[NoHo Arts District, CA] – A NoHo Arts theatre review of CASA 0101 Theater’s production of Josefina López’s award-winning play, Real Women Have Curves, directed by Corky Dominguez, and running through May 3, 2026.
Real Women Have Curves makes a triumphant return to Boyle Heights decades after its first debut in Little Casa and it’s a phenomenally successful and career-launching movie version, starring America Ferrera. Not to mention its latest foray as a musical on Broadway!
In what I have to say became an utterly magical opening night, Real Women Have Curves proves yet again that Latina stories have power and grace and resonate far beyond the neighborhoods that inspired them.
Based on writer Josefina López’s actual experiences as a sweatshop worker in downtown L.A., the story revolves around a small group of women employed by a young Latina trying to create her own space in the rat race that is the clothing industry. She has an order to fill, half the machines she bought are falling apart and immigration raids are happening all around them. It’s also summer in L.A. and the fierce heat slows everyone down. But they are too afraid to prop the door open to cool them off. Even though most of them now have legal status, the fear is hard to shake after a lifetime of it.
This is a poignant and still obviously a very timely story. The theatre was packed with locals and loved ones all urging these wonderful actors on, with Josefina López sitting front row center. I can only image how fulfilling it must be for her all these years later. To sit in her own theatre, with support from her own neighborhood and family. To share her story, an echo of so many others at a time so full of fear, once again…it was certainly almost overwhelming. But the beauty of the story, the camaraderie of these hard-working, funny, smart and gorgeously curving women will stand as testimony forever.
This story is all our stories. Making something happen out of nothing. Risking everything for a chance at something greater, a better, more secure life for everyone you care about and even those you have never met. These wonderful characters and the history they share, and the light at the center of them burning bright and filling up every spare inch of the theatre, is something I won’t ever forget.
Bravo to all these beautiful, courageous actors, stripping down to their underwear in defiance of the heat, the stress of listening to the sirens all day and because they are goddesses with wide hips and soft tummies and sexy sexy curves. Let us not forget who makes the world and clothes the world and feeds the world and who sings it to sleep. Real women who have curves.
This is a moment not to miss. Buy your tickets, support Latinas and their art, and come and see this wonderful wonderful play.
Where:
Casa 0101
2102 1st St, Boyle Heights, Los Angeles
When:
March 27 to May 3
Spanish performances are on Sundays at 2:00 p.m. on April 12, 19, 26 and May 3
Tickets:
The Real Women Have Curves Cast
The cast of Real Women Have Curves includes: Stefany Arroyo (of South Bay/Lomita, CA) as Ana García; Yasha Alanitz (of Silver Lake, CA) as Estela García; Blanca Araceli (of Los Angeles, CA) as Carmen García; Amy Melendrez (of Venice, CA) as Rosalí; and Laura Vega (of Pasadena, CA) as Pancha.
Understudies in Real Women Have Curves include: Gabriela Machuca (of Yorba Linda, CA) Understudy for Ana García and Rosalí who will appear as Ana García in the Spanish performance of the play on Sunday, April 19, 2026 at 2:00 p.m.; and Mariana Montes Sandoval (of Whittier, CA) Understudy for Estela García, Carmen García and Pancha who will appear as Estela García in the Spanish performance of the play on Sunday, April 26, 2026 at 2:00 p.m.
The Team
The production team for Real Women Have Curves includes: Josefina López (of Boyle Heights) Creator and Playwright, Founding Artistic Director, CASA 0101 Theater; Emmanuel Deleage (of Silver Lake, CA) Producer and Executive Director, CASA 0101 Theater; Edward Padilla (of Boyle Heights) Casting Director and CASA 0101 Theater Board Member; Corky Dominguez (of Boyle Heights) Director; Carmelita Maldonado (of El Sereno, CA) Assistant Director; Angelica Ornelas (of North Hollywood, CA) Stage Manager; Joy Diaz (of Monterray Park, CA) Assistant Stage Manager; César Rentana-Holguín (of Northridge, CA) Set Designer; Alejandro Parra (of Burbank, CA) Lighting Designer; Tony Iniguez (of West Covina, CA) Costume Designer; Abel Alvarado (of Silver Lake, CA) Assistant Costume Designer; Andy James Garcia (of East Los Angeles, CA) Props Manager; Jeremiah Ocañas (of Boyle Heights) Set Builder; Mark Kraus (of Los Angeles, CA), CASA 0101 Theater Development Director; Itzel Ocampo (of Alhambra, CA) Graphic Designer and CASA 0101 Theater Marketing and Operations Manager; Karla Melendez (of East Los Angeles, CA) Program Administrator; Gabriela López de Dennis, Soap Studio Inc. (of Los Angeles, CA) Program; Jorge Villanueva (of the Boyle Heights) Facilities Manager; Oscar Basulto (of the Boyle Heights) Box Office Manager; Al Aguilar (of Los Angeles, CA) Production Assistant/Foyer Designer; Rudy Torres (of Los Angeles, CA) Production Photographer and Steve Moyer Public Relations (of Los Angeles, CA), Press Representative.