It’s been a labor of love by the Grammy Award-winning musician, singer and songwriter Alicia Keys: she’s created a new stage musical loosely based on her own life story. “Hell’s Kitchen,” about a teenage girl with a love of music and a difficult relationship with her mother, features new music as well as some of Keys’ most beloved songs Keys rearranged or recontextualized. Correspondent Kelefa Sanneh talks with Keys about the show’s origin and its sold-out run in the East Village, with an eye on a future Broadway production. Sanneh also talks with theater critic Ben Brantley about the history of “jukebox musicals,” and why “Hell’s Kitchen” may be different.
