Alicia Keys immortalizes her childhood neighbourhood in Hell’s Kitchen, playing in Toronto this month

Alicia Keys immortalizes her childhood neighbourhood in Hell’s Kitchen, playing in Toronto this month AISLING MURPHY PUBLISHED 1 HOUR AGO Open this photo in gallery: Alicia Keys greets cast members in rehearsals for the North American tour of Hell's Kitchen. HELL'S KITCHEN/SUPPLIED COMMENTS SHARE SAVE FOR LATER Listen to this article Learn more about audio Log in or create a free account to listen to this article. Thirty years ago, a wunderkind burst onto the music scene in New York. A classically trained pianist with an ear for R&B, she graduated from high school at the age of 16 – at the top of her class, no less – and immediately started studying at Columbia University. When she dropped out of postsecondary studies, it wasn’t because she couldn’t handle the pressure, but because making music full-time was the obvious path forward. It should come as no surprise that Alicia Keys has since gone on to create a Broadway musical heavily inspired by her own life. Known for hits such as Fallin’, If I Ain’t Got You and No One, Keys is singular as an auteur: Her evocative lyrics, smoky voice and classical sensibilities combine to create a sound not quite in the world of hip-hop or soul, but instead a genre all its own. Open this photo in gallery: Maya Drake stars as Ali. MARC J. FRANKIN/SUPPLIED Her biography, too, offers compelling stage fodder. In her 45 years she’s risen from Manhattan Plaza, the subsidized residential complex in Hell’s Kitchen where she spent much of her childhood, to stages and arenas around the world. With a book by Kristoffer Díaz and direction by Michael Greif (Rent, Next to Normal, Dear Evan Hansen), the musical largely takes place in the storied – and 46-storeyed – apartment building of Keys’s youth. Ahead of Hell’s Kitchen’s touring stop in Toronto, scheduled to play at the CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre until Oct. 25, The Globe and Mail spoke with Keys over Zoom to discuss her remarkable career – and the songs audiences might recognize in her jukebox musical. Fall theatre season bets big on made-in-Canada productions You served as BlackBerry’s global creative director for one year, helping to launch the BlackBerry 10 in 2013. Given that, have you seen Canadian director Matt Johnson’s satirical bio-dramedy BlackBerry? I haven’t. Should I see it? It’s pretty good. That’s so funny. I was there for such a specific era of BlackBerry. I’ll have to check that out. Open this photo in gallery: Keys receives a gift during rehearsals…