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Domestic premiere in July, two years after opening
“Growing up near Broadway made me dream of the stage
Korean actors’ emotional connection is compelling”
“In ‘Hell’s Kitchen,’ New York exists almost as a character. It’s not just a place name; it’s closer to an emotion. So whether audiences in a new city have actually been to New York doesn’t really matter.”
Alicia Keys’ portrait of New York—the city of dreams—is coming to Korea. The musical Hell’s Kitchen, which traces her rise from a dangerous Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood in the 1990s to becoming a 17-time Grammy winner, opens here this summer. In a recent written interview ahead of the run, Keys said, “Presenting Hell’s Kitchen in Korea moves me deeply. I’ve never heard my songs sung in Korean before — this feels like an extraordinary gift.”
The 2024 production that Keys produced earned a record 13 Tony Award nominations after its Broadway premiere and took home awards for both lead and supporting performances in the musical categories. The Korean premiere is scheduled for July. It will be the first licensed production staged anywhere in the world since the Broadway debut two years ago.
Hell’s Kitchen follows 17-year-old Ali as she breaks free from her strict mother’s control and comes of age on New York’s streets in the 1990s. As she once sang in “Empire State of Mind” with Jay-Z, New York is “a concrete jungle where dreams are made” — a place that can make you feel reborn. Surrounded by music and energy in that concrete jungle, Ali finds freedom, becomes a musician, and begins to reconcile with her mother. Keys described the show as “a love story between a mother and her daughter,” adding that her mother was the person who introduced her to art, music, and performance.
Hell’s Kitchen is a jukebox musical that incorporates well-known pop songs into its narrative. Many of Keys’ signature tracks appear throughout the show. She said the most fascinating part of integrating existing songs was watching them take on entirely new meanings within the story. “’No One,’ which I wrote as a love song, becomes a powerful expression of the mother-daughter bond in the play, while ‘If I Ain’t Got You’ transforms into a pivotal emotional moment between Ali and her father.”
Producing the show was deeply personal for Keys. “I grew up a block from the theater that later staged Hell’s Kitchen on Broadway. I used to walk past those theaters and was captivated by their energy and talent. I always wanted to be part of that world.” It took 13 years to bring the production to the stage, and Keys composed and wrote lyrics for some new songs specifically for the show. She singled out a scene in which Ali and her teacher, Miss Riza Jane, connect at the piano as a standout. “It feels like asking a mother to pick her favorite child.”
Keys was intimately involved in preparing the Korean production, leading casting and directing vocals herself. Insiders say they jokingly call her “Agent Al” for how hands-on she is. The role of Ali will be played by Son Seung-yeon and Kim Su-ha, with Park Ji-won — the main vocalist of the girl group fromis_9 — also cast. Keys said, “In casting, the most important thing was whether the actors truly felt the story. Their vocals were astonishing, but what struck me most was their emotional connection and human presence.” The production opens July 24 at the GS Art Center.
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