Review: ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ the Musical — Inspired by Alicia Key’s Life Celebrates the Complexities of Mother-daughter Relationships with Electrifying Dancing and Singing That Penetrates the Soul
Alicia Keys, the 16-time Grammy Award-winning performer, brings a poignant coming-of-age story to Broadway with a stellar cast of Broadway veterans and debut stars.
Hell’s Kitchen centers on Ali, a 17-year-old latch-key kid raised by a single white mother (Jersey) and played by the supremely talented Tony and Grammy-nominated Shoshana Bean (Wicked, Hairspray) in the mid-1990s in Manhattan Plaza, a subsidized housing complex for theatre artists in the bustling manhattan neighborhood of Hell’s Kitchen. Ali’s mother is hell-bent on protecting her daughter from unsavory characters and preventing her from getting pregnant at all costs, as she had done by a charismatic, albeit unreliable, musician. Ali is the epitome of rebellion and is frustrated by her mother’s rules.
We meet Ali, Maleah Joi Moon (NYT’s 2023 Breakout Theatre Artist, Disney’s “Mystic Christmas”), describing the residents of the eclectic 46-story Manhattan Plaza building. Composers, actors, and dancers — who constantly practiced their craft within earshot of Ali. Only Ali can’t socialize with these artists as her mother forbids her. When an attractive African-American older boy, Knuck (Chris Lee, Broadway debut), who plays drums on a painter’s bucket and is very rhythmically inclined, catches her eye outside her building, Ali is determined to get to know him. Egged on by her teenage friends, Ali decides to pursue Knuck. Knuck doesn’t reciprocate her advances. He’s intent on staying out of trouble and going to work as a painter. Ali is persistent. When her mother finds Knuck in her home, she calls the cops on him, further aggravating the mother-daughter relationship. During their turmoil, Ali encounters Miss Liza Jane, boisterously played by Kecia Lewis (Dreamgirls, Ain’t Misbehavin’), in the Duke Ellington room of the Manhattan Plaza, where she frequently plays piano and piques the teenager’s curiosity about the piano, and they form a bond.
What’s most compelling in the Hell’s Kitchen musical — rest assured, there are many moments — is the integration of Alicia Keys’ famous songs to move the story forward organically. It’s if we get a round-trip ticket to Alicia Keys’s/Ali’s psyche. We hear the hits “You Don’t Know My Name, “Unthinkable (“I’m Ready),” and “Girl on Fire” as we journey with Ali in her self-discovery. The unforgettable classic “Empire State of Mind” conjures up a sense of pride and belonging to the best city in the world from all New Yorkers. Ask the audience members who swayed side-to-side as the song permeated the Shubert Theatre. It was a goosebump-inducing emotional ride.
How much of Alicia Key’s life mirrors the fictionalized story of Hell’s Kitchen?
1) Alicia Keys is a classically trained pianist. She began playing the piano at age seven, composing her songs at age 12, and being signed by Columbia Records at 15. Ali started playing piano at 17 after encountering a soulful African pianist named Miss Liza James in the musical.
2) Manhattan Plaza, built in the 1970s, was home to Alicia Keys and her mother (Terria Joseph), a part-time actress and paralegal during Key’s early childhood. In the musical, Ali’s mom quit acting and is a full-time paralegal.
3) Alicia Key’s dad, Joseph Cook (flight attendant), wasn’t in her life. In the musical, Ali’s dad (Davis) is played enticingly suave by Tony, Emmy, and Grammy-nominated Brandon Victor Dixon (Hamilton, The Color Purple). You can’t help but love and hate him at the same time.
Hell’s Kitchen is the must-see musical of the Broadway 2024–2025 season. The energy, 90s nostalgia, phenomenal singing, and constant dancing will have you rocking in your seat and humming the tunes, not to mention the beautiful universal story of mothers’ and daughters’ roles in each other’s lives. See this musical, Stat! Hell’s Kitchen is playing at the Shubert Theatre. Click here to get tickets!
Production Credits:
Music & Lyrics by ALICIA KEYS Book by KRISTOFFER DIAZ Music Supervision by ADAM BLACKSTONE Choreography by CAMILLE A. BROWN Directed by MICHAEL GREIF Featuring SHOSHANA BEAN, CHAD CARSTARPHEN, REID CLARKE, CHLOE DAVIS, NICO DeJESUS, BRANDON VICTOR DIXON, TIMOTHY L. EDWARDS, DESMOND SEAN ELLINGTON, BADIA FARHA, VANESSA FERGUSON, DAVID GUZMAN, CRYSTAL MONEE HALL, GIANNA HARRIS, JAKEIM HART, CHRIS LEE, JACKIE LEON, KECIA LEWIS, RAECHELLE MANALO, JADE MILAN, MALEAH JOI MOON, ONYXX NOEL, SUSAN OLIVERAS, SARAH PARKER, AARON NICHOLAS PATTERSON, WILLIAM ROBERSON, NIKI SALUDEZ, MARIAND TORRES, DONNA VIVINO, LAMONT WALKER II, and OSCAR WHITNEY JR. Scenic Design ROBERT BRILL Costume Design DEDE AYITE Lighting Design NATASHA KATZ Sound Design GARETH OWEN Projection Design PETER NIGRINI Hair and Wig Design MIA NEAL Prop Manager CLAIRE M. KAVANAH Orchestrations ADAM BLACKSTONE & TOM KITT Arrangements ALICIA KEYS & ADAM BLACKSTONE Music Consultant TOM KITT Music Coordinator KRISTY NORTER Music Director DOMINIC FALLACARO Casting HEIDI GRIFFITHS/KATE MURRAY Production Stage Manager DANNY MALY Line Producer CITLALI PIZARRO Company Manager HEATHER FICHTHORN Production Manager CRISTINA AYÓN VIESCA.
