Boston Conservatory Alums Bring Real Women Have Curves to Broadway

When Tatianna Córdoba (BFA '22) auditioned for Boston Conservatory at Berklee, she performed an excerpt from the play Real Women Have Curves by Josefina López. “I remember feeling proud to be finally doing a monologue from a piece that really resonated with me,” she says. “At the time, I was 18 with dreams of moving to New York City, just like the character, Ana.”

Less than three years after graduating from Boston Conservatory with a degree in musical theater, Córdoba has made her move, debuting on Broadway as the lead character, Ana Garcia—but this time in a new musical version of the story. The show, which began previews on April 1, has been thoughtfully adapted and produced by fellow alum Jack Noseworthy (BFA '87) and his husband Sergio Trujillo (who also directs). And its ensemble features yet another member of the Boston Conservatory family, Christopher Ramirez (BFA '14). 

As Ana, Córdoba embodies a young Latina woman (the daughter of undocumented immigrants) whose personal ambition to study journalism conflicts with her duty to support the family’s sewing business. In a theater world that does not often reflect the Latine experience, Córdoba says, Real Women Have Curves stands out for its authentic representation and its rich and varied female roles.

“Ana feels like another version of myself. I know firsthand the internal pressure of being from an immigrant family and chasing your dreams,” Córdoba says. The show’s themes are "so important right now,” she adds, serving as a timely reminder that the immigrant experience is an inherently American one. “I hope people leave the theater feeling seen, heard—and feeling like they learned something,” she says.

Real Women Have Curves originated as a play in 1990 and was adapted as an HBO film starring America Ferrera in 2002. The 2025 musical version features songs cowritten by multiple-Grammy Award winner Joy Huerta (of the Mexican pop duo Jesse & Joy) and composer Benjamin Velez (Kiss My Aztec), with a book by playwright Lisa Loomer (The Waiting Room) and composer/lyricist Nell Benjamin (Legally Blonde, Mean Girls).

“I hope people leave the theater feeling seen, heard—and feeling like they learned something.” 

—Tatianna Córdoba (BFA '22)

Noseworthy says he happened to see the move in 2019—around the same time that his husband, Trujillo, became the first ever Latin American to win the Tony Award for Best Choreography (for the musical Ain’t Too Proud). Trujillo’s Tony acceptance speech was still fresh in Noseworthy’s mind when it struck him that a Real Women musical might make a great project for their company, Truworthy Productions. 

“[Sergio] spoke very eloquently in both English and Spanish about wanting to represent his community and what that meant to him—and really spoke to the mission of what our company is,” Noseworthy says.

While in the midst of preparing the show for previews this past March, Noseworthy, Córdoba, and Ramirez took time to meet with Berklee College of Music students making a spring break trip to Berklee NYC (which is a mere three blocks from Broadway). During a keynote panel, the three alums spoke about the process of making Real Women Have Curves, covering every creative angle—from acquiring the original intellectual property to the grueling marathon of tech week. 

In its earliest iteration, the musical ran at American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) in Cambridge from December 2023 to January 2024. Córdoba auditioned for Ana at the time, but didn’t get the part. By the time the Broadway auditions rolled around, though, she’d acquired enough professional experience—and self-confidence—to earn the role. 

“The Boston Conservatory curriculum really prepared me to launch into the industry, but honestly, I had to do a lot of self-work in order to be mentally prepared,” she says. “Once I believed in myself, my own abilities, and what I had to offer the industry, everything started to fall into place.”

Ramirez performed in the ensemble of the A.R.T. production and remembered Córodba from the audition process. During the panel discussion with Conservatory students, he urged them to take rejection in stride, pointing to Córdoba as a model of resilience. ”You can’t get caught up in what didn't happen,” he said. “It’s not ever really failure. It is the journey to success.”

Noseworthy also had advice to share, reminding students not to lose themselves in the grind of the theater business, nor lose sight of what theater making is for. 

“Welcome a sense of community into your artistic lives,” he said. “You will need your friends to lean on. And you will be happier as an artist when you have a community of people that are all helping each other move forward.”

 
Learn more about Real Women Have Curves, and explore Boston Conservatory at Berklee’s undergraduate and summer programs in musical theater.