Current:Home > InvestAlicia Keys autobiographical stage musical 'Hell’s Kitchen' to debut on Broadway in spring -AssetPath
Alicia Keys autobiographical stage musical 'Hell’s Kitchen' to debut on Broadway in spring
View
Date:2025-04-15 20:27:47
NEW YORK — Broadway audiences will soon be hearing the hit songs of Alicia Keys — not far from where the multiple-Grammy-winner grew up.
"Hell's Kitchen," the semi-autobiographical musical by the singer-songwriter, is making the move uptown from off-Broadway to the Shubert Theatre this spring.
"I loved going to the theater and I was inspired by it and the songwriting and the expression and the beauty and the way you could be transported," she tells The Associated Press. "But I never really put it together that maybe one day I would be able to have a debut on Broadway."
Alicia Keys' 'Hell's Kitchen' on Broadway: Tickets, song selection, more
Performances begin March 28 with an opening set for April 20. Tickets are on sale Dec. 11. No casting news was revealed but Maleah Joi Moon was the lead off-Broadway.
The musical features Keys' best-known hits: "Fallin'," "No One," "Girl on Fire," "If I Ain't Got You," and, of course, "Empire State of Mind," as well as four new songs.
The coming-of-age story about a gifted teenager is by playwright Kristoffer Diaz, a Pulitzer Prize finalist for "The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity." It is directed by Michael Greif, who also helmed "Dear Evan Hansen," and has choreography by Camille A. Brown.
"Hell's Kitchen" centers on 17-year-old Ali, who like Keys, is the daughter of a white mother and a Black father and is about growing up in a subsidized housing development just outside Times Square in the once-rough neighborhood called Hell's Kitchen. Keys is also the lead producer.
Keys notes that her mother moved to New York City from Toledo, Ohio, and studied at New York University, eventually acting on stage, in independent films and TV projects. Keys also went into acting before music snatched her away. "Hell's Kitchen," in a way, is a full-circle moment for the Keys' family.
Broadwaytentatively averted a strike as Hollywood actors, writers picketed
"Dreams come around for you — they might not come for you exactly when you thought it was going to come for you. But they do. They find their way," she says.
Reviews of the musical were kind, with The New Yorker calling it "frequently exhilarating" to Variety saying it is a "sparkling story paying homage to New York" and The Guardian calling it "surprisingly loose-limbed and rousing."
Keys says the show may undergo a few tweaks here and there to prepare for a larger stage, but the bones of the show are strong.
"Surely pieces of it will continue to evolve and grow. That's the beauty of art," she says. "What I know is intact is the spirit of it. The spirit of it is so pure and so good and it's so infectious. It is about transformation. It really is about finding who you are."
It will join a glut of recent jukebox musicals on Broadway, a list that includes "A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical," "& Juliet," "MJ" and "Moulin Rouge!" One that used the songs of Britney Spears — "Once Upon a One More Time" — closed this fall.
This isn't Keys' first flirtation with Broadway. In 2011, she was a co-producer of the Broadway play "Stick Fly," for which she supplied some music.
Keys will join such pop and rock luminaries as Elton John, Cyndi Lauper, Sting, Alanis Morissette, Dave Stewart, Edie Brickell, David Byrne and Fatboy Slim, Bono and The Edge with Broadway scores.
Broadway's first theaternamed after a Black woman honors trailblazing actress Lena Horne
veryGood! (2)
Related
- 'Kraven the Hunter' spoilers! Let's dig into that twisty ending, supervillain reveal
- Attorney says van der Sloot’s confession about Natalee Holloway’s murder was ‘chilling’
- Maine considers closing loophole that allows foreign government spending on referendums
- Eminem's Daughter Hailie Jade Shares Rare Insight Into Bond With Sibling Stevie
- Charges tied to China weigh on GM in Q4, but profit and revenue top expectations
- Ørsted pulls out of billion-dollar project to build wind turbines off New Jersey coast
- Toyota recalls nearly 1.9M RAV4s to fix batteries that can move during hard turns
- At 15, he is defending his home and parenting his sister. One young man’s struggle to stay in school
- Paige Bueckers vs. Hannah Hidalgo highlights women's basketball games to watch
- Crowds gather near state funeral home as China’s former Premier Li Keqiang is being put to rest
Ranking
- Jorge Ramos reveals his final day with 'Noticiero Univision': 'It's been quite a ride'
- Schitt's Creek Star Emily Hampshire Apologizes for Johnny Depp and Amber Heard Halloween Costume
- Realtors must pay home sellers $1.8 billion for inflating commissions, jury finds
- Can pilots carry guns on commercial flights? Incident on Delta plane raises questions
- Whoopi Goldberg is delightfully vile as Miss Hannigan in ‘Annie’ stage return
- Hawaii couple who gained attention for posing in KGB uniforms convicted of stealing identities of dead babies
- Baton Rouge police officer arrested in deadly crash, allegedly ran red light at 79 mph
- Brazil to militarize key airports, ports and international borders in crackdown on organized crime
Recommendation
Trump suggestion that Egypt, Jordan absorb Palestinians from Gaza draws rejections, confusion
Live updates | Israel’s troops advance as diplomatic efforts aim to at least pause Gaza fighting
The White House is working on a strategy to combat Islamophobia. Many Muslim Americans are skeptical
Alex Murdaugh doesn’t want the judge from his murder trial deciding if he gets a new day in court
Small twin
Bob Knight dies at 83: How Indiana Hoosiers basketball, Mike Woodson reacted
Natalee Holloway’s confessed killer returns to Peru to serve out sentence in another murder
A Bunch of Celebs Dressed Like Barbie and Ken For Halloween 2023 and, Yes, it Was Fantastic