Alicia Keys’ “Hell’s Kitchen” to open on Broadway this spring
Alicia Keys’ semi-autobiographical coming- of- age musical, “Hell’s Kitchen,” has been selling out night after night during its offBroadway run at the Public Theater. Next up, to no one’s surprise: The show is transferring to Broadway.
Keys, a singer- songwriter who has sold millions of albums and has won 15 Grammy Awards, announced at a Public Theater fundraiser Monday night that the musical, which ends its 12-week downtown run Jan. 14, will transfer to the Shubert Theater — one of Broadway’s most desirable houses. The first preview is scheduled for March 28, and opening night is set for April 20.
“I’m out of my mind with joy, excitement, thrill,” Keys said in a telephone interview. She noted that her mother, as a teenager, had moved to New York from Ohio to pursue an acting career, and said she saw in this moment the arrival at a long-sought destination for her family.
“We get to announce the ultimate dream — the dream that my mother chased from a little girl, that brought her here, which is the reason why I’m here, which is the reason why this city raised me, and the reason why I can even tell this story,” she said.
“Hel l’s Kitchen,” a loosely fictionalized story inspired by Keys’ own childhood, depicts a short chapter in the life of a 17- year- old growing up surrounded by artists in a New York housing development where most of the units are subsidized for performers. The protagonist, a girl being raised by her single mother, discovers a love for piano, and an attraction to an adult man, while chafing at her mother’s efforts to keep her safe in a gritty neighborhood.
The musical features new ar rangements of Keys’ biggest hits, including “Fallin’,” “Girl on Fire,” “No One” and “Empire State of Mind,” as well as several new songs the pop star wrote for this show. Keys, who does not perform in “Hell’s Kitchen,” has been working on it for more than a decade with playwright Kristoffer Diaz, who wrote the book.
In an unusual move that demonstrates Keys’ long determination to retain control of her own intellectual property and career arc, the musical’s lead producer will be AKW Productions, which is a company Keys owns and describes as “focused on creating diverse, real, authentic and genuine stories in film, television, theater and music.” Asked whether the stage production, like most commercial Broadway musicals, would also have investors, Keys said, “Yes, there’s going to be some really special people that are coming along for the ride.”
The musical is directed by Michael Greif and choreographed by Camille A. Brown. The downtown cast is led by Maleah Joi Moon as the protagonist, joined by Shoshana Bean as the mother, Brandon Victor Dixon as the absentee father, and Kecia Lewis as the piano teacher. The Broadway cast has not yet been announced.
Reviews were mixed, with many critics praising the performances and the production but saying they wanted more from the story. Writing in The New York Times, critic Jesse Green called the first act “thrilling,” but said it “disappoints after the midshow break.” In The Washington Post, critic Peter Marks was underwhelmed, calling it “a perfectly nice musical,” but in the Los Angeles Times, critic Charles Mcnulty was far more enthusiastic, writing, “I was surprised by how rapturously I fell under the musical’s spell.”
Keys said she does not concern herself with reviews.
“The true critics, to me, are the people in the seats, and when they come away feeling uplifted, inspired, ignited, transformed — they’re crying because they feel so connected to the stories in their lives — those are the critics that I really pay attention to.”