Video: HELL'S KITCHEN's Jackie Leon Is on Fire

Are you ready

It's the Roundtable with me, Robert Bannon. Through your concrete jungle where dreams are made of

Oh my goodness. You can't go see Hell's Kitchen and not leave singing the music of Alicia Keys

I mean, we smile. for two and a half hours. I had the best time at the show

the voices, the choreo, the nostalgia and the memories that this 40-something-year-old person

had listening to the discography of Alicia Keys set on a Broadway stage

with incredible direction by Michael Greif and choreography by Camille K. Brown

Let me tell you, it is a show to see, and it is packed

packed with talent from the bean to BVD, Brandon Victor Dixon, to an ensemble cast, to Rima Webb

A lot of people who have been guests of ours here on the Roundtable

Hi, Broadway, World. Welcome to the Roundtable. My name is Robert Bannon, and I'm so excited to have you here

Jackie Leon is going to be our special guest today. We are so excited to have Jackie on the show

Sings Down. Sings down. If you're new to the show, welcome. We appreciate you being here, and I'm so excited to have you here

Jackie Leon is here. I believe Jackie Leon is right backstage. So we're very excited

If you're watching this, this is taped. You know, this was done the other day

And this morning, I think Jackie got up at like 2 o'clock in the morning

and The Hell's Kitchen was on the Today Show. So if you have not been a part of it, we can't wait for you to see what's coming up your way

Really exciting show today. I want to just let everybody know that. And if you're watching us, you can get more information about me at Robertbannon.com

and you can follow me on Instagram at Robert M. Bannon. If you like The Roundtable, the Roundtable is every single day on the Broadway Podcast Network

and join us on our YouTube channel as well and catch the videos. And go back

We've done on this for like a couple months, and we have a whole bunch of Tony-nominated shows

and artists coming up to you through Tony time and forever right here on the Roundtable

Jackie Leon's is here. Hang tight. Well, I'm really excited. Jackie is here

And look, I was reading about Jackie. Okay. Jackie is not only on Broadway right now in Hell's Kitchen

but Jackie is a performer and a writer who focuses on the subversive

which I didn't even know what that meant. So I had to Google subversive because Jackie apparently has a very good vocabulary

And I just went to his college here in New Jersey. So I'm ready, you know, we want the whole journey

writer, performer, singer. This girl is on fire. Wait, you've got to see her sing it

She's like climbed a ladder, 50 feet in the air, and it's like she's in the Home Depot

and she's belting her face off. Jackie Leone, welcome to the show. Hello

Do you know how you sound? You sing. Thank you. That is such a, I'm so grateful for you to say that

because that was a whole journey for me with this show. really

Yes. Is singing not like the first thing? It's not that. It's that like I trained

a musical theater and like belting felt second nature but this is like R&B

and this is Alicia Keys she's not looking for a musical theater sound

she was looking for you and I didn't know at the time what that meant for me

and so I just kept comparing and I was like I feel like I have like

the most like all of this stuff I kept imposter syndrome was taking over so I was like oh maybe she didn't realize that I just felt but I think she was fine with that I think that I she liked it but it was a good thing I think she liked it I think we all like it it's a very epic part of the show and your journey I I think research about you and I like I was saying before

and you are a writer. And look, she has, like, plays. Like, plays out here

And you could go to YouTube and you could watch, like, readings, like Zoom readings of them

Oh, my God, Robert. This is the sweetest thing I've ever experienced

Thank you. Look at them. Like, an hour and a half. Like, this isn't, like, a little short done in the garage

Like, these are plays. Yes. Oh, my God. Yes. I love writing

Yeah. Tell us what, what do you write about? Are you, you're into horror

Like, you're into like, I am. I'm into like, so it's funny that you were like the soap person

Because I was trying to articulate what I felt. It feels like I'm, I'm Gen Z, and it feels like at some point we became estranged with the planet

We felt constantly bogged down by powers that are outside of her control

I just got obsessed with living in a world that was outside of my control and horror, surrealism

They always found a way to articulate those feelings of distress without making them angsty

It felt like they were, it felt like they could properly be felt fully

And dealing with monsters and sci-fi. All those things make me very happy when talking about these things

