pop duo Jesse & Joy and composer/lyricist Benjamin Velez, with a book by Lisa Loomer with Nell Benjamin.
The musical features direction & choreography by Tony and Olivier Award winner Sergio Trujillo. With Real Women Have Curves, Joy Huerta will become only the second female composer of Mexican descent to have a show on Broadway.
Summer 1987, Boyle Heights, Los Angeles. After eighteen years under the roof of her immigrant parents, Ana is ready to spread her wings. Her dreams of college and a career in New York City are bursting at the seams, but her family’s expectations would keep her home, working at their garment factory (and being driven crazy by her mother). Is it worth sacrificing the dreams of her family by Ana fulfilling her own?
Before broadway, Real Women Have Curves had its world premiere at the American Repertory Theater (A.R.T) at Harvard University in 2023. The play premiered at the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts in San Francisco in 1990. It was adapted into a film in 2002, starring America Ferrera (in her feature film debut) as protagonist Ana García.
Trujillo, an old pro, understands his material and his lively choreography is both created for the bonafide dancers in the cast and designed to make everyone else look and feel good. So they do. There’s a song about menopause that went over like gangbusters at the show I saw, determined ballads of hopes, fears and resilience and even a bit of PG semi-nudity when the factory gets too sweaty and confidence rises. The curves promised on the marquee are vivaciously delivered.
In the end, we’re left with the recognition that these foreign born characters represent the majority of migrants seeking refuge in this country. All they want is a decent life, free of the violence and poverty they left behind. And yet, more and more, they face challenges that make it nearly impossible to survive, let alone afford a decent life for their families. As the characters talk about feeling powerless, the audience is touched in a way that no other medium can do. The best works don’t just entertain us, they move our hearts and minds. This is the power of great theater.
| 2025 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Choreography | Sergio Trujillo |
| 2025 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Lead Performance in a Musical | Tatianna Córdoba |
| 2025 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Music | Joy Huerta |
| 2025 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Music | Benjamin Velez |
| 2025 | Drama League Awards | DISTINGUISHED PERFORMANCE | Tatianna Córdoba |
| 2025 | Drama League Awards | DISTINGUISHED PERFORMANCE | Justina Machado |
| 2025 | Drama League Awards | OUTSTANDING DIRECTION OF A MUSICAL | Sergio Trujillo |
| 2025 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Costume Design | Wilberth Gonzalez |
| 2025 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Costume Design | Paloma Young |
| 2025 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding New Broadway Musical | Real Women Have Curves |
| 2025 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Score (Broadway or Off-Broadway) | Joy Huerta |
| 2025 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Score (Broadway or Off-Broadway) | Benjamin Velez |
| 2025 | Tony Awards | Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) | Joy Huerta |
| 2025 | Tony Awards | Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) | Benjamin Velez |
| 2025 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical | Justina Machado |
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