Interview: Florencia Cuenca Makes Broadway History in REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES: THE MUSICAL

We all know that the lights are bright on Broadway, and that these stages have long stood as places where dreams come true. Yet, for many immigrants, the path to Broadway boards is filled with obstacles that go far beyond talent and perseverance. This spring, Florencia Cuenca will make history in REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES: THE MUSICAL, becoming the first Mexican immigrant to originate a role on Broadway before earning U.S. citizenship. Her journey from performing in Mexico to making her Broadway debut is not only groundbreaking but deeply intertwined with the role she plays, making this moment even more significant.

Florencia Cuenca’s debut in REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES: THE MUSICAL marks a pivotal moment for Latine representation on Broadway. Performers of Mexican heritage have graced the stage before her, and, notably, as an United States citizen who immigrated from Mexico, Sara Ramirez won a Tony for originating The Lady of the Lake in SPAMALOT. But Cuenca is the first Mexican immigrant to originate a Broadway role while still navigating the challenges of immigration status. This distinction is crucial—unlike U.S. citizens of Mexican descent, Cuenca had to navigate the complexities of visas, work permits, and an industry that often favors those with easier access to legal employment.

“I feel like, in general, we don't get to see a lot of immigrants on Broadway. We don't have representation at all,” Cuenca reflects. “It's very different being a citizen than an immigrant. Even the rights, what you can achieve as a citizen than an immigrant, it's very different. If you're an immigrant, they still can say, 'You're not part of here, you go home,' and, as a citizen, they cannot do that.”

Cuenca and her husband, composer Jaime Lozano, took a leap of faith when they first arrived in New York nearly a decade ago, originally only for their honeymoon. But they decided to stay after that, with no apartment in the city, no savings, no winter clothes, and no guaranteed work. Initially, Cuenca found herself unable to pursue theater due to her visa limitations, confined to the role of a dependent spouse. "At the beginning, I was just here as a spouse. That was my role because you cannot do anything more. You can study because you can give money to the city, of course, but you cannot do anything else," she explains. It was only after years of navigating the immigration system and obtaining her green card that she was finally able to audition and actively pursue work as an actress.

In REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES: THE MUSICAL, Cuenca portrays Estela García, a resilient, hardworking, and kind woman who owns the García Sewing Factory. Throughout the musical, Estela grapples with financial struggles, and she fears applying for amnesty due to mounting debts. In some ways, this mirrors Cuenca’s own experiences navigating the American immigration system. Both Cuenca and Estela have aspirations of making it in the United States, but their dreams often feel just out of reach due to complicated and demoralizing systemic barriers.

Cuenca’s portrayal promises to be highly compelling because of the lived experience she brings to the role. “I remember I was pitching them things. ‘No, we say this,’ ‘No, that's not a word that we use. This is a word.’ And they were like, ‘Okay, yeah, we see you,’” she says of her involvement in shaping the character. From the early workshops of the musical she participated in through the current rehearsals for Broadway, Cuenca’s advocacy for truly authentic representation has guaranteed that Estela is infused with genuine Mexican immigrant experiences. This is not unique to her experiences though as her castmates have gotten to do similar work with their characters as well. “The way we talk, our hands, how they move, how we sound,” Cuenca adds, “is going to bring a lot of representation in a very authentic way, which I think we also need.”

At its core, REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES: THE MUSICAL is a story about love—love for oneself, love for one’s family, and love for one’s community. It explores the tension between personal ambition and familial duty, a theme that Cuenca herself has lived. Like her character Estela, Cuenca has had to balance her own dreams with the expectations and needs of her family.

“I feel this show, it's very centered in the love of a family,” Cuenca explains. “Sometimes we judge our parents for their decisions or the things that they said to us. But, at the end of the day, they just wanted to take care of us.”

The show also highlights the power of female relationships. The women in the García Sewing Factory may bicker and disagree, but they ultimately uplift and support one another. “We want to take care of Ana [the show’s main character] and say, ‘Okay, this happened to me, I don’t want that for you,’” Cuenca adds. “But it’s also the other way around. Ana is teaching us, ‘Just because something happened to you, that doesn't mean that it's going to happen all the time.’”

As evidenced by the title, the musical also challenges traditional beauty standards and uplifts body diversity. “Growing up in Mexico as a brown Mexican girl, I've always been curvy. So body image has always been a struggle for me. Even in Mexico,” Cuenca candidly acknowledges. “Sometimes I talk about this and people ask, ‘Even in Mexico?,’ and I say, ‘Yes, in Mexico!’”

The score of REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES: THE MUSICAL is a vibrant mix of traditional and contemporary Latin sounds. With compositions by Mexican pop star Joy Huerta and acclaimed composer Benjamin Velez, the music fuses Latin pop with Broadway storytelling, bringing an authentic Mexican and Mexican-American sound to the stage in a way that has never been done before. “I actually grew up listening to Joy,” Cuenca reveals. “I would be in high school singing her songs, and now I'm here doing a musical with her. That's crazy for me. I love her music.”

Cuenca describes the music as a unique blend of influences that will be equal parts familiar and new to traditional Broadway audiences. “It's very pop, but Latin pop,” she says. “Latin pop sounds different than regular pop. It has a lot of trumpets, a lot of guitars. But it's very, very, very musical theater. It's a fusion of all those things.”

With REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES: THE MUSICAL, Broadway is taking a significant step toward inclusivity—not just in terms of racial and ethnic diversity, but in presenting an immigrant’s story with authenticity and heart. Cuenca’s journey is proof that representation matters. For young Mexican and immigrant performers who dream of the Broadway stage, her success shines as a beacon of hope, proving that their stories, voices, and experiences deserve to be seen and heard.

For Cuenca, this milestone is both an ending and a beginning. “Never stop dreaming, and never stop working because when those two meet in the middle, that's the perfect formula to do what you want to do,” she offers to others. After nearly a decade of struggle, Cuenca has arrived on the big stages of Broadway, not just as an actress but as a trailblazer. And in telling Estela García’s story, she is, in many ways, telling her own—one of perseverance, love, and the pursuit of dreams against all odds.

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