Keys producing Broadway play

NEW YORK, June 27 (UPI) -- Grammy award-winning recording artist Alicia Keys is producing Lydia R. Diamond's play, "Stick Fly," on Broadway this fall, representatives for the show said.

Kenny Leon is to direct the comedy, which is to begin previews Nov. 18, with an opening night planned for Dec. 8.

Producing the play alongside Keys are Reuben Cannon and Nelle Nugent.

"This is a story that everybody can relate to," Keys said in a statement Monday. "I'm passionate about this play because it is so beautifully written and portrays Black America in a way that we don't often get to see in entertainment. I know it will touch all audiences, who will find a piece of themselves somewhere inside this house."

"'Stick Fly' is one of those unique plays with a beauty that lies in its universality," said Leon. "Lydia Diamond is a master storyteller, combining humor with intellect. Her reach is as great as my friend August Wilson -- her poetry and the world of the characters may differ, but the results are the same: an evening full of laughter and thought that keeps us talking long after we've left the theater. I love plays where everyone can find themselves in the story on stage."

The play follows the LeVays, an affluent African-American family, as they spend a summer weekend together at their Martha's Vineyard home.

"The adult sons, aspiring novelist Kent and golden boy plastic surgeon Flip, have each brought their respective ladies -- one black and one white -- to meet the parents. Food, drink and Trivial Pursuit tangle with class, race and identity politics in this contemporary comedy of manners," a synopsis said.