Alicia Keys’ ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ brings on the heat at the Tony Awards

NEW YORK — Black artists who were first-time Tony winners—including Maleah Joi Moon and Kecia Lewis from the Alicia Keys musical “Hell’s Kitchen”—were among the highlights at the 77th annual Tony Awards, which took place Sunday at Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater in New York City. “Hell’s Kitchen” also made a big splash when Keys and Jay-Z made surprise guest appearances and sang their signature hit “Empire State of Mind” during the “Hell’s Kitchen” ensemble performance. For that, they got a standing ovation. For the third year in a row, Ariana DeBose hosted the Tony Awards, an annual celebration of Broadway, telecast in the United States on CBS and streamed live on Paramount+ with Showtime. “Hell’s Kitchen”—featuring songs by Keys and a story based on Keys’ youth in New York City’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood—went into the ceremony with the most nominations (13), tied with the play “Stereophonic.” But in the end, “Hell’s Kitchen” won two Tony Awards and lost the Best Musical prize to “The Outsiders,” a stage production based on S.E. Hinton’s 1967 novel about rival gangs of young people. “Stereophonic,” which is about a fictional 1970s rock band, won the most Tony Awards this year (five), including...