In the second act of Real Women Have Curves: The Musical, opening tonight on Broadway at the James Earl Jones Theatre, the women working in a hot, small, ramshackle California dress factory momentarily break free of inhibition and ageism and the body shame over their various sizes and shapes and, following the lead of the defiant, soon-off-for-college Ana (Tatianna Córdoba), one by one strip down to their underwear and sing the title song. It’s a scene that’s funny, tender, compassionate and so well-performed by the eight women on stage that it earned a mid-show standing ovation the night I was in attendance.

The scene also succinctly and entertainingly presents the humor, pride, tenacity and bravery of a Latino community under constant siege and scrutiny.

Unfortunately, there are too few other moments in Real Woman Have Curves that soar like that, that deliver the joy and delight of shaking...