Broadway Newcomer Alicia Keys Calls Producing Stick Fly 'Modern-Day Magic'

Grammy winner Alicia Keys is trying her hand as a Broadway producer this fall with the upcoming production of Lydia R. Diamond's Stick Fly. As the show nears its November start date at the Lyceum Theatre, Keys took time to blog about her passion for the project on AliciaKeys.com. Calling Stick Fly a "rare piece of art that gets to you, that takes you to a different place, and opens your heart to a new horizon," Keys reflected on growing up in the so-called Hell's Kitchen neighborhood just west of the theater district:

"My mother's greatest passion is the theatre and she introduced it to me very early in my life. I grew up right next to Broadway—I could see the glittering lights from our apartment. To produce a play like this is a dream come true for me. And to have the chance to share this play with an audience, night after night, in a beautiful theater, on the streets that I walked everyday as a kid with only 'a pocket full of dreams' … can only be described as modern-day magic.

"My favorite thing about great art is the way that it gets to you, crawls inside your heart and lives there in a way you can't forget. I hope if you're in NYC this winter, you'll have the chance to experience Stick Fly, and that it moves you as much as did me."

Keys has received 11 Grammy Awards. Her studio albums include Songs in A Minor, The Diary of Alicia Keys, As I Am and The Elements of Freedom. Her film and TV credits include The Nanny Diaries, Charmed, American Dreams, Smokin' Aces and The Secret Life of Bees.

Directed by Kenny Leon, Stick Fly begins performances November 18, with opening night set for December 8. The play follows the gathering of an upper-class African-American family at their luxurious Martha's Vineyard vacation home. Familial troubles arise as the youngest son brings home his fiancee, who is not accustomed to the family's affluent lifestyle.