Real Women Have Curves
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Cititour.com Review
While women make up the majority of theatergoers, Broadway audiences haven’t always been kind to stories of female empowerment, as evidenced by the recent fates of “Lempicka” and “Suffs.” That tide may change, however, with the arrival of the delightful new musical “Real Women Have Curves,” now at the James Earl Jones Theatre.
The show, based on Josefina Lopez’s 1990 play and 2002 movie of the same name – with some significant changes made by co-authors Lisa Loomer and Nell Benjamin – is a mostly feel-good celebration of women overcoming obstacles. Luckily, it’s also tuneful enough -- and, above all, not too preachy -- to appeal to male audiences. Expect to see lots of smiling faces of all genders leaving the theater.
Directed and choreographed with the right amount of flair by Sergio Trujillo, “Real Women” transports to an immigrant-occupied section of Los Angeles in 1987, where we focus on the Garcia family, led by patriarch Raul (an underused Mauricio Mendoza) and matriarch Carmen (a sublime Justine Machado). There, Carmen works alongside ambitious eldest daughter Estella (a fine Florencia Cuenca) in a depressing dress factory where all the workers – including Carmen and Estella – are illegal immigrants and live in fear of an INS raid (as happens in the next building).
While always on their guard, they also joke, laugh and frequently break into song. The excellent, Latin-tinged score, by Joy Huerta and Benjamin Velez, includes the comedic “Adios Andres” (about the beginning of menopause) and the infectious title number, in which the curvy women (both young and old) strip to their scanties to deal with the overwhelming heat, among other winners.
The disrobing scene also includes the couple’s youngest, overweight daughter, Ana (a wonderful Broadway debut by Tatianna Cordoba), who is the story’s main protagonist. An American citizen, complete with the desire to fulfill the big American dream, Ana is an aspiring journalist who has – without her parents’ knowledge – gotten into Columbia University on a full scholarship.
She also plans to spend the entire summer interning at the local newspaper, but she ends up juggling two jobs (including one at the factory) after Estella gets an “impossible” order of completing 200 dresses in three weeks for an imperious buyer, Mrs. Wright (Monica Tulia Ramirez), who threatens to withhold payment if the job isn’t complete by deadline.
As if Ana doesn’t have enough on her plate, she also befriends a new immigrant, Itzel (a charming Aline Mayacotia), who soon runs afoul of the law – a too-heavy if too-timely development which the musical could and should live without. As well. Ana finds first love with fellow intern Henry (the hunky yet adorkable Mason Reeves). The pair’s two duets, “Already Know You” and “Doin’ It Anway, are perhaps the score’s true highlights.
Still, much of Ana’s time is spent arguing with Carmen, who wants Ana to stay in LA for many reasons. As a citizen, she can do the couple’s taxes and write letters to the landlord. She can also help out at the factory, which is the family business. And isn’t New York City where they just step over your dead body?
But Carmen’s motives, beautifully limned by Machado, are complex. She’s afraid of living alone for the first time with Raul, fearing they have lost interest in each other after decades of being together. And she’s jealous of Ana, who will get to live out her desires in a far more fulfilling way than she ever has. If this wasn’t a musical, I think there might be more of a question of whether Carmen will eventually give Ana her blessing, but I suspect you know the ending.
Working with a smallish stage (and two or three main sets), designer Arnulfo Maldonado and video designer Hana S. Kim provide us with as much color as possible. As for the costumes, by Wilberth Gonzalez and Tony Award winner Paloma Young, they are sometimes super-colorful as well (in the fancy dresses designed by Estella) but also suitably workaday for a group of women without much financial means.
No matter. As “Real Women Have Curves” shows us again and again that what’s inside these women – determination, grit, compassion – is way important than what we can see with our eyes!
By Brian Scott Lipton
Visit the Site
https://www.realwomenhavecurvesbroadway.com/
Open/Close Dates
Opening 4/27/2025
Closing Open-ended
Theatre Info
James Earl Jones Theatre
138 West 48th Street
New York, NY 10036
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