Well, we got to say, while we're talking, everyone, you can go to jackie.n.org

on Instagram so you can follow. When her shows are produced and worked and put on stages, you can follow the journey

because this is just the start for you. Let's go. So your first generation American, your Afro-Columbian roots, are you from New York

Are you from this area? No, actually, I'm from Houston Tech. Like Beyonce. You and Beyonce

Like Megan, like Beyonce. Get for school. You went to Marymount. I did. I did

What was it like when you told your family? I'm going to New York. I'm getting a BFA. I'm going to become an actor

Well, this is a very treacherous story, but my mom laughed about it now because I'm on Broadway

But I lied at the time about how much my school was

Because in my mind, the Dululu was this lulu. I was like, I will find the scholarships and I will be

So my first year, I was like, yeah, it's like X amount of dollars for school

And that was like just for one semester. And she called me. She was like, you need to come home

I can't afford this. I'm like, mother, don't worry. Like I became an R.A

I found a bunch of scholarships. I became like a student leader

I figured out in high school that when you become a big part of the culture of the

school being a student leader engaging with students having relationships with faculty and like you make yourself like indispensable in terms of I want to build the culture and I want to be a voice for my folk They really take that into account and they take that very seriously

So I found ways and I, that was a crazy experience. I got a bunch of scholarships and all that jazz and like we were able to afford it at this point and a bunch of loans

But like initially it was just hopes and dreams. It implies lots of them

I get it. We all have been there. I'm with you, Jackie. And you have hopes and dreams. You go to be an artist. You study musical theater. Was the dream? One of the dreams was Broadway

So that's a great question. I think I was afraid of dreaming about Broadway in case I was never able to fulfill it because I never saw someone like me on stage at the time

like my age bracket with my body type, or like my voice and sound with my style of human

Like I never saw, I remember my senior year of college, they were like, okay, if you had to go in and replace

someone in a show who would be, and I was like, blink, blink, I don't

nothing exists at the moment. So it was very, so I was like, you know what

scrim it, I'm gonna live my math to do underground theater and be experimental

I was like so, I was just trying not to get rejected before they rejected me. It was like a way to protect myself. So I thought

of Broadway as like, okay, fine, it'll be nice. But I did always dream of going to the public

Because I just thought, they just felt so cool. And I was like, okay, I never get there. I'll be so

sad. So it's very serendipitous. You, not only get there, it was like shot out of the gate. Like, boom. There

I know. People were so violent. I was like, hello? I mean, your other credits, I mean, this is a big, this show's a monster

I mean, you have Tony nominations, glory, your New York Times credits pick. You've come from the public last year

You transferred to Broadway in one of the most beautiful historic houses on New York City

I mean, and I mean, you've done real, like, you are an actor, actor. I mean, you've done Shakespeare

Yes. Yes. I remember in high school, my, like, the first thing we did

as students, one of the first plays that I did was Tristan Zars, the Gas Heart

But like Dadaism, and then we like got into like Eugene Inesco and like absurdism and comedy

All in high school, I was like 14 and I was playing eyebrow. And I was like going through what art meant when it meant nothing

And my teachers were, it was a very, because of high school I fell in love to theater, that was

way, the experimentation of it, the fearlessness of it, the joy of standing up there and talking

nonsense, and still having people enraptured, that was dope. And it still is

And you get to make it for a living, which is pretty amazing. So what was your journey like to health care

Please tell me that you were not like at Ripley Greer at 630 in the morning for an open call

I'll be so mad, Jackie. Tell me, if you didn't have it. No, no, no, no

remember I had done, I had auditioned for it via self-tape. My manager sent me the appointment

and I did it and I did it book. There was like a workshop in December and I didn't book that

And then later they did like a callback process for the 29 hour reading and I had been called

back the first time and like the second time I got a call from Heidi from the public. And she was like

listen i want oh she has a very accent listen i want you to know that you have to believe in yourself

oh like she just like really supported me and gave me like a lot of confidence and i was like you know what

i'm to go in there and slay and i got advice that like someone asked me if i thought i deserved the show

and you know when people ask you those things are going to you so i was like yeah i deserve it

and they're like then take it go in there and take it so i was like very aggressively excited for the

process and then they're like you know what this was amazing um do the 29 hour reading and we'll

tell you after the process whether you booked it and i was like what because what became like a

two-day callback is now like a five-day i in my mind a five-day callback and um alicia keys was

there the whole time so i'm singing like alicia keys music being like do you like me and um

but she says that she told me she was like, Jackie, I knew from the first day that I saw you when you sang, when you did your thing

