The 2024 Tony Awards kicked off with a big display of hip-hop star power, as Jay-Z performed “Empire State of Mind” with Alicia Keys as part of a “Hell's Kitchen” medley.
Keys, dressed in a monogrammed Gucci outfit, sat at a baby grand piano and sang with newcomer Murray Joy Moon before taking center stage. Hova, clad in a cropped Louis Vuitton jacket, appeared backstage and performed a verse outside in the lobby before joining the “Falling” star, bringing the crowd to its feet.
The 24-time Grammy Award-winning rap mogul and the 16-time Grammy Award-winning Broadway newcomer reunited in front of a Tony Awards audience on Sunday night at Lincoln Center's David H. Koch Theater, bringing with them the song that topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 2009.
Both artists' love letters to their hometowns are featured at the end of “Hell's Kitchen,” a critically acclaimed show inspired by Keys' teenage years growing up in the neighborhood surrounding the Times Square Theatre where the show is performed.
The show, directed by Michael Greif, was nominated for 13 awards at the 77th Tony Awards, making it the most nominated musical of all time, and was in close competition with The Outsiders for Best New Musical. The musical adaptation of S. E. Hinton's best-selling 1967 novel was nominated for 12 Tony Awards.
Jay-Z's Roc Nation company is listed as a producer on “Hell's Kitchen” along with Dominique Sharpton, daughter of the Rev. Al Sharpton, and philanthropist Candy Spelling. The Bedford-Stuyvesant-born lyricist, 54, previously produced “Fela,” the 2010 biographical musical about the life of the late Nigerian singer Fela Kuti.
Eleven years in development, “Hell's Kitchen” premiered last fall at the Public Theater, a city whose off-Broadway stage has long been breeding ground for future Broadway hits (such as “A Chorus Line,” “Bring in da Noise, Bring in da Funk,” “Hamilton” and the Hillary Clinton-produced “Suffs,” another contender for best musical this year).
Featuring hip-hop-inspired choreography (directed by Camille A. Brown), costumes (designed by Dede Ayite) and a soundtrack (arranged by Tom Kitt and Adam Blackstone), the semi-biographical musical officially opened to rave reviews at the Shubert Theatre on April 20.
That evening, Ayte became the first black woman to win a Tony Award for Best Costume Design.
Written by Christopher Diaz, the production received four lead cast nominations out of its 13 nominations: for newcomer Moon, stage veteran Brandon Victor Dixon, Shoshana Bean and stage veteran Keshia Lewis.
