Sandra Valls is proof that you shouldn’t give up on your dreams.
After a long career in stand-up comedy as well as appearances in film, theater, and TV, the lesbian actor, comedian, writer, and singer is realizing a cherished dream by making her Broadway debut at age 59 in Real Women Have Curves.
The musical, which is in an open-ended run at the James Earl Jones Theatre, is based on the play by Josefina López, which was adapted into a popular HBO film starring America Ferrera. Set in 1987, it centers on Ana García (Broadway newcomer Tatianna Córdoba), who works in her family’s Los Angeles garment factory but hopes to go to New York City to study journalism at Columbia University, which has granted her a scholarship. Her family members want her to stay. Valls plays one of Ana’s factory coworkers, a queer woman named Prima Fulvia.
“I feel so grateful,” Valls says of her Broadway debut. “I’m so happy that I had faith in myself.”
Valls helped develop her character, who wasn’t in the original play or film. Lisa Loomer, who wrote the book for the musical with Nell Benjamin, contacted Valls in 2021 about doing the show, and the work began. Loomer wanted to add a queer character “because representation matters,” Valls says.
Castmembers of Broadway's 'Real Women Have Curves' perform on stage.Julie Tacervantes
And Valls has been representing for decades. Being on Broadway is a dream come true and a form of success, she says, but there’s also success in doing what you love to do, and she has certainly accomplished that. She’s had stand-up gigs from coast to coast and overseas, appeared in hit TV comedy specials, and written and performed in a one-woman show. She’s done it all while being an out and proud butch Mexican American lesbian, resisting pressure to tone down her queerness.
“I’ve been fighting the good fight for our community for years,” says Valls, a native of Laredo, Texas, who has hosted events for the Human Rights Campaign, Equality Texas, and others. “I am 59, I am chunky, I am a queer woman — I have a spot at the table because I’ve created the spot,” she adds.
Real Women Have Curves, while set in the 1980s, deals with issues that remain relevant: women’s empowerment, the lives of undocumented immigrants, body positivity, and the eternal struggle between mothers and daughters. But it does so with an uplifting message, something much needed when immigrants, women, LGBTQ+ people, and more are under attack by the federal government and state legislatures.
“I believe in divine timing,” Valls says. “This show is here when it’s supposed to be here. … This show is medicine for a world that needs hope and joy.”
The musical, nominated for two Tony Awards, is also about pursuing your dreams and never giving up, something Valls encourages everyone to do.
“Don’t be the missing puzzle piece,” she says. “Don’t give up on yourself.”
And she’s proud to represent her community onstage. “We will not be erased,” she says, “and I will go to my grave representing.
This article is part of The Advocate's July/Aug 2025 issue, which hits newsstands July 1. Support queer media and subscribe — or download the issue through Apple News, Zinio, Nook, or PressReader starting June 19.
