In Development: “Hell’s Kitchen” Production is Music to the Ears of Alicia Keys Fans

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One of her biggest hits has Alicia Keys dreaming of “Seein’ my face in lights or my name in marquees found down on Broadway” – and who knows, that could come true, with a musical based on her life currently being cast. As befits a stellar performer who grew up in the neighborhood, the show is called Hell’s Kitchen!

The team behind the musical from the Public Theater is pretty stellar too. With music and lyrics by (no surprise!) Alicia Keys and book by multi-award-winning playwright Kristoffer Diaz, Hell’s Kitchen will be directed by Michael Greif – who has won three Obie Awards and received four Tony Award nominations, for Rent, Grey Gardens, Next to Normal and Dear Evan Hansen, with choreography by Camille A. Brown, the first Black woman to direct and choreograph a Broadway show for 66 years, and musical direction by Adam Blackstone, the multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, producer and bassist who was behind Keys’ surprise concert in Times Square in 2016, and music director, producer and pianist Erskine Hawkins.

The casting call sheet describes the show as “a new musical that tells the story of Ali, a young girl growing up in NYC’s Hell’s Kitchen in the 1990s,” and auditions for Equity card holders are being held Friday, February 17 at Actors’ Equity New York Audition Center, 165 W46th Street, with hopefuls being asked to prepare a short pop or R&B song in the style of Alicia Keys.

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The roles of Ali, her mother, father and music teacher are already cast — with Eden Espinosa (best known for her performances as Elphaba in Wicked) rumored to be playing Ali’s mother but there are still vacancies in a number of parts – including that of Ray, doorman at Manhattan Plaza where Keys lived with her mother. He’s “a large, physically imposing presence, but a kind heart. He looks out for Ali and all the residents.” Development dates are still to be determined and the Public Theater told W42ST that they were not yet able to comment on the project, but according to the announcement in Broadway World the musical will premiere between May 24 and June 18.

Got a pocket full of dreams? This could be the show that dreams are made of!