Real Women Have Curves: The Musical has named additional cast members joining previously announced stars Tatianna Córdoba and Justina Machado, set to play Ana Garcia and her mother Carmen Garcia, respectively. The show will open at the James Earl Jones Theatre on April 1 with an opening night set for April 27.
Joining the cast are Florencia Cuenca as Estela, Shelby Acosta as Prima Flaca, Carla Jimenez as Pancha, Aline Mayagoitia as Itzel, Mason Reeves as Henry, Jennifer Sánchez as Rosalí and Sandra Valls as Prima Fulvia. The company also includes Quincy Hampton, Zeus Mendoza, Claudia Mulet, Christopher M. Ramirez, Monica Tulia Ramirez, Shadia Fairuz, Elisa Galindez and Omar Madden. Casting for the role of Raúl will be announced at a later date.
Based on the play by Josefina López and its subsequent 2002 film, which had a screenplay by López and George LaVoo, the musical version of Real Women Have Curves has music and lyrics by Grammy Award winner Joy Huerta of the Mexican pop duo Jesse & Joy and composer-lyricist Benjamin Velez, a book by Lisa Loomer with Nell Benjamin and music supervision by Nadia DiGiallonardo. Direction and choreography is by Tony Award winner Sergio Trujillo.
The show's creative team also includes music direction by Roberto Sinha, scenic design by Arnulfo Maldonado, costume design by Wilberth Gonzalez and Paloma Young, lighting design by Natasha Katz, sound design by John Shivers, video design by Hana S. Kim, hair, wig and makeup design by Krystal Balleza and Will Vicari and orchestrations by Nadia DiGiallonardo, Joy Huerta, Rich Mercurio and Benjamin Velez. The stage production of Real Women Have Curves had its world premiere at the American Repertory Theater at Harvard University in 2023.
It’s the summer of 1987, and Ana Garcia dreams of flying away from East Los Angeles. But when her family receives a make-or-break order for 200 dresses, Ana finds herself juggling her own ambitions, her mother’s expectations and a community of women all trying to make it work against the odds.