Alicia Keys talks Broadway show inspired by her life and career

The 16-time Grammy winner had a hand in every element of the acclaimed musical, from music to casting, right down to the font on the marquee at the Schubert Theater. Hell's Kitchen tells some of the story of the prodigiously talented New York native who had her first record deal at 16 and a number one song and album at 20. Alicia and I got together in New York earlier this year for a Sunday sit-down on the eve of the show's debut. Remember when dreams begin, Hell's Kitchen, now I really feel like I'm dreaming. Very highly likely that this was a dream. You did it! Really? You did it! This is crazy! A dream more than a decade in the making. After a sold-out run off-Broadway, Hell's Kitchen, a musical inspired by the early life of Alicia Keys, has moved uptown. This is not a rushed job. It's been years and years of development and I feel proud of that. I feel like you can't rush greatness. At the center of the story is Allie, a young woman growing up in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan while discovering music, navigating a first love, and pushing teenage boundaries with her mother. So, to be clear, this is not autobiographical. People might come in and say, oh, I'm watching the story of Alicia Keys' life. It's not. Where are the differences as you see them? Allie is kind of a little bit more gullible, a little bit more naive even. A 17-year-old girl who's trying to find her way, feeling quite rebellious, looking for her muse, her passion, being raised by a single mother, who's quite overprotective in New York City, which you can understand why. She's really been quite protected and so she's just starting to find her wings in her space. It's intentionally not autobiographical. And I think ultimately what it really is, and this I can relate to very much, is a love story between a mother and a daughter. How important was that relationship to this story? Telling a mother-daughter story is really, really important. There are many father-son stories. There are not many mother-daughter stories. And if you think about it, it's such a special relationship, such a unique relationship. And so telling that story is really dynamic. See, I've learned the hard way. Keys wrote new music for the show, but rest assured, the hits find their way in. The way you rearranged the songs that we all know and love. So how did you think about incorporating that into the story and into the dialogue? I love that you said that because it's very intentional and everyone had their eyes on the music. Of course, putting it together, I intentionally wanted to deconstruct the expectation of what you might get from the song. I didn't want you to come in here and just kind of think you were going to get what you thought you were going to get. You're not, musically, actually. And so there's so many ways that the songs are arranged and composed that tell the story of what you're experiencing that even I'm like, why didn't I think to do that song in that way before? I've performed it like hundreds of times, but I never thought, it never meant that to me before. And that's what I think has been thrilling as the songwriter. How far is the building you grew up in from here? Cocoa Avenue is over a couple blocks down. But a universe away. A whole universe away. The 43-year-old Keys was born Alicia Cook and raised by her single mother in Hell's Kitchen. A then-gritty New York neighborhood just steps from the glittering lights of Broadway. Growing up in New York City, I walked all of these streets, all of these blocks. They were unattainable to me. How could I ever imagine, as a 7-year-old or a 9-year-old or a 10-year-old, that this could be possible? I couldn't. We would stand on the TKTS line and get the inexpensive tickets so we could go to see different shows. And I remember seeing shows that really opened me up to so much of what Broadway is. Did your dream begin when you first sat in front of a piano at 7 years old? Yeah. Because I was able to unlock a world that I had no idea what doors it would be able to take me through. That's the reason why I chose Keys for my last name. Because I played the keys and the piano keys, but because they opened doors. Keys graduated from her performing arts high school at 16, as class valedictorian, and began to pursue a career in music. No one knew what to do with me. They didn't know how to. They were like, what is this? How do we break this? How do we get this on the radio? What do we do? So it was a journey of divine timing and people who cared to make it all come together. But you never know how it's going to happen. In 2001, the world fell for Alicia Keys. Her debut album, Songs in A Minor, went to number one and earned her five Grammy awards. Combining classically trained piano talent with the R&B influences on which she grew up, Keys has become one of the best-selling artists in the history of music, with anthems about her hometown and empowerment. Now all of that work and that dreaming have brought her back to Broadway. We love you, Alicia! With some of them lined up at the TKTS booth with your mom, it's almost like you've stepped on the other side of the mirror and now you're on this stage. We're literally on this stage. The tagline is, remember where dreams begin. And I really love that because everybody can remember where their dreams began. Even if it was just yesterday, your dreams begin somewhere. And that is something we have to hold on to forever. Always enjoy the chance to sit down with Alicia. Her hit musical Hell's Kitchen is playing now at the Schubert Theater in New York and it is really good. Don't forget to subscribe to the Sunday Sit-Down podcast to hear the full extended interview with Alicia Keys. A lot more in there for you. You can find that on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get yours.