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This girl is on fire! I will admit that I was initially not insanely excited about seeing Hell’s Kitchen. I am a casual listener of Alicia Keys, who will sing along to the radio, but has never purchased an album. I worried that an entire musical comprised of her music would be lost on me, and I frankly couldn’t have been more happily wrong.
The set? Simple. The Cast? Small, yet insanely talented. The audience? The most excited I think I have ever experienced.
The story follows a 17-year-old girl named Ali as she navigates her transition into adulthood while living in a high-rise apartment building in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of New York City with her single mother. In a short time, Ali learns about love, heartache, grief, and most importantly, finding her voice. While not entirely autobiographical, the story somewhat mirrors a version of Alicia Keys’ own experience growing up in New York with her mother and playing music to get through it.
The show starts with high energy. Great lighting, costumes, and choreography immediately pull you in. We are introduced to Ali (Maya Drake) as she sings “The River” and her voice is just stunning. Drake is a powerhouse of emotion and vocals; it is crazy to think that this is her professional debut. “Seventeen” is where we learn more about Ali’s mother, Jersey (Kennedy Caughell) as she and her friends reminisce about when she was 17 herself, and all the trouble she got into, inspiring her strictness with Ali. The scene is funny, but “You Don’t Know My Name” truly introduces us to Caughell’s vocals which blew the audience away.
In the second act, Caughell’s performance in “Pawn It All” earned her a mid-show standing ovation, which I have never seen before. Ali’s father, Davis (Desmond Sean Ellington), performed “Fallin” and the vocals earned whistles and “woo!” moments from the audience. Ellington’s vocals and acting continue to wow in “If I Ain’t Got You,” as his character’s humanity is felt through the pain in the performance. Drake, Caughell, and Ellington are such powerhouses that I found it difficult to sit back in my seat throughout the show, the story and their performances honestly gave me a renewed and newfound respect for Alicia Keys’ music.
Miss Liza Jane (Roz White), Ali’s serendipitous piano teacher, performs “Perfect Way to Die” and “Authors of Forever,” leaving the house silent. Her wise and painful performance was unmatched. Miss Liza Jane’s character serves as the ancestral rock in Ali’s otherwise rebellious teenage world, and White commands the stage in a way that makes the audience sit down, be quiet, and pay attention along with Ali.
Camille A. Brown’s choreography for this show was just breathtaking. While dance in a Broadway Musical is commonplace and expected, there were moments of choreography that made audience members around me quietly whisper “wow….” “Kaleidoscope” and “Work On It” had dynamic dance moments, but the solo and blocking in “Hallelujah/Like Water” in Act II was deeply moving; I think I was actually holding my breath.
It is rare that lighting truly stands out to me as something to note, but Natasha Katz did an incredible job using the lighting to tell the story, using color and focus expertly to move the eye, including one pivotal trick during “Hallelujah/Like Water” that I won’t spoil here that made the audience gasp. Additionally, Peter Nigrini’s projection design is deliberate and poignant.
For the most part, the backdrops remain in the same few places: outside her building (Manhattan Plaza), in the piano room on the first floor (Ellington Room), and in the elevator. But for “Perfect Way to Die”, Black men are centered in the imagery, adding a painful nod to the Black experience in America, especially relating to the theme of the story in that moment.
Overall, the storytelling, acting, singing, and imagery in this show is unlike anything else I’ve ever experienced. It’s more than a Jukebox musical, it’s an important story about growing up and finding who you are through the experiences of those around you and through music. This is an absolute must-see.
For tickets click here: https://www.broadwayinhollywood.com/events/detail/hells-kitchen. Alicia Keys’ Hell’s Kitchen is performing at Hollywood Pantages until June 21, 2026.
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