Review by Ron Fassler . . .
For more than a few years now, scenic design on Broadway has been obsessed with video projections. And it’s here to stay, too. Sometimes the effects are tacky, as in last season’s revival of The Wiz. Or witty and done with flair like Mean Girls. Or ingenious as with The Great Gatsby. In the new musical Real Women Have Curves, which opened this past Sunday night at the James Earl Jones Theatre, Hana S. Kim’s beautifully rendered designs provide a hand painted quality that brings out the striking vistas of east Los Angeles and illustrate the vibrant colors of Latiné street art. They work artfully in tandem with sets by Arnulfo Maldanado, well represented this season by four other shows that include Buena Vista Social Club, for which he just received a Tony nomination. There’s also a range of evocative costumes from Wilberth Gonzalez and Paloma Young that run the gamut from smocks to gowns. And it doesn’t hurt when Natasha Katz is the lighting designer who, this week, received her 20th Tony nomination for John Proctor is the Villain (catching up fast to the legendary Harold Prince’s magic number of 21). This murderer’s row of a design team is essential in raising the bar to achieve something special for a Broadway musical nowadays: authenticity.
Real Women is based on a play by Josefina Lopez, who co-authored its screenplay with George LaVoo for its 2002 film. The musical comes from playwright Lisa Loomer (The Waiting Room, Living Out) and Nell Benjamin, best known for her contributions to the books for the musicals Legally Blonde and Mean Girls. And though its plot is strictly by the numbers, leaving room for few surprises, its honesty and integrity go a long way towards its success. Along with a hearty score that’s never overbearing (truly the quicksand of musical theatre these days), Joy Huerta and Benjamin Velez, both new to Broadway, provide refreshing melodies and lyrics that cut through the usual noise. It is also beyond energizing to see a group of women onstage who don’t conform to common standards of beauty. Much of the cast feature full-figured ladies who proudly strut their stuff, never with more agility and pride than in the show’s title song, a second act showstopper.
If you’re not familiar with the plot from the popular film which made a star out of America Ferrara, its story concerns a family that works out of a sewing factory in 1987 towards the end of Ronald Reagan’s second term. Invested financially are mama Carmen, wonderfully played by Justina Machado, eldest daughter Estela (a warm and beguiling Florencia Cuenca), and eighteen-year-old Ana, the rebel (Tatianna Córdoba in an auspicious Broadway debut). Ana, with a full scholarship to Columbia University, has hidden the application process and her acceptance to college from both her parents, fearful they won’t let her go to New York to pursue her dreams of becoming a writer. Her father Raúl (a sincerely charming Maurico Mendoza) is an easier mark to convince otherwise, but Carmen is a tougher sell.
The illegality of several of the women who work in the factory becomes a major source of conflict and tension, but Real Women is more concerned with getting under these women’s skin as opposed to using them as props to send a message of inclusivity and anti-xenophobia. It’s to the show’s credit that it doesn’t beat a dead horse or stoop to proselytizing. It’s cheerful when it needs to be, sad and reflective when called for, and almost always entertaining.
Tony Award-winning choreographer Sergio Trujillo, directing on Broadway for the first time, does a lovely job keeping the balance with dances that don’t rely on overkill and stay true to character. The same can be said for a delicious ensemble of women with Shelby Acosta, Carla Jimenez, Aline Mayagoitia, Jennifer Sánchez, and Sandra Valls, all worthy of mention. Also, a shout out to understudy Claudia Mulet, who did a fine job in a featured role the night I attended.
This was my final show of the 2024-25 Broadway season. April was chockful of openings (I attended an even dozen). It’s a pleasure happy to end on the musical note of Real Women Have Curves, one of the year’s most outstanding crowd pleasers.
Real Women Have Curves is at the James Earl Jones Theatre, 138 W 48th Street, NYC. For ticket information, please visit: https://www.realwomenhavecurvesbroadway.com
Photo credits: Julieta Cervantes.
Headline photo: The company of Real Women Have Curves.