Bear Hugs Producer Alum Sees the Performing Arts as a Potent Force for Good Peggy Koenig ’78 helped bring the Real Women Have Curves musical—and its topically relevant themes—to Broadway “Bear Hugs” celebrates heartwarming stories of Cornellians on the Hill and around the world. Have an idea? Email us at cornellians@cornell.edu! By Joe Wilensky It’s the summer of 1987, and 18-year-old Ana—having grown up under the roof of her immigrant parents in East L.A.—yearns to spread her wings and attend college in NYC. But when her family’s garment business receives a make-or-break order—two weeks to complete 200 dresses—Ana finds herself trying to balance her own ambitions, her mother’s expectations, and the needs of a community of determined women, many of whom are undocumented. That’s the plot of Real Women Have Curves, a musical that begins previews on Broadway on April 1. It’s based on both the 1993 play by Josefina López and the hit film, starring America Ferrera, that it inspired a decade later. “It’s funny, it’s joyous, it’s uplifting,” says Peggy Koenig ’78, one of the musical’s producing partners. Michaelah ReynoldsPeggy Koenig ’78. “It’s about friendship, community, and family—which, to me, are the meaning of life—and how the undocumented women are able to navigate their challenges and the fact that they could be deported.” It’s about friendship, community, and family—which, to me, are the meaning of life. A former Cornell trustee, Koenig has found a calling as a producer of Broadway-bound plays and musicals that, she says, leverage the performing arts to “tell stories about people, themes, and ideas that expand the way that we think about the world.” Koenig is chair emeritus of the private equity firm Abry Partners, where she formerly was co-CEO and managing partner. She served on the University’s board for 12 years and currently chairs the advisory board for the Brooks School of Public Policy. Michaelah ReynoldsAll smiles during a dance rehearsal. In 2018, she enrolled as a fellow in Harvard’s Advanced Leadership Initiative, then took a producing course through the Broadway League, which fueled her pivot into the business. She founded Black Cap Productions as a vehicle for both investing in and developing shows that combine social impact with storytelling. “I’m the granddaughter of a Jewish immigrant who—because of his courage, bravery, and vision to look for something better—was able to come to this country to seek a better life,” she says. Avery BrunkusCast member Florencia Cuenca in front of the theater during the show’s box office opening day festivities. “I think that’s one of the reasons I’ve so strongly gravitated toward themes of inclusion and belonging.” Some of Koenig’s early investments were in the Broadway productions of the Tony-nominated What the Constitution Means to Me and The Inheritance, an award-winning reimagining of E.M. Forster’s Howards End set during the AIDS crisis. She’s a lead producer of the dance musical Bhangra Nation (which has had productions in La Jolla, CA, and Birmingham, UK); she has also invested in The Bedwetter, a musical based on the memoir by comedian Sarah Silverman that had a Washington, DC, run in early 2025. One of Koenig’s first development projects was to turn a book she’d optioned—Lives in Limbo, which follows 150 undocumented young adults in L.A. over a 12-year period—into a musical. (The project is ongoing.) “Getting to Broadway is like winning an Olympic gold medal—it’s that hard,” she says, noting that shepherding a show from development to the Great White Way can take five to 10 years. Real Women has made it there—with opening night at the James Earl Jones Theatre set for April 27. (The April 3 preview offers a special discount for Cornellians.) Getting to Broadway is like winning an Olympic gold medal—it’s that hard. When the show had its world premiere in 2023–24 at the American Repertory Theater at Harvard, one critic raved that it “zips along infectiously, energized by a compelling storyline, plenty of laughs, some delightful twists, and a musical score that features several songs that … are destined to become hits.” Like that production, the Broadway incarnation is directed and choreographed by Sergio Trujillo, a Tony and Olivier award winner. The cast includes Justina Machado, who has appeared in numerous movies and TV shows (including starring in Netflix’s reboot of the sitcom “One Day at a Time”) as well as Broadway’s In the Heights. Angela Marie OrellanaTrujillo addresses the company. The show’s lead producers include some big names in the business—Barry and Fran Weissler, who’ve backed such Tony winners as Waitress, Pippin, and Chicago—as well as the actor Jack Noseworthy, known for numerous movie and TV roles including in Event Horizon and Killing Kennedy. “You need to entertain your audience; you have the music and the humor,” Koenig observes. “But this show can also shed a light on people who are doing a job that they have great pride in and that contributes to society. It can say: ‘These women are human. These women have agency. These women have power.’” Top: A scene from the American Repertory Theater’s 2023–24 run of Real Women Have Curves. (Nile Hawver / Maggie Hall) Published March 19, 2025 Leave a Comment Cancel replyOnce your comment is approved, your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment * Name * Class Year Email * Save my name, email, and class year in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ Other stories You may like Alumni Big Red Ink: Cornellian Tattoos, in Living Color Cornelliana A Century of Hospitality Education on the Hill, in Photos Chime In Recalling the ’50s on the Hill, an Era of ‘Gracious Living’