REVIEW: Broadway’s New Showstopper Real Women Have Curves Raises the Curtain on Latino Grit, Heart, and Culture

Broadway’s newest Tony-nominated sensation, Real Women Have Curves, shines a powerful spotlight on the painfully real, and often overlooked, Latino immigrant experience, blending humor, heart, and hard truths in a way that feels both timely and timeless.

Based on the 1990 play turned 2002 film, launching the career of America Ferrera, now musical, penned by Lisa Loomer, tells the story of a Mexican immigrant family living in East Los Angeles in the late 1980s.

When first-generation Mexican-American Ana Garcia (Tatianna Córdoba) earns a full-ride to Columbia University with aspirations of becoming a journalist, but juggling her dreams with her immigrant family’s realities, she finds herself at odds with her mother Carmen Garcia (Justina Machado), who believes her cross country move is “abandoning her family.”

In trying to appease both her and her family, she takes on double duty, interning at the local paper and working at her sister, Estela’s (Florencia Cuenca), factory, which just received an order for 200 dresses in three weeks.

During her time at the factory, Ana learns crucial life lessons and faces harsh realities about the immigrant experience.

Throughout the nearly two and a half hour musical, the audience is taken on an emotional ride from start to finish. One moment you’re easing your side pain from all the laughter, and the next you’re chugging whatever’s in your souvenir cup to hold back the tears during musical numbers like “Oye Muchaha,” in which Carmen, Estella, and Ana cycle through the guilt of sacrificing everything but still never feeling good enough for your family – a Latino trope known all too well.

But, nothing compared to the somberness felt in the theatre when ICE raided the mattress store next to the factory. The audience watches as the women scurry to hiding spots and cry in fear that they’re next, an eerie reflection of the country’s current state. The audience gasped when they learned Itzel (Aline Mayagoitia), who encouraged Ana to spread her wings and fly, was taken by ICE and sent back to Guatemala.

Once again, the production’s multi-dimensional writing evokes sympathy for Itzel, yet moments later, the audience erupts in cheers during the showstopping number, “Real Women Have Curves.” After enduring one too many comments from Carmen about Ana’s body and how she could stand to skip a few meals, again, a tired trope, Ana and the factory women defiantly bare it all, proudly embracing the shapes gifted to them by rice, beans, and genetics.

As the three-week deadline approaches, the sisters unite to complete the remaining dresses overnight, a final act of familial solidarity that leads Estela to a successful delivery and the promise of future partnership. Meanwhile, Ana finally earns Carmen’s long-withheld blessing and prepares to embark on a new chapter in New York City with her boyfriend and fellow journalist, Henry (Mason Reeves*).

Real Women Have Curves is a true coming-of-age story on both ends. Ana learns to find herself personally, professionally, and even intimately. On the other end of the spectrum, Carmen enters her middle age as she bids a musical adiós to her menstrual cycle, “Andres,” and learns how to live life with her husband as empty nesters. Together, their parallel journeys reflect the beauty and complexity of womanhood at every stage of life, making for a musical for all ages.

Cast Performances

The musical features an extremely talented and cohesive ensemble that allows the audience to see themselves in. Machado’s old-school, no-nonsense but deeply protective and loving portrayal of Carmen is a clear indicator of why she earned a Tony nomination. The night we saw the musical was the day her nomination was announced, and you can bet the crowd roared at her entrance.

Newcomer Córdoba proved that although this is her first stint on Broadway, she’s here to stay. The triple threat showed off her exceptional range in power ballads like “Flying Away.” Her youthful, yet determined depiction of Tatiana made you want to root for her every step of the way.

*Henry is typically portrayed by Mason Reeves; however, for our performance, swing Quincy J. Hampton stepped in. Since the playbill insert noting the cast change was buried too deep to notice, I only learned Hampton was the swing later that night via social media, prompting a surprised, “He was the swing?” While Reeves is undoubtedly stellar in the role, Hampton’s impressive Broadway debut left me wishing I could see him in it eight times a week.

Although the original film positions Ana as the lead character, Loomer did an impeccable job of writing the musical adaptation as an ensemble production that allows the audience to get to know the Garcia family and factory ladies, immersing them into East L.A. in 1987.

Overall, Real Women Have Curves is a thought-provoking and emotionally resonant production that captures the true heart of Latino families. While it’s frustrating to witness history repeating itself in today’s climate of fear and division, there’s no better moment for Broadway to spotlight and celebrate Latino stories.

As the granddaughter of a Puerto Rican seamstress and the daughter of a mom who never fulfilled her dreams of being a fashion designer, but pushes me every day to make my wildest dream come true, this production hit close to home. I haven’t been this moved by a musical since In the Heights’ Nina Rosario belted her shame of coming back home even though she was “the one who made it out.”

Together, this cast doesn’t just perform Real Women Have Curves; they embody it, delivering a heartfelt celebration of culture, identity, and community that resonates long after the final bow.

Get your tickets to Broadway’s Real Women Have Curves here.