Hell's Kitchen: Behind the Dream - Hardcover

Keys, Alicia; Funderburg, Lise

Hardcover

ISBN 13: 9798217176809

Publisher: Plume, 2025

Synopsis

A stunning behind-the-scenes look into Alicia Keys’s hit Broadway musical, Hell’s Kitchen, featuring never-before-seen photographs, exclusive interviews, and insights from Keys herself.

Hell’s Kitchen debuted on Broadway in 2024—and the show has been electrifying audiences ever since. With plenty of awards attention, the musical has drawn sold-out crowds to the Shubert Theatre for Alicia Keys’s coming-of-age tale that shows us where dreams begin. Based on Keys’s own experiences of growing up in New York City''s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood in the 1990s, the show follows Ali, a headstrong teen searching for her independence, her voice, and her place in the world. Stifled by an overprotective mother, Ali is lost until she meets her mentor: a neighbor who opens her heart to the power of music.

Featuring many of Keys’s greatest R&B hits, along with songs created especially for the musical, the story is an inspiring mother-daughter tale about finding yourself and your purpose, and the community that lifts you.

The Hell’s Kitchen book shares an intimate look inside the show’s creation, from the first spark of an idea through the musical’s thirteen-year journey to Broadway, where it continues to thrill audiences today. The book includes exclusive interviews with key cast and creative team members; first-person notes from Keys on her original songs; stunning stage photography and behind-the-scenes images; insights into costume creation, set design, choreography, and casting; and much more. This beautiful tribute answers every burning question a fan of the musical may have. Ultimately, it’s a triumphant celebration of Alicia Keys and New York City.

About this title

About the Author

Alicia Keys is a seventeen-time Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter, producer, actress, activist, and entrepreneur who has sold over 90 million records worldwide. Billboard has ranked her as the number one R&B/hip-hop artist of the 2000s. Her memoir, More Myself, was a New York Times bestseller. She worked on the development of the Hell's Kitchen musical for thirteen years.

Lise Funderburg's books include Pig Candy; Black, White, Other; Purple Rising; and Apple, Tree. Her essays have appeared in Threepenny Review, Harper's, New England Review, Cimarron, Broad Street, Brevity, The Nation, New York Times, Chattahoochee Review, Best African American Essays, and elsewhere. She teaches creative nonfiction at the University of Pennsylvania.

Edition details

• Publisher: Plume
• Publication date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 13: 9798217176809
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 224