I knew. And I wish they told me the first day, but it was like, it was such a, it felt like

a hero's journey. Like, I came in there so afraid, so insecure. I was hearing all these

amazing singers around me, and I was like, I can't sing like that. And Alicia Keys is there

and I'm feeling like I can't show her that I'm stressed, but I'm so stressed and afraid. And then by

the end of it we had done the reading and we're singing New York and I'm crying and it's so

serendipitous and then Heidi's like oh you're crying because they already told you that you booked it

and I was like what it was so cool it was such a wonderful experience I don't even I mean

where do you even go from that I think what you said about a monster syndrome I can't even imagine what

it's like to be in the room it's it's off Broadway it's the public it's Alicia Keys it's Michael

It's Camino. It's this insane team. It's the being herself. It's Shoshana who sings her

teeth out. It's BVD who Brian Brandon, Brandon can sing the phone upside down backwards in a subway and sound

amazing. And then what's you, you, you, you, what do you think that all in? How do you take all this in

Jackie? It was what it took. I think I, I said something in passing to

Shoshana where because I can't keep anything to myself so I was like hi Shoshana I'm afraid for myself

and she was like what you what you think is your weakness is your superpower and I was like okay

but I didn't settle in until I until people just like I was like when are they going to notice

that's imposter syndrome right it's like everybody else is on the same page you're chilling you're doing

great work you're you have it like you're doing it but you yourself are like when are they going to

notice that what i feel about myself is the right thing and i can't do it that i'm not good that i'm

you know that i'm going to fail this and nobody is noticing that because it doesn't exist so

at the time i'm just like wow they're really letting me slip on and brand of victor dixon is one of

he is right here in my heart because there was there were times where

I would get in my head about, like, the O New York, I don't know if you know, the, and like

when I do that there was a time at the public that I would get so vicious that I would run out of air like before I could finish the phrase And I remember AK asked me she was like can you are you okay with that

And I was like, yes, I can do it. And that night that I had, like, proven myself that I can do that, I ran out of air completely

I didn't even finish the word New York. And I was bawling my eyes out

Like, I ran off stage. And this is at the Newman, and I'm bawling. And Brandon comes after me, and he's like, what is wrong with you

But he's like, what's going on doll? And I was like, I failed

That was a good impression. But I was like, hypermet. I was like, I failed myself and it's going to be my fault and it's going to take it away from me

And he's like, so what if it is? Like, you're still going to be here

You're still going to have a job at some moment. He just was there for me

And he was like, I see your anxiety. I see it. And it's not going to help you

and you've got this. And like, I just remember that moment on being a huge shift

where it was like a lot of people were like singing is mental

It's not just about your technique. It's about whether you believe you can finish the phrase

whether you believe you have enough air. It's all mental. So without those people, I don't know if I'd be

if I would feel ready for Broadway like I do. So Brenda Victor Dixon, Shoshana

Crystal Monay Hall and Marianne, who are not, who didn't transfer with us, but they were there for that moment for me

They were great mentors. What was it like when you heard it was transferring

Oh my God. We were in a room. I don't remember where it was, but it was like on the third floor of the public

And it's like where Michael did rent, like, off Broadway or something

He had said that in passing. And I was like, and in that room, they said, hi, everybody

There are rumors that were going to Broadway. I just want you know

It's true! And we went crazy. It was so, so crazy. I cried so hard

It didn't feel real. It felt like, I was like, well, there's so much time in between them

I'm an anxious person. As you can see from... So I'm just like, there's so much time

Like, oh God, what it... But I just didn't... I didn't realize how much of..

of a blessing it was to be in a show like this

that has so much support and creative love. It was amazing. Well, I went to see the show a couple of weeks ago

with my friend Mike, who Mike and I went to the very first

solution piece for back when Fallon just came out, I was in A minor, and we had a moment

we sat down and we said, remember when we went to PNC Arts Center and the album just came out and we'd all listen to it

that summer from beginning to end, and now she's got a show here on Broadway

And then I was like, okay, let's see what they're gonna do

Well, in her mission came, and I thought, oh damn, they're all up here telling a story

and dancing and sang-ing kernying. And a lot of carrots being cut and singing being done

at the same time. I told her, I saw her the other day

And I said, how do you cut the carrots? And then you, especially girl on fire, like, what a powerful woman, what a voice

