Alicia Keys attends the opening night of Broadway's “Hell's Kitchen'' at the Shubert Theater on April 20, 2024 in New York City.
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Alicia Keys meditated on Tuesday morning to calm her nerves before announcing her Tony Award nominations.
After he finished meditating, Keyes said he received a phone call alerting him to the following facts: hell's kitchen, a semi-autobiographical musical for which she wrote the score and arranged the music, was nominated for 13 Tony Awards, including Best Musical. And that's when she lost her cool.
“I kind of lost it and kind of freaked out, and I was so excited, especially that all of the collaborators on this project are feeling so much love and greatness for how great they are. I'm so excited for you and everyone. hell's kitchen. It's just like, “Oh!'' Keyes said.
Keyes has been working on the project for 13 years with collaborators including screenwriter Christopher Diaz and director Michael Greif, and it will open off-Broadway in the fall. Although the musical isn't exactly the story of her life, it does tell the story of a 17-year-old girl played by Marea Joy Moon (one of her Tony Award nominees) and her own upbringing as a young artist in Hell's Kitchen. It is based on. She learns to embrace her music and community amidst a sometimes contentious relationship with her mother (played by Shoshana Bean), who serves as her single parent. The score includes well-known hits from her catalog such as “Girl on Fire” and “Empire State of Mind,” as well as new songs written for shows such as “Kaleidoscope.” Masu.
she spoke with hollywood reporter Shortly after the Tony nomination, he spoke about why he wanted to bring the musical to Broadway and what the process was like.
In addition to writing the score, you have worked with the singers, worked on the orchestration, participated in rehearsals, and acted as a producer. Why did you want that level of involvement?
We created the storyline with Chris Diaz, our phenomenal book writer, and he and I were together the longest during this process, so that vision came from the beginning. So I know how it should feel. I know what it's supposed to sound like. I know how it should be. I know how people should react. I know this work. I know that very well. That's why it's so important that it's true. I'm so grateful to be surrounded by incredible collaborators who take it to all kinds of levels I never could have imagined. That's why I'm passionately involved in all my works. I know it so well that it's really special to do this with such a great group.
What made you want to do musicals in the first place?
As a storyteller, I was really drawn to creating stories about the unique spaces and diverse places I've personally been a part of, witnessed, and grown up in. And the story of this building that I grew up in, the only building in New York City called Manhattan Plaza, was so fascinating to me. And this idea of a 17-year-old girl being raised was very appealing to me. A single mother who lived in this community in New York City in the '90s and grew up in the darkness and wildness of New York in the '90s. There was so much to the community and people there. A lot of this has to do with the people I've met along my journey and who they are and how unique and different they are and how their worlds actually form a community. This is a tribute to Tereuka.
So it felt so right to tell this story. And 13 years ago, she was excited to create the unique stories she wanted to tell, especially about diversity. So we started that process and it felt so right. My mother introduced me to theater as a young girl. She is an actor and moved from Toledo, Ohio to New York to pursue her dreams. So theater and Broadway have always been part of my makeup. And it all felt like the right progression.
If you grew up in Hell's Kitchen, you must have seen a lot of shows.
absolutely. There's a certain beauty in being able to get so close to such a magical realm and be exposed to so many different styles.One of the things I tell people is you'll never forget the first time you saw it Bring in da noise, bring in da funk. As a kid, I watched myself and witness this beautiful energy in this incredible New York atmosphere mixed with the beauty of tap dancing and all the other styles of dance. I was very surprised when I was able to do it. It was moving. And I remember that really influenced me about how to combine art styles and worlds and how important that is and how eye-opening it is.
Many of the famous songs from your albums appear on the show, but re-orchestrated. For example, “Fallin” has a more jazzy feel. What was it like approaching your songs in a different way?
Even the orchestration that adds the horns, the strings, all these beautiful sonics and fabrics and textures, at the heart of it is really taking these songs and adapting them and making them meaningful to the characters and making sure that the storyline is That means it's very good. It's thrilling because the songs and music definitely move the story forward. It's not just something inserted as something nice to listen to. There's a reason for that. And it means something and takes you further.
Being able to see things that way, and being able to deconstruct and reconstruct the songs with my collaborators Adam Blackstone and Tom Kitt, gave me new insight into how I could relate to the songs. The experience really took off. And also for me as the composer of the song. I've never heard it like this. And it's interesting to me that in that context they can take on some new meaning.
You had a glamorous opening on Broadway with Michelle Obama and other attendees. Did you read that she gave a standing ovation to Shoshana Bean, who plays her mother on the show?
I think it was Oprah! At the beginning of this incredible song, “Pawn It All” by Shoshana Bean, she stood up and when she stood up, everyone stood up behind her. That's because it was so shocking. And it was so beautiful. And I was so excited for Shoshana. She is so magical, amazing and incredibly talented. And I hope she saw it. I saw it, so I think she saw it with her own eyes.
You just opened your first Broadway musical, what did you learn from this process?
The people you collaborate with are so important and I learned how to have sound design, set design, costume design, great directors, book authors, stage managers, and of course how each person brings something special to the process. Each person who is part of this moving art installation is very important, they all have a piece of energy that is transmitted to the people who come to see it.
And what I've learned is that the energy around it, the energy around what that person creates or is a part of, is part of almost 90 percent of why it resonates the way it does. I feel that there is. And I feel like I'm receiving that. And love from the theater world. I think we have something special with veterans who combine this new freshness with veteran wisdom, and we've created a very special way to express it.
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
