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On June 15th, the day before the 2024 Tony Awards ceremony, Keshia Lewis She made her Broadway debut in “Dreamgirls.” After 40 years in the industry, the actress finally got her first Tony nomination and was a part of Broadway's biggest celebration. “I never thought it would happen,” Lewis admits, but her powerful performance this season on “Hell's Kitchen” finally unlocked this “surreal” moment of closure. Check out our exclusive video interview above.
Lewis plays Miss Liza Jane in the new film. Alicia Keys Musical. She is a longtime Manhattan Plaza resident and the daughter of Ali (Malea Joy Moon) takes place in the artist housing complex's famous “Ellington Room,” where Ms. Liza offers the young girl a safe space, imparts wisdom, and teaches her piano.
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“I consider myself a teacher at heart,” admits Lewis, who has done a lot of work as an instructor herself. “What I enjoy most is helping people discover more than what they already know they are worth, and helping them discover other talents within themselves that maybe they haven't discovered or realized yet,” she elaborates.
The teaching scenes on “Hell's Kitchen” go beyond piano lessons, as Liza Jane delivers a powerful rendition of Keys' most emotive ballad, imparting a lifetime of wisdom and experience to Ali. This is perhaps most evident in the song “A Perfect Way to Die.” “Her past is colliding with her present,” Lewis explains. The song depicts a mother who loses her son at a young age to police brutality. The actress says that in this moment she felt “more fully” inside her character than any other scene on the show.
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The thunderous vocals for “A Perfect Way to Die” were crafted over time with Keys herself. “Alicia is one of the least celebrity-like people I've ever met,” Lewis reveals. “She's so down to earth, so grounded.” The two women were able to discuss how their own experiences related to the song's lyrics, and the combination of those elements led to Lewis' moving version. The song is intentionally sung in a lower key than the original, allowing the actress to really hammer home the emotion. “I was working in a slightly lower key, so I had to give it to Alicia and ask, 'What do you think about this?' And she was like, 'This sounds amazing. If you can do eight shows a week, do it,'” Lewis explains. “And so we got there.”
The number receives thunderous applause, making it one of the “exciting” moments of the show that Lewis looks forward to. “Some nights, when the audience claps, your hair just flies back with the energy,” the actress admits. “The combined joy of 1,500 people rushing at you all at once is like a wall of excitement that just shoots through us.” Every actor onstage lets out a “wow” in disbelief. “You can feel what's coming at you,” Lewis says with a smile. “It's very exciting.”
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