Sometimes I attend a show with preconceived ideas, having heard or read about it. However, I knew nothing about “Real Women Have Curves,” never having read Josefina Lopez ' novel or seen the 2002 movie. What a pleasant experience! Despite a few serious themes that are treated gently, the musical is like bubbly soda- effervescentand refreshing.

Ana (Tatianna Cordoba) has applied to Columbia without telling her parents, so when she gets in and wins a scholarship, she’s afraid to tell them. The tight-knit family works hard and is very close. Ana knows her mother will never let her go to New York.

Her older sister, Estela ( Florencia Cuenca making her Broadway debut) owns a dress factory supported by her mother Carmen
( wonderful Justina Machado. ) The factory is staffed by female immigrants of all sizes and shapes with different family stories and many of them are undocumented.

Carmen works to ensure that her younger daughter Ana gets a good education but when the business gets an unexpected order for 200 dresses to be made within three weeks, Estela agrees to this almost impossible task (Vibrant costume designs by Paloma Young & Wilberth Gonzalez.) So they need Ana to help, even though she’s unskilled. Ana is also doing an unpaid internship at the local paper. Her mother says if she isn’t going to be paid by the paper she may as well not be paid by her family.

As expected in some ways, Anna is more of a hindrance than a help. But it’s a chance for her to get to know the other women, especially the newest worker Itzel (Aline Mayagoitia.) Through Ana’s internship, she meets sweet Henry (Mason Reeves), a fellow intern who becomes her first boyfriend, adding to her growing sense of self-esteem.

Ana’s family is loving and supportive and the family of women in the factory is even stronger. Although Carmen is slightly pushy and every once in a while jabs her daughters about their weight, the family is intact and loving. The show focuses on the wonderful trio of ladies. We root for Cordoba, with her compassion and sincerity, Machado with her warmth and feistiness and are sympathetic to creative Cuenca.

With direction & choreography by Sergio Trujillo, the musical offers some wonderful themes about body images and loving who you are. There's an hysterical scene in the show when Ana complains about how hot the workshop is and takes off her shirt. Little by little all the women have stripped down to their underwear as they revel in their bodies and sing! In another number, the women handle menopause as they sing “Adios Andres” led by the older wome.

The storyline about undocumented workers is handled gently. At one point the workshop next door to them is raided and, in a panic, the women shut the lights and hide. Later Itzel is caught and sent home but that storyline is handled optimistically when she writes to Ana that she will find her way back. Although set in the late 80’s under Reagan, sadly, the story feels even more relevant today under Trump with ICE agents rounding up illegal immigrants and deporting them.

Add wonderful bouncing music and endearing characters to the mix and you get a joyous theater experience. The music is generally upbeat and bouncy but there’s a little too much imagery of birds flying free ( Music and lyrics by Grammy Award-winning artist Joy Huerta and composer/lyricist Benjamin Velez. )

With a book by Lisa Loomer with Nell Benjamin, the musical is about determination, the old-fashioned American Dream and the importance of education. Most importantly “Real Women Have Curves” is about families-the ones we are born into and the ones we work with all day.