Alicia Keys bringing sold-out musical "Hell's Kitchen" to Broadway in 2024
NEW YORK -- Alicia Keys is bringing her sold-out musical "Hell's Kitchen" to Broadway next year.
It will transfer from the Public Theater downtown to the Shubert Theatre in the heart of the Theater District. As CBS New York's Dave Carlin reports, two communities in two states see this as a big reason to celebrate.
The show is set in the real-life Manhattan Plaza, which has been providing housing, mainly for artists, on West 43rd Street since the 1970s.
The music and lyrics are by the 15-time Grammy Award winner, and it's loosely based on her life when she lived at Manhattan Plaza with her mother, spending a lot of time at a piano.
"It really is a full-circle moment. It's part of a family history of love of the arts," Keys said.
"Alicia Keys, yes, did grow up here, and her first piano lesson was here," said retired district leader Marisa Redanty. "All these musicians, all these actors, of course, they integrated into the lives of the children and gave them an incredible, fertile ground."
"A lot of people grew up in these buildings -- Alicia, Timothée Chalamet, Christian Slater," Manhattan Plaza resident Ruby Rims said. "She's paying back."
The production includes some of Keys' breakthrough hits and new numbers as well. Newcomer Maleah Joi Moon plays the Keys-inspired lead role of "Ali." Ali is 17 years old, growing up and discovering her place in the world.
It's a major breakthrough for Moon, catapulting her to stardom just a few years after leaving her hometown of Franklin Township, New Jersey.
"I always had a dream that I would be doing something that is so fulfilling and so beautiful and remarkable and surrounded by wonderful people, but I could not have imagined that it would be this amazing," Moon said.
Residents in Franklin Township say from a young age, Moon seemed destined for greatness.
"We're just all very proud of her," said Nikkii Tatum, vice principal of the Road to Success program. "Amazing to see this phenomenal young woman just become what God intended her to be. We could see it all over her when she was in middle school."
"Hell's Kitchen" is at the Public Theater through mid-January, then moves to Broadway in late March.