And there's an audience of people, young people, young girls, young people who made this maybe their first Broadway show where they're not theater people because they are coming because they love Alicia Keys or they love the culture or they love what the show represents

And you're going to find so many people, Jackie. Thank you, Robert

You are. season is heavy and this show made me smile. Like I left like, that's a smile. Like this is what I want. I'm singing

Let's go. Oh my God. Yes, let's go. Robert, thank, oh my gosh, that is such a gift, what you said to me. That is such a gift. And I'm happy that we could serve you in that way and offer that to you

You did. You had a class. And you all had an open

and then you go to Playbill.com. And Jackie is there like fashionista

Like, come on now. Shashah, O'Alisha Keys. Oh, Jackie in the red, serving, served, go

And then some newbies, like, up and comers showed up with Michelle Obama and Oprah

on opening night. New to the scene. What was it like? Oh, when I tell you, so we were at places

and we hear the crowd going crazy. and we're like Beyonce. Like we were so

because we were like trying to peek through and we were like

who is out there? And then we heard it was Michelle Obama and we were like, of course we are also clapping

It was so crazy. And like to have them, they were, to have them talk about the show with such love

and to be there for Alicia, it's just like this network of

beautiful black women creating and supporting each other. Like Alicia Keys is a superstar, but you know

she wrote and produced her songs. Like she made herself. She is the one who's been working on this for 13 years

and it feels like really talented and esteem and wonderful women who come to see her

who we all see with like bright eyes. And it's like, wow, these are icons of our generation

They're coming to support her. as a fellow artist in my opinion

And like, it just feels so down to earth and real. And like to hear how they talked about it

to go on their Instagram page. I just feel like she deserves it

She was worked so hard. And like, I remember I was like

I can't perform for them. I have to perform for everybody. This isn't about impressing people that I am inspired by

This is about telling the story. And that should be enough. And that's a gift

It allows a lot of freedom. Well, you're inspiring us and you're inspiring them

And, you know, that's so many people. And it's such a beautiful show

It looks beautiful. That is from it, it is running right now

It's got all the Tony nominations. It's got all the buzz and all the words

Like Hell's Kitchen, move on. And I saw Christopher Dia, I asked him about the carrots too

because I said, did you write the carrots in the script? He said no

Get your tickets. Tickets are on sale right now, but you're running, get them. Hellskitchen.com

Hell's Kitchen. And listen, it's the perfect show to bring your daughters, your son, your mother

Like, it could be a family outing. It can be a brunch. You know, it is a moment

This is airing on a Friday, but this is a Tuesday. You were on the Today Show this morning

Yes. Al Roker was filming it like he was like. Yes. What would you like

Yeah, on its cellular device. It was so like when I tell you I did not sleep a wink because I was just daydreaming so excitedly I was like oh my God we be on the Today Show

And then what did, like, people see us in the Today Show and they want us on more show. Like, I just couldn't sleep

I was getting excited and I was rubbing myself up. And then we get there

We get in costume. And like, it's a moment. Like, it's literally like 30 seconds

Like it like flashes by. and we do it. And, but the dancers dance down, and they are everything

Like, they are the heartbeat of this show in their way. And it's just such a crazy thing

Like, I remember watching all of my favorite musicals, like, on the Today Show

or, like, watching them in that little plaza or seeing them outside doing something

And, like, to be one of those musicals feels so ridiculous. ridiculously fantastic

It's so, I'm so grateful. And I had to take a lot of pictures. So I was too asleep

to truly feel as grateful as I showed up at the time. I said, I will regret if I do not look back at this

But, yeah, I'm grateful now that I had some sleep. Well, it's only begun

This award season is going to, you better, you better hold on to sleep while you can, Jackie

Hold on to it. I will. I can't wait. We're all, you know, you go on Broadway, where we are right now

You go to the message boards. The people are already speculating. What song's going to be on the Tonys

What's going to happen? What are you all going to do? So we're looking forward to it

And we're excited to support the ride, for sure. I'm excited to

So now that the show's open and it's running and you're up on stage and doing it eight shows a week

have you been able to get back to the things that Jackie works on? Are you, I've got some moments where you could write or think or daydream about what's to come

and what's a Jackie Leon project? That's a great question. I feel like I was getting..

