When the curtain rises Saturday night on a new Alicia Keys-inspired musical on Broadway, there will be a San Diegan in the audience with a huge personal interest in the play.
That San Diegan is Robert Brill, a professor in the UC San Diego’s Department of Theater and Dance who designed the stage settings for the play, “Hell’s Kitchen.”
It’s not the first Broadway play that Brill has worked on. But with the involvement of the 16-time Grammy award winner, it could be one of his most-talked about projects.
“I think it’s going to be a spectacular opening, one that’s been in the making for such a long time,” said Brill. “Alicia and book writer Kristoffer Diaz have been collaborating on this project for more than a decade. The buzz around production is pretty incredible.”
The play has been in previews this month, but Saturday is opening night and Brill will be sitting in the audience at the Shubert Theatre.
It will mark a long and unlikely journey for Brill, who grew up in Salinas, far from the bright lights of Broadway.
As a young boy, he was interested in magic and puppetry, and was supported in his pursuits by his parents. In high school, he began learning graphic design and, later, drafting and architecture. He was introduced to the theater by a friend and soon his interests in magic, theater and architecture “coalesced into stage design” and put him on the path to his new life.
“Onstage, we’re building a world,” he said.” In the same way that an architect considers design, function and form, we’re creating space for storytelling.”
By the time he arrived at UCSD in 1983, he knew he wanted to major in theater. He began working in the industry, including working on plays at the renowned Oregon Shakespeare Festival. He also lived in New York City for a while and worked on Off-Broadway plays and several Broadway plays, earning three Tony award nominations. In San Diego, he helped found Sledgehammer Theatre, which put on productions in downtown San Diego and beyond.
In 2015, he went back to UCSD, but this time to teach. He teaches several classes in stage and scenic design and uses his theater work to share with his students real-life experiences about the theater industry.
In the fall of 2022, he received a call from an old friend and UCSD classmate, Michael Greif, who was directing a new play inspired by Alicia Keys’ life growing up in New York City. Although not an autobiography and not featuring Keys herself, the play is inspired by her upbringing in the rough and tumble New York neighborhood of Hell’s Kitchen, her relationship with her mother and her discovery of music.
Brill took inspiration from Keys’ memories to make the stage environment dark and gritty. For research, he took photos of streets and landmarks when in New York. And he was also helped by the fact that when he lived in New York in the mid-1990s, he lived near Hell’s Kitchen, and raised his daughter there.
“It’s a complicated journey to navigate,” he said. “Depicting New York onstage is always a challenge, especially when it’s footsteps away. I think it’s more about the dynamic and ever-changing experience of the city. It’s very much like a collage, a collection of vibrant fragments, and we hope the audience becomes immersed in that kaleidoscopic experience.”
He emphasizes that he doesn’t do it alone. He calls it a collaboration with the creative team, including the costumers, the lighting and sound people, for the creation of the world of “Hell’s Kitchen.”
“Together, we’re crafting an experience, an event, for the audience,” he said.
And, of course, his work is guided by Keys and her music.
“When I began the project, even in advance of having the script, I started by immersing myself in her music,” he said.
At first, he talked with Keys in online meetings. But later, he worked in person with Keys, who owns a home in La Jolla, not far from Brill’s office on UCSD.
“She’s an incredibly gracious and thoughtful collaborator” he said. “Throughout the process, even when we presented her with an overwhelming amount of information, Alicia was consistently on-point, offering both praise and constructive criticism in a way that allowed us to remain inspired and appreciate what was important to her.”
Brill has been working on the play, which began Off-Broadway, for over a year and a half. He was excited when during his last visit to New York he saw banners advertising the play around the Shubert Theatre
Variety said of the play: “Beautiful and heartbreaking. A sparkling story with iconic music and absolute powerhouse vocals. This show feels like watching a glorious tapestry come together.”
Brill’s next project is closer to home. He is working on the stage design for “The Ballad of Johnny and June,” a musical about singers Johnny and June Cash that will have its world premiere in May at the La Jolla Playhouse.
Brill, 60, said of his work: “It’s never gotten old to me, and each day I’m thrilled and grateful for the opportunity to live a creative life. It’s truly a privilege.”
Editor’s Note: Alicia Keys’ play has since been nominated for 11 Tony awards, including for stage design.