JOSEFINA LOPEZ TO MAKE BROADWAY DEBUT FROM BOYLE HEIGHTS TO BROADWAY, HER 37-YEAR JOURNEY FROM 1988 – 2025
Josefina López’s Original Play and Screenplay, Real Women Have Curves Are The Source Materials of the New Broadway Musical,
Real Women Have Curves: The Musical Opening April 27, 2025
Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, CA (March 27, 2025) – Josefina López, the celebrated Mexican-American award-winning playwright and screenwriter best known for creating and authoring the play and co-authoring the film Real Women Have Curves, who was an undocumented five-year-old immigrant when she migrated with her family from San Luis Potosi, Mexico, to the United States in 1974 to settle in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles will be making her Broadway debut on Sunday, April 27, 2025.
López was undocumented for 13 years before she received Amnesty in 1987, eventually becoming a U.S. Citizen in 1995. It was 37-years ago in March of 1988, at the age of 18, when Josefina López presented some scenes from her play in progress, Real Women Have Curves, at the INTAR (International Arts Relations) Hispanic Playwrights in Residence Laboratory led by playwright María Irene Fornés in New York City. By June of 1988 López presented her first full draft of the play at INTAR.
Like the leading protagonist Ana García in her play and film who wins a journalism fellowship which takes her to New York City, now, 37-years later after she created the play, Josefina López, who is the model for the character of Ana García, will return to New York City, where, at the age of 18, she dreamed that one day her play would become a Broadway musical. Josefina López’s original play and her 2002 Sundance Film Festival Audience and Jury Award-winning film of the same name, written with George LaVoo, are the source materials for the new Broadway show, Real Women Have Curves: The Musical, with Opening Night set for Sunday, April 27, 2025 at the James Earl Jones Theatre in New York City.
Josefina López said, “My dream has come true. My journey from the barrio in Boyle Heights to Broadway has taken 37-years to realize, but now it is a realty. As a student studying Theatre in the first graduating class of the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts we presented scenes from The Diary of Anne Frank. I identified with Anne Frank because I was undocumented and had to hide my legal status because I was afraid to be found out. As an homage to Anne Frank I gave my protagonist in Real Woman Have Curves the name of Ana García.”
López continued, “My original play and screenplay are a microcosm of the Latina immigrant experience, celebrating real women’s bodies, the power of women, and the incredible bond that happens when women work together, all of which I feel are topical in today’s world we live in. The women I worked with in a small sewing factory in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles taught me many valuable life lessons, which I still carry with me to this day. I am so grateful to have my story told on a Broadway stage bringing positive worldwide attention to my beautiful community of Boyle Heights which I am so proud to be a part of with my CASA 0101 Theater where we champion women’s and Latinx voices and storytelling. My motto is: Create, Elevate, Celebrate.”
López added, “The synchronicity of how things are aligning for me all at the same time is truly kismet. It was on April 1, 2000 that I signed the lease for my CASA 0101 Theater, which is now celebrating its 25th Anniversary Season. It is at my theater where some of the earliest performances of my play, Real Women Have Curves were presented. Now, 25 years later, on April 1, 2025, Real Women Have Curves: The Musical will begin Preview performances on Broadway.”
Josefina López will return to INTAR Theatre, where she was mentored 37-years-ago to teach free classes in playwriting to INTAR artists from April 7 – June 23, 2025 on Monday nights from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. EST. On Friday, April 11, 2025, Josefina López, and other well-known former students of the Hispanic Playwrights in Residence Laboratory, which was once led by María Irene Fornés, will participate in an event produced by INTAR Theatre. More details will soon be announced. Learn more at www.intartheatre.org
Josefina López will be signing copies of her play, Real Women Have Curves and doing a Q&A at The Drama Book Shop, 266 West 39th Street, New York, New York 10018 on Monday, April 14, 2025 from 7:30 – 8:30 p.m. EST. Reservations for the Book Signing can be made at:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1293028616399?aff=oddtdtcreator
Here is a video of Josefina López speaking to the Broadway cast of the new musical at the first rehearsal for show, speaking about why she created the play: https://youtu.be/qMctRgpvmq8
Learn more about the musical at: https://realwomenhavecurvesbroadway.com/
López’s feature film 20 Pounds To Happiness (Eat. Love. Joy.), a companion piece to her film, Real Women Have Curves, is in post-production. López serves as Executive Producer and Writer of the film and Yelyna De Leon serves as Producer, Director and Star of the film.
