TDF Stages

Two of the writers behind the new musical talk about its journey to Broadway

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As Real Women Have Curves: The Musical put its finishing touches on its Broadway transfer, one woman in particular was on the mind of playwright Josefina López: her mother, Catalina Perales López, a Mexican immigrant who passed away in 2019 at age 78. Catalina served as a muse for her daughter. In fact, she was the inspiration for López's breakout play Real Women Have Curves, which debuted in 1990 in San Francisco when López was just 21 and went on to become a smash 2002 movie and now a crowd-pleasing Broadway musical.

Spotlighting a group of Latina women who manage to maintain their optimism under tough working and immigration conditions in a steamy Boyle Heights sewing factory, the musical had its world premiere at American Repertory Theater in Massachusetts last season and is adapted from both López's original script and the screenplay she cowrote for the film. For the musical, Lisa Loomer and Nell Benjamin penned the book and the songs are by Joy Huerta and Benjamin Velez, but López was gratified that there was one person on the creative team who understood the characters'—and her late mother's—struggle firsthand: director-choreographer Sergio Trujillo. For a time, he too was an undocumented immigrant, hailing from Colombia. "He doesn't have to guess what it's like," López says. "He really understands the fear and pain, and his mother was a seamstress, so we have a lot in common."

Set in East Los Angeles in the summer of 1987, Real Women Have Curves: The Musical stars Tatianna Córdoba as 17-year-old Ana García, an aspiring journalist and the only American citizen in her family, which includes her overbearing mom Carmen (Justina Machado), her kindhearted father Raúl (Mauricio Mendoza) and her ambitious older sister Estela (Florencia Cuenca), who runs a small dress company that employs undocumented immigrants. On the one hand, it's a classic coming-of-age tale as Ana clashes with her mother while trying to pursue her dreams. But woven into that familiar storyline are timely issues rarely examined in Broadway musicals, including anti-immigrant sentiment, capitalist exploitation, the oppressiveness of impossible body standards, and the terrifying uncertainty of being undocumented.

López wrote her original play to honor her mother, an immigrant who worked in a garment factory where the playwright also toiled as a child. As a teenager, López recalls questioning her mother's intellect, especially for staying with her "macho womanizer" father. But as she matured, López had a more nuanced view of her mother's life.

"My mother would often say really profound things and had a lot of wisdom," López says while choking up. "Women respected my mother, and it was great to see she had all these sides to her. It was special to see my mother as a real woman, which is also why I wanted to pay tribute to her and my sister."

Not only is the musical López helped spark showcasing a community seldom seen on Broadway, Real Women Have Curves is also giving opportunities to many brown and Black artists. A dozen performers are making their Broadway debuts with the show as is book co-writer Lisa Loomer, a Latina playwright and stand-up who deftly navigates the show's tonal shifts.

"I do think they hired me because of my voice, which straddles a fine line between humor and tragedy," says Loomer. "It's very common at my plays to have one person laughing and the next person crying, and I think that translates well into this musical. We have a lot of laughs and yet people coming out of the show use words like poignant and relevant."

Another word both Loomer and López bandy about freely is joy. It's certainly palpable during the raucous scene when the women in the sweltering workshop strip down to their underwear for some relief and revelry during the title song. These ladies of all ages and sizes bare their cellulite, stretch marks and stomachs unapologetically. Judging from the boisterous reaction of the audience, it's a cherished moment of truth.

"Women are just so hungry for stories about real women," López says. "Stories about women having worth and learning to love themselves. When people see women working together having so much joy, the audience experiences that joy and leaves inspired."

Some also leave more educated about what undocumented folks go through. At a recent performance, Loomer got into an extraordinary conversation with a white audience member from California. "She told me that when she was growing up, she resented Mexican immigrants because she thought they were taking people's jobs," Loomer says. "When Trump came into power, she said she understood a lot of what he was doing. But when she saw our show, it blew her mind. She said she would never look at immigrants the same way again."

Although that may sound incredible, Loomer believes that's the life-altering power of theatre at work. It's a place where people from disparate backgrounds can gather, empathize and even confront their own biases. "I'm so glad she was in the audience," Loomer says. "I'm so glad that through the music, joy and humor, we could get to her heart."

While Real Women Have Curves: The Musical is changing hearts and minds, it's also helping to make Broadway history. Yes, there have been other Latine-themed musicals on Broadway, notably West Side Story, Zoot Suit, In the Heights, Kiss of the Spider Woman and On Your Feet! But this season there are two running concurrently: Real Women Have Curves: The Musical and Buena Vista Social Club. It's a milestone not lost on Loomer.

"There're all these people on stage who haven't had the opportunity to be on stage. That's a very big statement in itself," Loomer says. "The fact that the curtain comes up on these seven women who you don't usually see on Broadway stages and the audience applauds at the sight of them, that is a huge moment."

For López, her tale's 35-year journey from regional play to Broadway musical feels thrilling and a bit surreal, especially because her mother is no longer alive. Yet her mother and other women like her are celebrated on stage every night because of López, and she never fails to be moved.

"Every time during the last song, where Ana admits to her mother she was wrong, I just cry," López says. "I've watched it 15 times now and I still cry. I realized I was wrong about my mother in many ways, and now I understand."

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TDF MEMBERS: At press time, discount tickets were available for Real Women Have Curves: The Musical. Go here to browse our latest discounts for dance, theatre and concerts.

The show is also frequently available at our TKTS Discount Booths.