I had this writer's block. Like, I couldn't write. For me, one of the quickest and, like

most natural forms of writing that I do is I write poetry. And I couldn't think of anything to say for a long time

Because it just felt like all these dreams are coming true. And all my feelings were like..

all my feelings were like so convoluted and kind of like I didn't know what to where to stem from

I didn't know who I was as I was building this new person. But recently I've been writing more poetry

I've been like forcing myself to finish plays that I have not finished

And I think there is a lot more to come. There are things that I have in the works that I'm very excited about

This cast is not just of dancers and singers. People are directors

People are producers. People are, like, there are so many people who just want to see you fuel your individual artistry

So it's hard not to feel pushed to keep creating. So I'm very excited

I have plays that I'm thinking of and that I'm writing in a lot of poetry that I'm getting together

I hope I can turn into an album. But as right now, I'm trying to clear, I'm trying to get my voice back

Well, you could hear that voice if there was a week up there

She was her voice, if you want to see what her voice is capable of

You gotta go, go to her, you can go to her website, because then you could listen and watch her plays, get the school

Wait till her show was produced at the public one day and up on his feet

because, Jackie, you got the connections. Like, you just got to make a phone call and be like

hey, hey, remember me? Hey, it's me. I'd like to rent off the public

It's how many dollars? How much is it for only one singular hour? Oh, we're offer only

They're going to come in and give you the space. Let's go. Yes

We've been hearing about this play that's a buzz. And I'll be like, I'm just proud that I learned

what subversive meant today and I'm going to use it. No, it's the way that it's, I'm a fraud

I will be out here saying words and like, unless you check me, I'm very confident

I could be so villainously wrong, viciously wrong. No, I'm going to use it today in the sentence out in public

And that is, Jackie, you took your time today. You got up at no o'clock

You went on national television. You have a show to do in three hours

And you took time to check. chat with all of us. And I'm so grateful for that because you are such a, you have so much

energy and this career is just starting to see what you do. Thank you, Robert. I was very excited

to chat with you. And I'm very honored. And thank you for having me and reaching out to me

I felt so fancy and so special. You are fancy and special. And no matter where you're

what you're doing, where you are, but you are on the Broadway right now. And Alicia Keys

musical so you are extra special and fancy. It's at jacky.n.n.lion you can follow on Instagram and then get your tickets

They're not a lot of tickets. It sells a lot of tickets. Like y'all are doing okay

Yeah, they're going crazy. But get them anyway. Especially over the summer

There's not going to be a hotter ticket in July and August in New York City than what they're

over at Hell's Kitchen. So you got to make sure you grab those tickets quick

Jackie, let's go. I want to cast out. I want to be in the car singing, this girl is on fire

Yes! Yes, Robert, yes! I would love to see you, please put yourself on your story and do that

Oh, I'm doing it. I'm going to do it in honor of you. That's what I'm going to say

All right, that's a deal. Yes, okay, okay. Break all the legs, have the most amazing time

Every picture and enjoy every second. second. It's just being on and you deserve all of that and more. Thank you. Thank you

Thank you. Being here. Can you even? I know that there's a little sound issue there with her

device, but I couldn't not miss that sunshine and moonlight and beautifulness that is the Jackie Leon

Make sure you go check out Hell's Kitchen. We're here every Friday Broadway World Folk

Yes, we are. And I'm so grateful to have you here. I'm so honest

to be here. Like I said, follow me at Robert and Baden on Instagram and check me out at

Robertbannon.com. I'm coming to 54 below June, the Tony weekend, June 14th. If you want to hang out

with me and have a big old pride party of Diva songs, speaking of Alicia Keys, maybe we have

Alicia Key. I can't tell you. It's a surprise. Listen, I love talking to artists about art. I love being an

artist and I love supporting artists. So make sure you support some art, no matter if you're in New York

city and could go to Broadway or if it's a touring production, a regional production, a community production, a high school production, a cabaret, a movie, a TV show

They're a great artists out there making art that for us to enjoy, so make sure you show them some love

Thank you so much for being here. There's always more good than there is bad joy than there is sadness, and there is

always more love than there is hate. The best is yet to come. Robert Bannon-Say and see you next time

Bye, everybody