Josefina López is having a good year. The musical version of her pioneering play Real Women Have Curves debuts Thursday, Dec. 14 (previews started Wednesday) at American Repertory Theatre (ART) in Cambridge, Mass. (For details see below.) And Queen of the Rumba, the story of Alicia Parla, credited with introducing the rumba to America, a play she wrote for her UCLA master’s thesis in 2002, finally saw its world premiere at Lopez’s own theater, CASA 0101.
“It feels so good,” says López, “to be in this position to have two stories being celebrated. I’ve been telling stories since I was 5, and now I’m 54. I became a screenwriter at 21 and haven’t always been able to get my stories produced.” The main reason she founded her Boyle Heights-based theater was to see Real Woman Have Curves, set in East L.A., produced in her own town. “So it’s nice to see people appreciating women’s stories.”
López wrote the first draft of her signature Real Women Have Curves at 18 in 1988 at the Hispanic Playwrights Workshop in New York City, under the direction of playwright Irene Fornés . During the intervening 35 years her critically-acclaimed play has been staged more than 130 times across the country. Locally, the Pasadena Playhouse, Garry Marshall Theatre and La Jolla Playhouse have all mounted productions of the work about five full-figured Mexican-American women working in a tiny sewing factory, and Ana, who dreams of a brighter future.
Making It A Musical
In Oct 2018, 30 years after its initial writing, López met with Broadway theatrical producers, Jack Noseworthy and Barry Weissler in New York City to discuss adapting Real Women Have Curves into a musical. López loved the idea, and they optioned it for a Broadway show.
“When I was 18 and walking by the theatre houses in New York City, I fantasized about having a musical on Broadway,” says López. “Jack Noseworthy had the vision, and I do feel a story that includes women fighting with temperamental sewing machines and undressing and comparing their bodies had opportunities for songs.”
López is betting on a hit. The success of the award-laden movie version, released in 2002, and the subject of an inaugural exhibition at The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in L.A, “should make it easier to raise the $12 million it takes to get to Broadway. It’s exciting to have others see my vision,” says López.
Last November, artistic directors from across the country were invited to a show run-through in New York City. ART was the one that expressed interest. Says López, “I thought ‘why does it take a theater in Boston to do a play about Mexican-Americans?’ But I think it takes doing your plays somewhere else to get respect in your own town. So hopefully it will do well and be a success.
“It’s been a long road,” says López. Two previous attempts to set the show to music with other composers didn’t work out. “It’s great to finally have a winning team.”
A Writing Friendship
Last January (the 20th anniversary of the film), López met with playwright Lisa Loomer about creating the book for the musical.
She had no problem handing the reins to another writer. “I’d already done eight rewrites and I was a little burnt out,” López recalls. “I understood we needed a bigger name with more experience.”
Plus, she likes Loomer’s bona fides. Many of her plays deal with the experiences of Latinas and immigrant characters. Her play The Waiting Room discusses such issues as body image, a central theme of Real Women Have Curves. Café Vida, about female gang members, was presented at the Los Angeles Theatre Center by the Cornerstone Theatre Company in partnership with Homeboy Industries. “She’s not clueless about Boyle Heights and when we talked, she felt like a real person. We’re friends,” says López.
The musical’s book now combines the play with the film’s screenplay López wrote with George LaVoo. “Originally the producers wanted to keep it as close to the play as possible. But they realize now that there are a lot of beautiful emblems from the movie that they need to use. So it’s a combination of the two,” she says.
“Lisa’s asked for clarification on some issues, like ‘is this something an undocumented person would say?’ But we haven’t disagreed on things,” says López. “I got to give her notes and feedback and she had to do the rewrites.”
“This musical is about the relationship and the complications of being the daughter of an immigrant mother,” said Loomer in a statement. “In a sense, it is about how a young woman becomes a Kamala Harris or an AOC (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez). And it’s full of the passion, pain, desires, conflicts—and humor—that beg to be musicalized.”
A Winning Creative Team
López was “blown away,” she says, by the original score by Grammy Award-winning recording artist Joy Huerta (from internationally-renowned Mexican pop duo Jesse & Joy) and Fred Ebb Award winner Benjamin Velez (Kiss My Aztec, The Tempest). “I don’t have a musical background, but I’ve heard all the songs, and they and the poetic lyrics are incredible and uplifting.”
At auditions at CASA 0101, all the singers performed Ana’s song, Flying Away, “about the lived emotion of being 18 and wanting to run away,” says López. “I heard it about 20 times and every time they did it well, I cried. And others had the same reaction.” (Watch Huerta sing a clip of the song here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-HEC1cV-z0)
Director and choreographer Sergio Trujillo (Ain’t Too Proud, Memphis and many more) joined the project because his mother was a seamstress and he himself was undocumented, reports López. He was closeted and undocumented when he met his partner Jack (Noseworthy) dancing on Broadway. “So he was afraid of being found out on two levels,” says López.
“Part of my affinity for Real Women Have Curves is a desire to pay homage to the women—to our mothers, our aunts, our cousins, our friends—who have given us so much,” adds Trujillo. “I want the Latino community, the brown community to see themselves in these stories. My experience as the son of undocumented immigrants inspires me to do justice to our community.”
Telling The Story
In López’s largely autobiographical play, the women are continually racing to meet nearly impossible production deadlines to keep the factory from going under. While they work, in sustained fear of the INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service), they talk about their husbands and lovers, their children and their dreams.
