Alicia Keys still can’t shake some of the things she saw while visiting AIDS-ravaged communities in Africa.

Ms. Keys, a Grammy-winning singer-songwriter, is the co-founder of Keep a Child Alive, a nonprofit that offers support to children and families affected by HIV and AIDS in Africa and India. To help publicize the organization’s work, Ms. Keys is appearing in a new documentary for which she took five young Americans on a tour of places in South Africa that have been hit hard by HIV and AIDS.

During the trip, Ms. Keys and her guests met with children who were forced to head households because their parents had been incapacitated or killed by the disease; they also visited communities that had banded together to try to deal with the health crisis. The special, “Keep a Child Alive with Alicia Keys,” will air on Showtime on Dec. 1.

“The special takes a very large issue and makes it relatable,” Ms. Keys said.

The native of Hell’s Kitchen is also producing a Broadway show, “Stick Fly,” which is currently in previews at the Cort Theatre and opens Dec. 8. The play, about an affluent African-American in Martha’s Vineyard, co-stars Dulé Hill, Mekhi Phifer and Tracie Thoms.

Ms. Keys spoke with the Journal about the documentary, the play and her in-the-works album.

During the making of “Keep a Child Alive,” you were pregnant with your first child. Why did you spend some of your pregnancy in South Africa exploring communities struggling with AIDS?

AIDS [education and treatment] is a big passion of mine, and the AIDS pandemic, especially in Africa, is a huge passion of mine and has been so for the last 10 years. I have to be honest, it’s the most important work that I do. All the things I’m involved in I love and I have a passion for them. Music is my first love and it’s my everything. But when it comes to really shaping and influencing people’s lives, and really making an impact, I feel so much inspiration and empowerment when it comes to the work that I do with “Keep a Child Alive.” The fact that I was pregnant made it even more poignant because everything just became more clear.

In the documentary, we see what you call “child-headed households.” How did you feel when you first heard that phrase, and when you met some of these families?

It’s so crazy—and it’s under the most devastating circumstances. When I first witnessed that and learned about child-headed households, I was taken aback. Sometimes they’re as young as 10 or 11 and I said to myself, here’s this 14-year-old who has to do all of these things—has to learn how to feed and clothe all of her brothers and sisters, and maintain a household…and on top of that the stigma that comes when you’ve lost a parent to AIDS and the turmoil you go through, and the way you’re ostracized from your community, from your school. How are you supposed to deal with that? What if that was me? That’s the thing that really took it over the top as an important issue that I wanted to help deal with.

You grew up in the city and now you’re producing your first Broadway show, “Stick Fly.” What’s that like?

As an artist you always want to continue to grow and continue to learn. The more I take myself out of my comfort zone, the more that I learn, the better I become. That’s without question true. And so it’s exiting to learn about this new world.

Talk about the music you composed for the show.

It’s not a musical, so the music you will hear is transitional music. It’s between scenes. It is instrumental. It really just helps to play into the emotion of the piece. And the piece is so incredible—it has you cracking up and you’re yelling at the stage and emotional and you’re crying and then you’re laughing again. It’s totally life. And so the music will assist—I hope—in that energy and the emotion that you’ll get from seeing the show. I’m excited. I can’t wait for people to see it.

When might we expect another album from you?

I’m in the studio all the time. It’s just coming together so incredibly well. It’ll definitely be out next year. And that’s already coming at light speed. It won’t be long at all. The music is so phenomenal. I’m loving it. I’m loving the zone of it. I really wanted to take the time to make it special because this is such an important time in my life.