Alicia Keys‘ artistry is coming to Broadway with the announcement of her upcoming stage production, Hell’s Kitchen. After an off-Broadway run, the show will come to Broadway’s Shubert Theater starting April 23.
Produced by AKW Productions and executive produced by Aaron Lustbader, Hell’s Kitchen is a show that will celebrate New York City from Keys’ perspective as a native New Yorker. The description of the show is fairly simple, but also leaves a lot of mystery for the audience to uncover when they attend the show. As the description states:
There’s a place where the rhythm of the city is music, where every corner has a story, and every window is a kaleidoscope. Where a girl can step out of her apartment and find the world. That’s Hell’s Kitchen, a new musical from 15-time Grammy Award winner Alicia Keys that’s about to make Broadway feel brand new.
Keys said in her statement about Hell’s Kitchen how proud she is for the show to come out.
“Good things take time and for 13 years, I’ve been dreaming, developing and finding inspiration for a musical based on my experience growing up in Hell’s Kitchen, NYC,” she said. “Hell’s Kitchen is inspired by my life, but it’s not a biographical story. It’s a story about family relationships and identity: Who are we? Who do we want to be? Who are we becoming?”
“The score features new songs that I’m really excited to get out into the world alongside many of my album releases that you know but you’ve never heard like this–rearranged and reinterpreted,” she continued. “I’m honored to be a part of this Broadway season with so much incredible talent and great stories. I grew up with musical theater and have so many memories of standing on line at TKTS to see how shows like Miss Saigon and Rent. For me, Hell’s Kitchen is also a New York story of finding your dreams and for me, this musical coming to Broadway is the embodiment of that idea. I’ve learned so much from the experience and the collaboration with Michael Greif, Camille A. Brown, Kristoffer Diaz and Adam Blackstone. I love and respect the art form so much and I’m excited to see it come to Broadway.”
Oskar Eustis, Public Theater Artistic Director, also added that Hell’s Kitchen‘s run at the Shubert Theater continues showcasing what makes New York the city it is.
“Hell’s Kitchen is an extraordinary show, and we are thrilled to have it arriving at the Shubert Theater, where A Chorus Line ran for 16 glorious years after transferring from The Public in 1975,” he said. “Like that legendary show, Hell’s Kitchen is a quintessentially New York story. Our audiences have ecstatically connected with the musical, seeing themselves and their own lives in the story of a extraordinary 17-year-old girl growing up and discovering her place in the world.”
“Alicia Keys is a brilliant artist whose deep humanity has always been at the heart of her creativity; in Hell’s Kitchen, her luminescent spirit shines through her music and her story,” he continued. “This show is just what we are hungry for: a reason to feel optimistic about the world, a reminder of why we love New York City, a celebration of how art and love can overcome any barrier. It’s an amazing theatrical debut for one of the world’s greatest songwriters–it is going to touch millions of people.”
Hell’s Kitchen had its world premiere at the Public Theater this fall with a sold-out run that will continue to Jan. 14, 2024. The Broadway production of this show will seemingly not have the same cast as the Public Theater version; the Broadway cast will be announced soon.
