NEW YORK CITY (WABC) — Grammy Award-winning superstar Alicia Keys is bringing her music to Broadway.
The semi-automatic show is called “Hell's Kitchen.” It stars Brandon Victor Dixon, Shoshana Bean, and newcomer Marea Joy Moon, who is one of 16 emerging actors highlighted in the 2022 Disney Television Discovers: Talent Showcase.
After a run at the Public Theater, a show loosely inspired by Keyes' early life is coming to Broadway. Produced by superstars, it offers a soundtrack that includes classics, lots of music, and some new music.
She has been working on this show for over 10 years. Keyes says “Hell's Kitchen” is a love letter to the city that made her a star.
Her whole life has led her to this moment. She knows her music, but what about her story?
After producing hit songs for the past two decades, she's sharing her story, or at least a version of it: one made for the stage.
The musical is “Hell's Kitchen,'' named after the New York City neighborhood where she grew up.
“I think when we first started this creative journey, we were really anxious to see the diversity of the people we knew,” Keyes said. “You feel the energy of New York and you feel the multigenerational, multicultural experience.”
Featuring music from the 16-time Grammy Award winner, this coming-of-age story centers on a 17-year-old girl chasing her dreams and her relationship with herself and her mother.
“You know, my mom grew up in Toledo, Ohio, and she's the quintessential New York story. You know, she fled her small town and came to New York to pursue her dreams of acting and dancing. “I'm a girl,” she said.
Shoshanna Bean played “Mama Keyes” and the two became best friends.
“We hit it off right away. We talk to each other almost every day. I took her and Billy Crystal to see The Connector.” I was sitting on one side and called my mom. So this was like a blended family. She's an extraordinary person,” Bean said. “For me, she's the reason I was intrigued by this project in the first place. What was it about this woman who was an artist and an actress who sacrificed what she came here for and pivoted? “And we have Alicia Keys. “For me, that was always the most compelling story. I wanted to know if he did it alone.”
Bean said it was great to be in the room with Alicia Keys and sing her music.
“I've never been given this kind of freedom with Broadway music on a Broadway stage before, so I was very happy,” Bean said. “The scariest thing for me was that I was playing her mother. I was literally playing the most important person in her life until she had a child. So I wanted to do it justice, to really honor the essence of that woman, the spirit of that woman, and that.”
It was a big moment for Marea Joy Moon when she saw the centerpiece of the show.
“Oh my god, all I was thinking about was my mom. She's an immigrant. She's from Belize. And the idea of seeing her baby's face on the marquee would be crazy for her,” Moon said. Told.
Keyes said that deep down, he was looking forward to seeing the audience.
“And when little kids in the city, little black and brown kids, kids who have never been exposed to theater in this way, see themselves reflected on stage and say, oh, if this is where your dreams are. “Just seeing that poster in front of you, you know for sure how many kids are going to receive it, and that's the goal,” Keys said. he said.
Keyes says the show is about one core thing.
“This marquee says where the dream started: New York, Hell's Kitchen, the whole story, everything about it, it's about the dream,” she said.
“So to put Ali at the center of this, to center young women of color, that's exactly what it should be, because that's what 'Hell's Kitchen' is. You know. So, when you look at this piece, it looks like my new work, “York City, His New York City, Your New York City.'' This is our New York City,” Keyes said. “That's why our tagline 'Remember where your dreams begin' is so important. Whether you're at the beginning of a dream, in the middle of a dream, or towards the end of a dream, in any Even if there is, we all have to remember where it started if we are to keep going.”
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