Alicia Keys’ story bound for Broadway
Alicia Keys is ready to bring her critically acclaimed, coming-of-age story to Broadway next spring, fresh off its soldout run downtown.
The 15-time Grammy Award-winning artist could have a Tony in her sights with the announcement that her musical, “Hell’s Kitchen,” will begin performances March 28 at the Shubert Theater — following its world premiere at the Public Theater, where it’s currently running through Jan. 14.
The “Empire State of Mind” singer said she was “beyond ecstatic” when she announced the Broadway transfer at her concert Monday night.
Featuring music and lyrics by Keys with a book scripted by Kristoffer Diaz, the Michael Greif-helmed production is loosely based on the singer-songwriter’s life growing up in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of New York City. Threetime Tony Award nominee Camille A. Brown is the choreographer.
“Good things take time and for 13 years, I’ve been dreaming, developing and finding inspiration for a musical based on my experience growing up in Hell’s Kitchen, NYC,” Keys said in an earlier a statement. “‘Hell’s Kitchen’
is inspired by my life, but it’s not a biographical story. It’s a story about family relationships and
identity: Who are we? Who do we want to be? Who are we becoming?” “The score features new songs that I’m really excited to get out into the world alongside many of my album releases that you know but you’ve never heard like this — rearranged and reinterpreted,” she added.
Songs such as Keys’ 2001 breakthrough “Fallin’ ” and the chart-toppers “You Don’t Know My Name,” “Girl on Fire” and “No One” serve as the soundtrack to a production overflowing with talent. Newcomer Maleah Joi Moon takes on the Keys-inspired character of Ali, alongside a cast rounded out by Broadway vets Shoshana Bean, Kecia Lewis and Brandon Victor Dixon.
Calling “Hell’s Kitchen”
an “extraordinary show,” Public Theater artistic director Oskar Eustis referenced Broadway classic “A Chorus Line,” which ran at the Shubert for 16 years after transferring from The Public in 1975.
“Like that legendary show, ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ is a quintessentially New York story,” he said. “Our audiences have ecstatically connected with the musical, seeing themselves and their own lives in the story of a extraordinary 17-year-old girl growing up and discovering her place in the world.”
Tickets for “Hell’s Kitchen” go on sale to the general public Monday.