Later in the year, Josefina López will present the World Premiere of A 10-Minute Play Festival Celebrating the Life and Legacy of Los Angeles Dodgers Pitcher, Fernando Valenzuela and his impact on the Latino community, including a 10-minute play written by Josefina López entitled Fernandomania Forever, to be presented at her CASA 0101 Theater in the Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, September 12 – 28, 2025 in observance of National Hispanic Heritage Month, followed by the World Premiere production of Josefina López’s latest play, Electrico, directed by Corky Dominguez, to be presented October 10 – November 2, 2025. Josefina López is also developing a new musical with composer Jaime Lozano, and at work on her autobiography, Real Women Have Courage. In addition, she is writing a new autobiographical play about her parents entitled, A Mexican Goodbye.
More About Josefina López:
Josefina López (Founding Artistic Director of CASA 0101 Theater/Writer/Director/Producer/Performer/Author/Activist/Shaman) (of the Boyle Heights area of Los Angeles, CA) is best known for authoring the play and co-authoring the 2002 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL AUDIENCE AND JURY AWARD WINNING film Real Women Have Curves. López started her writing career at 17 and has had over 130 productions produced of her many plays throughout the country. She has been working as a professional screenwriter in Hollywood for over 30 years with countless development deals and screenplay assignments. She has worked with many established producers like Norman Lear (“All In the Family”) and Jaime Paglia (“Eureka”) to bring Latinos to television.
Born to Catalina Perales López and Rosendo López Zuñiga in San Luis Potosi, Mexico on March 19, 1969, Josefina López was five-years-old when she and her family migrated to the United States and settled in Boyle Heights, a neighborhood in Los Angeles, CA. López was undocumented for 13 years before she received Amnesty in 1987 and eventually became a U.S. Citizen in 1995. She is a graduate of Columbia College Chicago, and holds an MFA in Screenwriting from UCLA’s School of Film/Television & Theater.
As the Founding Artistic Director of CASA 0101 Theater in the Boyle Heights area of Los Angeles, CA, her commitment is to present plays that celebrate and shatter the myths and stereotypes of Women and Latinos and she teaches playwriting, screenwriting, and producing to a new generation of Latinos and women artists. Learn more at www.casa0101.org
López is the recipient of numerous awards and accolades, including a formal recognition from U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer’s 7th Annual “Women Making History in Hollywood” in1998; and a Screenwriting Fellowship from the California Arts Council in 2001. She and Real Women Have Curves co-author George LaVoo won the HUMANITIES PRIZE for Screenwriting in 2002, The Gabriel Garcia Marquez Award from Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn in 2003, and the Artist-in-Residency grant from the National Endowment for the Arts/Theatre Communications Group in 2007.
Josefina López’s first short play, Simply Maria or the American Dream was filmed as a PBS special and won a Gold Award from the Corporation of Public Broadcasting and an Emmy Award. Josefina López was also the recipient of the 2023 Your Voice Carries Weight Award presented at the 2023 The Creative Coalition Humanitarian Awards Gala, and CASA 0101 Theater, the theater she founded, was the recipient of the Eastside Arts Initiative 2023 Innovative Arts Organization of the Year Award. LA Weekly recognized CASA 0101 Theater as the “Best Theater Serving Its Community” in October 2016.
As an author López has penned numerous books including: Real Women Have Curves and Other Plays, Detained In The Desert and Other Plays, Real Women Have Curves, 8 Ways To Say I Love My Life!, Confessions of Women from East L.A, the novel, Hungry Women in Paris and the Children’s Book, Shine, Shine, Shine Bright (The Antonio Villaraigosa Story).
Aside from her signature play, Real Women Have Curves, Josefina López’s cannon of plays also includes: Simply Maria, or the American Dream; Confessions of Women from East L.A.; Boyle Heights; Remembering Boyle Heights I and II, Hungry Woman in Paris; Detained in the Desert (which was also made into a feature film); Trío Los Machos; A Cat Named Mercy; Piñata Dreams; Drunk Girl; Lola Goes To Roma; Trío Los Machos; A Cat Named Mercy; Hpysteria; A Woman Named Gloria; An Enemy of the Pueblo and Queen of the Rumba.