Ana, López’s surrogate in the story, is the youngest among them having just graduated from high school. She dreams of leaving the barrio, going to college, and becoming a famous writer. She needs the money but doesn’t like working at the factory and has little respect for the co-workers, who make fun of her ambitions and her idealistic feminist philosophies. But, Ana keeps coming to her job and journaling her experiences. As the summer unfolds, she slowly gains an understanding and appreciation of the work and the women, eventually drafting an essay that wins her a journalism fellowship that will take her to New York City.
Drawn From Real Life
López says 80 percent of the events chronicled in the play really happened: Her sister did have a crush on the guy who lived next door. “He turned out to be a jerk as in the play,” says López, where she made him into a drug dealer. “And El Tormento was only so-so looking;” she was confused about the color of the INS (now ICE) vans which she thought were black; “we were always behind on the orders in my sister’s shop; and we were always hoping we’d win free concert tickets from the local radio station.
“We were always afraid of being reported or getting raided,” recalls López, “but it wasn’t as extreme as portrayed in the play for dramatic effect. The level of anxiety and urgency about having a green card wasn’t ratcheted up so high.”
She did clash with the other seamstresses, remembers López. “I did get the speech that ‘if you’re so smart why are you here? You should be in college and become a writer and starve all your life.’”
Writing in her journal in the shop bathroom was where she was inspired to write the play. “Every day I looked forward to the women’s stories about their lives. It was the first time I was surrounded by women. I was a tomboy and playing sports with Olympic fantasies of volleyball and tennis. That was when I finally understood the value and beauty of being a woman and the sacred feminine energy that can transform pain and suffering.”
Still relevant
It’s the play’s universal message that has kept the story popular and beloved for 35 years, says López. “At the world premiere I was amazed so see men crying,” says López. “I knew it would affect women and they would connect with it, but it affected men as well.
“We all want our parents’ blessing and feel we are underestimated by society,” says López. “We’re judged and told that our value comes from how we look. Society tells us what makes us valuable and doesn’t see what’s in our hearts and what we contribute to society.”
Real Women Have Curves tackles several themes. It’s a coming-of-age drama with a complex mother-daughter relationship. It explores the immigrant experience, the notion of accepting yourself “warts and all,” and the message that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes.
Working in the factory López learned about dress sizes and was distressed to learn, “there are some women who aspire to be a size zero. I thought, ‘where did the woman go? And how is this okay?”
On Being Undocumented
Real Women Have Curves was also López’s chance to address immigration.” I wanted to humanize undocumented people. This is not a tragedy or a drama. I don’t want audiences to feel sorry for these people, but to realize how resilient they are.”
Born in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, López was five when she and her family migrated to the U.S. and settled in the East Los Angeles neighborhood of Boyle Heights. López was undocumented for 13 years before she received amnesty in 1987 and eventually became a U.S. citizen in 1995.
“I love being Mexican and celebrating our culture,” says López. “Despite the racism I’ve faced, I still choose to laugh. And I want people to laugh with us and also see the dignity of a community moving forward.”
Always vocal about being undocumented, López found writing a way to “regain my humanity” after being called an illegal or an alien –“Like I’m from outer space. No one can dehumanize me again. I know I’m a real person who gives back to myself and others.”
On The Casting
López insisted the casting start in L.A. to “give Los Angeles- and Mexican-American actors the opportunity to audition.” She recommended local actress Carla Jimenez for the mother. “But it turns out she’s better as Pancha, the sassier of the seamstresses.”
Playing Ana’s father Raúl is local actor Edward Padilla, a long-time Casa board member, actor and director. “He’s given so much to Casa and he’s so talented,” says López.
The role of Carmen Garcia, Ana’s mother, is complicated; more supportive in the play and more concerned in the movie. For the film, López insisted that the late Lupe Ontiveros play the role because she reminded her of her own mother.
Taking on the part in this new musical is Justina Machado (Six Feet Under, One Day at a Time), who played the part of Ana in Chicago in 1992.
“The night Kamala Harris was named candidate for vice president I understood why this story should be revisited today,” said Loomer. “We are living in a moment of BIPOC women truly coming into power.” The diverse inclusive cast includes Cuban American and Mexican actors as well as actors from Texas, Chicago and New Mexico.
Honoring A Local Hero
In April, CASA 0101 renamed its mainstage theater, the Gloria Molina Auditorium in honor of the civic leader who was a big supporter of the theater and champion of the arts.
Next May, in time for the one-year anniversary of Molina’s death (she died on Mother’s Day) and her May birthday, López plans to debut her play about the L.A. politician with a legacy of firsts: First Latina elected to the state assembly (1982), first Latina elected to the L.A. City Council (1987) and first Latina elected to L.A. County Board of Supervisors (1991).
“I’ve wanted to write her story since I was 21,” reveals López, who’s already conducted interviews with Molina’s relatives. “She was such a godmother to our theater.”
The Eastside Arts Initiative she founded has provided grants not only to CASA 0101, but many other underserved and under-sourced arts organizations in the region. “We’ve gotten most of our support from the initiative. I’m a great fan of hers, so it’s exciting to write and for us to produce her story,” adds López.
American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) is in the Loeb Drama Center in Harvard Square, 64 Brattle St., Cambridge, Mass. Previews began Dec. 6. The show runs from Dec. 14–Jan. 21, 2024. For more information, visit www.americanrepertorytheater.org
Steve Simmons is an accomplished writer and editor who writes about a wide array of topics including entertainment. His successful experience at The Beverly Hills Courier and other publications set the stage for his blog. Contact Steve at steve.simmons0211@gmail.com or 626-788-6734.
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