Alicia Keys, center, and the cast of “Hell’s Kitchen” perform onstage during the Tony Awards at David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center in New York City in June 2024. The Broadway jukebox musical tours to the Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco.
Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions
Alicia Keys speaks during the opening night curtain call for the musical “Hell’s Kitchen” on Broadway at the Shubert Theatre in New York City in 2024.
Bruce Glikas/WireImage
Alicia Keys, left, embraces San Jose native Maya Drake, who plays Ali in the North American tour of “Hell’s Kitchen,” a musical Keys wrote based on her own life.
Hell’s Kitchen
To paraphrase 17-time Grammy winner Alicia Keys, this show is on fire.
The jukebox musical “Hell’s Kitchen” arrives at San Francisco’s Orpheum Theatre beginning Wednesday, May 6, after a two-year Broadway run and a pair of 2025 Tony Awards. The fictionalized story, based on Keys’ youth, follows a young artist named Ali (played here by San Jose’s Maya Drake) as she searches for her voice and identity in Manhattan Square, with an overprotective mother, wayward father and forbidden love interest. Keys’ deep catalog of hits and a few new songs made exclusively for the stage production drive the plot.
The Chronicle spoke to the native New Yorker about her love of the theater, the differences between playing in a band versus a musical and which artist she thinks should get the Broadway treatment.
Article continues below this ad
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Director Director Michael Greif, left, and Alicia Keys during the opening night curtain call for “Hell’s Kitchen” at the Shubert Theatre in New York City in 2024.
Bruce Glikas/WireImage
Q: Your fans know you best as a singer-songwriter, but you also have a lifelong love of theater. How did that start?
“Hell’s Kitchen”: Book by Kristoffer Diaz. Music and lyrics by Alicia Keys. Directed by Michael Greif. Performances begin Wednesday, May 6. Through May 24. $69-$275. Orpheum Theatre, 1192 Market St., S.F. 888-746-1799. https://hellskitchen.com
A: My mom came from Toledo, Ohio, to New York City to pursue her passion of the arts and acting. One of the things that she gifted me early was her love of the theater. I definitely remember seeing “Cats,” “Miss Saigon,” “Jelly’s Last Jam,” “Bring in ‘da Noise, Bring in ‘da Funk” — all of these incredible pieces.
Article continues below this ad
San Francisco Chronicle Logo
Make us a Preferred Source to get more of our news when you search.
Add Preferred Source
“Rent” tore me up. I was so young, but I remember running to the music store to get the sheet music so I could learn to play the songs.
Q: How did experiencing those shows affect you?
A: It was really powerful to see stories that resonated so deeply and could really make you cry and know the character. I had no idea what it was pouring into me at the time, but I was very affected by it.
Q: Do you feel like you could have pursued acting instead of music?
Article continues below this ad
A: I was always in that universe going to auditions for theater and television, but music hit me at 5 years old. As a little girl, I kind of knew that I was going to do music first and then come back to theater.
Q: And here you are with a Broadway musical loosely based on your life. How does “Hell’s Kitchen” reflect the Manhattan neighborhood you know and love?
A: It looks like it, feels like it and sounds like it. The visuals with the amazing artist Peter Nigrini and the way that Robert Brill created the set and the lighting by Natasha Katz — all of these people really put their energy and their time into how it looks. That’s what brings you to the location, Manhattan Square. You’re like, “OK, I’m actually in New York City right now.” The music was intentionally created to sonically bang and knock. And so you feel all of those elements together and you’re really transported there.
Q: The story is loosely based on your life. How does it connect with the audience?
A: This is the most phenomenal thing about “Hell’s Kitchen.” No matter where the tour is, there’s a timelessness about it. There’s a deep connection that really speaks to these ideas of what community is and your singular journey that you’re on. You’re trying to figure out who you are and where you’re meant to be. And then your experiences with your family relations, which naturally have different outcomes — some are very positive and loving, some are very difficult and traumatic and have deep healing work that has to go with it.
Article continues below this ad
Alicia Keys plays two pianos in tribute to Hazel Scott during the 61st Grammy Awards at the Staples Center in Los Angeles in 2019.
Monty Brinton/CBS via Getty Images
Q: Is working on a musical different from playing in a band?
A: It is 1,000% completely different.
There are similarities in that you’re going to create the moments to play and that whomever is a part of the band is going to execute those parts and it’s going to sound like what you created. (But) making music is a lot more fluid. It’s a lot more on the spot. You create things and improvise, and you really are in the moment in your heart, and you’re sharing whatever is coming out. That’s where the magic is.
So I think for “Hell’s Kitchen,” there’s a little bit of a different special energy that always comes through because I’m an artist and because I want there to be some of that magic and flexibility.
Article continues below this ad
Q: “Hell’s Kitchen” follows in the steps of artists such as Carole King and Tina Turner who’ve had their lives and songs dramatized for the stage. What artist would you like to see have the Broadway treatment?
A: Hazel Scott. She is an unbelievably brilliant pianist. She was the first Black woman with a variety show in the (’50s). She originated the concept of playing two pianos at the same time. When I played two pianos at the Grammys (in 2019), it was an inspiration shown to me by Hazel Scott. She is one of the most magnificent musicians you’ll ever witness.
Todd Inoue is a freelance writer.