Josefina López’s original play, Real Women Have Curves, and the HBO film, Real Women Have Curves written by Josefina López and George LaVoo, are the source materials for an adaptation of the new Broadway show, Real Women Have Curves: The Musical, which will debut in New York at the James Earl Jones Theatre on Sunday, April 27, 2025. The musical is being produced by Barry and Fran Weissler and Jack Noseworthy, directed and choreographed by Sergio Trujillo, with Book by Lisa Loomer with Nell Benjamin, Music and Lyrics by Joy Huerta and Benjamin Velez, with Music Supervision by Nadia Digiallnardo and Casting by X Casting and Arc Casting. The musical received its World Premiere production at American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) in the Loeb Drama Center in Harvard Square, Cambridge, MA, in December of 2023 and January of 2024. Learn more at https://realwomenhavecurvesbroadway.com/
The prolific Josefina López is currently working on numerous writing projects for the stage, screen and for print. López’s latest new play entitled, Electrico, a Feminist Western dealing with the lynching of Mexicans in 1908, will debut at CASA 0101 Theater later this season. She is also working on her memoir titled Real Women Have Courage. For more information about Josefina López please visit:
www.Josefinalopez.biz www.casa0101.org
@JosfinaLopezRWHC, @thejosefinalopez @20PoundsToHappiness Follow her on social media @JosefinaLopezRWHC
More About Real Women Have Curves: The Musical:
Real Women Have Curves: The Musical will begin Broadway performances in a Shubert-owned theater on April 1, 2025 with an opening night set for Sunday, April 27, 2025, making the production part of the 2024-25 Broadway season. The show stars: Tatianna Córdoba (Broadway debut) as Ana García, Justina Machado (One Day at a Time, Pulse, The Horror of Delores Road) as Carmen García, Mauricio Mendoza (Resurrection Blvd.) as Raúl García, Florencia Cuenca (Broadway debut) as Estela, Shelby Acosta (1776) as Prima Flaca, Carla Jimenez (Broadway debut) as Pancha, Aline Mayagoitia (Broadway debut, Six Boleyn Tour) as Itzel, Mason Reeves (Broadway debut, Frozen National Tour) as Henry, Jennifer Sánchez (Elf) as Rosalí and Sandra Valls (Broadway debut) as Prima Fulvia. Ariana Burks, Quincy Hampton, Zeus Mendoza, Claudia Mulet, Christopher M. Ramirez, Monica Tulia Ramirez, Shadia Fairuz, Elisa Galindez, and Omar Madden are also part of the cast.
It’s the summer of 1987, and Ana García 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. Based on the play by Josefina López that inspired the iconic hit film, Real Women Have Curves.
The musical will feature direction and choreography by Tony and Olivier Award winner Sergio Trujillo, music and lyrics by Grammy Award-winning artist Joy Huerta and composer/lyricist Benjamin Velez, book by Lisa Loomer with Nell Benjamin, and music supervision by Nadia DiGiallonardo. Real Women Have Curves: The Musical will also feature music direction by Roberto Sinha, scenic design by Arnulfo Maldonado, costume design by Wilberth Gonzalez and Tony Award winner Paloma Young, lighting design by eight-time Tony Award winner Natasha Katz, sound design by Tony Award winner John Shivers, video design by Tony Award winner Hana S. Kim, hair, wig, and make-up design by Krystal Balleza and Will Vicari, orchestrations by Nadia DiGiallonardo, Joy Huerta, Rich Mercurio, and Benjamin Velez, and casting by X Casting/Victor Vazquez, CSA and ARC/Duncan Stewart, CSA. Tripp Phillips will serve as Production Stage Manager, B.J. Holt as General Manager, and Alecia Parker as Executive Producer.
Real Women Have Curves: The Musical is based on the play by Josefina López and HBO’s Real Women Have Curves (screenplay by Josefina López and George LaVoo). American Repertory Theater (A.R.T) at Harvard University produced the musical’s critically acclaimed world premiere in 2023.
Real Women Have Curves: The Musical is produced by Barry and Fran Weissler (Waitress) and Jack Noseworthy, alongside Peggy Koenig, Stan Ponte, John Gore Organization, Ira Pittelman, Stacie and Steven Weisbrot, Michael Valdes, Michael P. Kruke, The Nederlander Organization, Erin and Ramesh Narasimhan, Emerald Drive, HGH Productions, the Independent Presenters Network, Jared King, Ira Kleinman, Peter May, Philip and James DeCarlo-Schnepper, Lilli and Jonathan Roth, Jayne Baron Sherman, Alicia Menendez and the Shubert Organization.
Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at Telecharge or by calling the James Earl Jones Theatre Box Office at 212-239-6200, or visiting in person at 138 West 48th Street, New York, NY 10036.
To stay up to date on news about Real Women Have Curves: The Musical, fans can visit: https://realwomenhavecurvesbroadway.com/ and follow the show on Instagram and Facebook at @RWHCMusical.
The discount code for Previews is RWART2.