NEW YORK — Alicia Keys famously sang about the "spirit of New York" on her hit song with Jay-Z, "Empire State of Mind." Now the New York native is part of an exhibit with that name at Madame Tussauds in Times Square, and she couldn't be prouder to have her wax figure stand alongside those of Regis Philbin, Woody Allen and Frank Sinatra.
"I actually think it's really, really good!" she raved to MTV News about the likeness. "I was looking close up: It's like my eyebrows are for real, and it's like my eyes are for real, and the bone structure of my chin, like, 'Look, that's my chin! That's my jaw!'
"It's incredible. It's really incredible, and I think it's so cool to be a part of the New York City part of the exhibit," she added. "I was born and raised here, this is my home, so it's so perfect."
It's a particularly big day for Keys, as it was just announced she's producing the Broadway play "Stick Fly." Keys said she can't believe she has her hand in something that will be playing on the Great White Way.
"The piece is really about this beautiful African-American family in Martha's Vineyard, and it is so deep," she said of the play by Lydia R. Diamond. "It's about all the secrets that families have, and it's funny. What I love about it is it bypasses everything, and it's all about family."
The singer, who is celebrating the 10-year anniversary of her breakout album Songs in A Minor, says that, as a New Yorker, getting on Broadway is living the dream. "Broadway is something that's played an integral part in my life. It's been something that I've experienced my whole life," she said. "I've always wanted to be a part of it. You haven't seen this family before on Broadway. It's universal and at the same time unique."