Real Women Have Curves opening on Broadway in April 2025!

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I'm gonna be pinching myself all the way till April!!! It’s thrilling beyond belief to have a show coming to Broadway for the first time, and I’m immensely grateful to everyone who has supported and encouraged me along the way, even when it sometimes felt impossible to keep going after a project you've worked on for years and years disappears or hits a wall. But in the words of Tick Tick Boom: “You start writing the next one. And after you finish that one, you start on the next. And on and on, and that's what it is to be a writer, honey. You just keep throwing them against the wall and hoping against hope that eventually something sticks.”

Here’s hoping this one sticks!! Come see us starting in April! Check out the official announcement coverage by Broadway News, Playbill, and Deadline, and sign up for updates on tickets on our website: https://realwomenhavecurvesbroadway.com/

Real Women Have Curves performs in Times Square

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It was surreal to get to have our title song be performed by Joy and some of our cast as part of the Mexico Independence Day festivities in Times Square! Here’s some footage of them performing, along with Joy talking a little about the show:

"Real Women Have Curves" in Times Square, featuring Joy Huerta, Jennifer Sanchez, Florencia Cuenca, Elisa Galindez, and Aline Mayagoitia, with Nadia DiGillianardo and Rich Mercurio in the band!

New Stories for Broadway! Panel & Discussion

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I’m excited to be part of an upcoming panel discussion at the Museum of Broadway on Sunday, October 6th. I’ll be joining other writers, composers, and producers—the next generation of storytellers—who are dedicated to bringing fresh voices and new stories to the Broadway stage. If you’d like to come check it out, click here to register for the event!

Panelists include Benjamin Velez (Composer/Lyricist), Eric Ulloa (Writer), Sammy Lopez (Producer), Amanda D’Archangelis (Composer), and Jesse Sanchez (Composer/Lyricist, Writer, Music Director). Moderated by Luis Salgado and Gabriela Garcia.

Real Women Have Curves On Broadway in 2025!

We’re excited that after our premiere at A.R.T in Boston last winter, we’re gearing up to bring Real Women Have Curves to New York in 2025!! More details to come, but for now, excited to get to share this show with the world soon! Here’s the announcement in BILLBOARD and in PLAYBILL.

Joy will also be performing some music from the show in NYC this weekend, details TBA!

Jonathan Larson Grants Recipient Concert!

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I was lucky enough to receive a Jonathan Larson Grant in the spring of 2020, just as everything shut down. On Monday, the American Theater Wing hosted a concert celebrating the last four years of winners who never got to have an awards concert. I was honored to have the talented Sarah Lynn Marion sing the title song from my musical BORDERLINE. Check out a few photos below from the event, courtesy of Broadway World!

Check out the full article about the concert here!

Benjamin Velez and Sarah Lynn Marion

Benjamin Velez and Rona Siddiqui

VIDEO: Joy and I talk writing the score for Real Women Have Curves!

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Check out this video of Joy Huerta and I discussing our score for Real Women Have Curves!
Find additional videos about Arnulfo Maldonado’s Set Design inspiration and Time Lapse of the Set Murals being Painted!

Check out this video of Joy Huerta and I discussing our score for Real Women Have Curves!

"Real Women Have Curves" is a hit!

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Thrilled to have opened the show at the ART and to feel how much audiences seem to be enjoying the story we’re telling. Check out some of our fabulous reviews thus far: the Boston Globe, WBUR, The Arts Fuse, the New England Theater Geek, Theater Mirror, Cambridge Day, and On Boston Stages.

You still have until Jan. 21st to see our show in Boston! Find tickets on the ART’s website!

"Flying Away" at the Drama League Gala

Joy Huerta and I had the honor of performing our song “Flying Away” from REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES at the Drama League Gala at the Edison Ballroom this week. It was special to preview our show amidst a parade of broadway talent, including Ariel Jacobs and Annaleigh Ashford. Check out a clip from the performance below!

