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Alicia Keys' new musical opens at a Broadway theater about a 10-minute walk from where she grew up, and she named the show after the neighborhood, Hell's Kitchen. The film incorporates her songs into the story of a teenage girl named Ali growing up and discovering her love of music, and also features the apartment building where Keys grew up. It has become. Still, she is adamant that the show is not autobiographical. She says, “Because a lot of people think it's an 'autobiography' and take it literally.” In casting the role of Ali, a young woman much like herself, Keyes was looking for a “triple threat” performer with “true New Yorker energy.” . . That's the hardest part because it can't be taught. ” Also includes a conversation with musician Rhiannon Giddens, who plays the banjo on Beyoncé's No. 1 country hit, “Texas Hold'em.” Giddens' music has long explored the black roots of country music and the farthest reaches of the African diaspora.
Alicia Keys returns to roots with new musical 'Hell's Kitchen'
In the opening of the Broadway musical, Keys uses his hit songs to tell a story very similar to his own life, but don't call it autobiographical.
Americana queen Rhiannon Giddens on cultivating country music's black roots
The singer, banjo player, musicologist, and opera composer talks with David Remnick about the legacy of black string music and how it transcends genre.
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