CURVES will be having its world premiere at the ART in Cambridge this December. Visit their website for tickets!

In Rehearsal With Real Women Have Curves

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Broadway World shared some photos from our first days of rehearsal. It was amazing to see everyone together, including our team at the A.R.T. We also got fabulous presentations from our costume designers Paloma Young and Wilberth Gonzalez, and from our set designer Arnulfo Moldonado.

Click here for the full article with more photos at Broadway World!

Casting Announced for Tempest! Renée Elise Goldsberry to star!

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We finally have a cast for this show and I’m still pinching myself over the talent involved, including Renée Elise Goldsberry as Prospero, Jo Lampert as Ariel, Theo Stockman as Caliban, Joél Perez as Stephano, and Anthony Chatmon II as Antonio. See the full announcement on Playbill!

CLICK HERE to view the casting announcement on Playbill.

"The Tempest" @ Shakespeare in the Park this Summer!

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I am so damn excited to be opening my adaptation of Shakespeare’s “THE TEMPEST” this summer at the Delacorte in Central Park (August 27 - September 3rd)! My first New York City production! This Public Works production is directed by Laurie Woolery, music directed by Andrea Grody, and will feature an ensemble of 80 non-professional community performers in addition to a handful of Broadway performers. Come join us this summer for magic, music, and mayhem!! Visit the Public’s website for more info!

"Real Women Have Curves" to premiere at American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) in December '23

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This will be our world premiere of “Real Women Have Curves” and I am so excited to get to be premiering it at the American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) in Cambridge! Directed and Choreographed by Tony Award winner Sergio Trujillo, with book by the phenomenal Lisa Loomer, and a score co-written by myself and the brilliant Joy Huerta. We’ll start previews in early December and run through mid-January 2024.

We’ll be part of the A.R.T.’s 2023/2024 season with 3 other exciting productions, including the world premiere musical “Gatsby”. Check out the announcement on Playbill.com!

Back at Berkeley Rep to work on LOST CITY RADIO!

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Joel and I are thrilled to be back at Berkeley Repertory Theater as part of the Ground Floor program to work on our show LOST CITY RADIO! We’re excited to be digging into writing and dramaturgy while here, with the brilliant minds of the Ground Floor team, led by Madeleine Oldham. Joél and I first started talking about the project when we were at Berkeley Rep doing KISS MY AZTEC, so it’s extra special to be coming back to where it all started! Check out all the other fabulous artists in this year’s Ground Floor in the Broadway World Article here.

First reading of REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES in NYC

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We just wrapped our first full reading of REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES, beautifully rendered by our talented performers (including Justina Machado and Leslie Kritzer), our director Sergio Trujillo, and our music director Nadia DiGiallonardo, who managed to also put together a 4-piece band in 2 days!! Huge thanks to our producing team, and to my partners in crime, Book writer Lisa Loomer, and my co-composer/lyricist, Joy Huerta. Looking forward to our next steps on this beautiful piece, more news to follow!

LOST CITY RADIO to be developed at Rhinebeck Writer's Retreat this summer!

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LOST CITY RADIO, a new musical I’m writing with bookwriter Joél Perez based on the novel by Daniel Alarcon, will be developed at the Rhinebeck Writer’s Retreat this summer! Joél and I are thrilled to be joining a fantastic group of writers who will be using the space and time to further develop our projects.

Thank you to Kathy Evans and everyone at Rhinebeck for the opportunity!

Check out the write up from Broadway World.

Borderline world premiere at Delaware Theater Company in 2023!

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My show BORDERLINE, co-written with the incredible Aryanna Garber, is finally getting it’s world premiere production at the Delaware Theater Company in April 2023. Directed by Sarna Lapine, music directed by David Gardos, orchestrated by Michael Starobin, and produced by Joshua Goodman, I couldn’t be prouder to be bringing this show to life.

Check out their season announcement on their website!