HELL'S KITCHEN Previews- Page 2

[GottaGetAGimmick420]

Posted: 3/29/24 at 5:18pm

RippedMan said: "I think because the other one is an already known Keys song and this one was written for the show?"

Well, yes. That's the literal reason. I still don't think it's an effective a marketing tool. 

[YvanEhtNioj]

Posted: 4/2/24 at 4:05pm

Saw it last night and thought it was cute. I had no idea Shoshanna was in this in her number in Act 2 got a standing ovation. The leading actress has a big career ahead of her - her voice is so light and beautiful. 

I had 2 issues , tho. 
1. The Fallin' "remix" or "reimagining" or whatever you want to call it is trash.
2. If you are going to make commentary about police brutality, race issues, etc..flush it out and commit to it. I love musicals with a message (A Strange Loop is my favorite). To me, I didnt like how her boyfriend was arrested and then suddenly we are singing about black people who have been killed (a beautiful song by the way) but it all felt rushed and felt like it came out of nowhere. While I did drop a couple tears during the Act 1 finale, as I mentioned, it all kinda felt like "we have to tie in some type of social issue" and was thrown it. I wouldve loved for them to explore how police brutality or racial injustice has a/effected Ali since she's biracial - coming from a black man, many black people dont consider biracial people black. I think this wouldve been a great topic to cover and tie in. 

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 4/4/24 at 12:06am

i echo what everyone else said: its a painfully pedestrian book, trying to make a story out of not all that much (bratty teenager fights with mom, falls for (and lies to/stalks) a man she legally should not be with, has an absent father). its every silly musical trope you can imagine and you see them all coming miles away; very much feels like they said "we have this insane music catalogue to use, and these insanely talented actors, so who cares"

no one cares. the music is so well-weaved into "the story" and the performances are so stellar, you just get swept away. Moon sings like a dream, but she also carries the show, powering through awkward narration like very few could. her character is insufferable and she just levitates right past it. i dont know how she will be able to handle these vocals 8 shows a week (and she sounded like she might be beginning to struggle a tiny bit) but it really is a star-making rocket-hot performance. mazel tov.

and she has shoshana bean at her side, matching her energy and vocal fireworks (she stopped the show, twice), but also doing masterful line reads here. in mr saturday night bean was crushed by the creaky hokey book but here she cuts right through, making a meal out of every scene shes in (and its a tricky character). her voice has changed/matured much since Wicked and since Waitress but shes so masterful with it she just finds new ways to use it. she and brendan victor dixon are electric and singing something special. and kecia lewis brings such power, dignity, grace, to every moment on stage. the Bad Book Monster forces her into some truly awkward moments in act 2 but theyre no match for her. masterful.

so with these people singing so many classic songs (and songs i never heard but that are still solid) its hard to resist. by the time the show closes with Empire State of Mind (which is the only song that didnt feel organic to the plot, but how can they not) youre just bopping along as all these wonderful actors jump in and lift you away. cute becomes moving and fun. 

still, hard to forgive some of the laziness here. Shoshana Bean lays and clears the same little table maybe 9 times. she cuts a carrot, she grates cheese. shes always either rushing off to work or making dinner. we were laughing by the end. and the choreography is.... well the ensemble is excellent but it can be very distracting. again some snickers. and as someone else pointed out, the laziness extends to the more serious subjects to. police brutality is hinted at but it isnt brutality, just harassment, and one relatively minor incident is parlayed into an emotional number about prejudice in america that seems to come out of nowhere. (but kecia naaaaails it). the show's treatment of an absentee father is....puzzling, as is the decision to pointedly make Ali 17 yrs old, turning a rebellious dalliance into.... a crime? Again its sorta glossed over to get to the next banger, and thank god for that but if you stop and think about it all... meh. 

so, dont. enjoy it. i did. Row B mezz right was perfect view (the extreme side are definitely partial view at times but we were centered enough that it didnt matter). the set is sleek (reminded me a bit of tommy with less manic energy) but nothing special, and the show is mostly performed center stage. id imagine front of the balcony would be fine for this if that price point works best for people. im guessing this runs a while.

Updated On: 4/4/24 at 12:06 AM

[quizking101]

Posted: 4/4/24 at 12:09am

Wow. After a season of middling to baffling musicals, Hell’s Kitchen knocked my holy socks off. I ended up getting a $59 rear orchestra ticket yesterday for tonight and I didn’t find much obstruction. First of all, everyone is SANGING. Like, so many pleasant and powerful vocals in a way that was perfectly balanced and not overamplified. Kecia Lewis closed Act I with her number and left the audience absolutely stunned. She sang with such pain and emotion that it felt like I was watching Jennifer Holliday have her DREAMGIRLS moment. Hands down one of the best vocal performances I have ever seen on a stage. And it’s hard to stand out in a cast that has Maleah Joi Moon with mature vocals beyond her years, Shoshana Bean belting her face off, and Brandon Victor Dixon bringing a smooth and sexy R&B flavor. The choreography was also absolutely on fire. Camille A. Brown, I feel, is very much an underrated choreographer and she really put her stamp on this show and understood the assignments. My only quibble is that some moments do not require choreographic expression (like a memorial service for a character) and can be distracting and out of place. Although I think this show has the best book of all the new musicals I’ve seen (this omits Heart of Rock & Roll, Lempicka, and The Outsiders - which remain to be seen by me), I will say it does strike an awkward balance at times between looking like a “slice of life” in Hell’s Kitchen with Ali at the center, or a show with an actual plot and throughline and I think it tried to do both and the result was a bit uneven. It didn’t help that some story elements had a little bit of a “very special episode” trope. Overall, this is VERY high on my list of the new shows that have come out this season and I highly recommend.

[KitKatBoy24]

Posted: 4/4/24 at 1:35am

Finally getting around to writing some of my unorganized thoughts!
 

The Good: The cast is superb! Shoshana and Maleah are giving incredible central performances. Really the whole cast sounds amazing and the dancing is very impressive. The set design works well and was very functional for the story. Lighting design - Natasha Katz can do no wrong. Costumes were fine, sound mix was great - though sometimes it was hard to really get the lyrics of the soloist when the ensemble would join.

The Bad: The Book. My goodness that dialogue was rough, no matter how hard the cast tried. It does allow for Maleah to be very charming, at least. The score… listen - Alicia Keys can write a catchy tune but it always put a stop to the action and was rarely pushing plot. Kaleidoscope is the catchiest song but the lyrics have nothing to do with what’s actually happening in the plot. I love a good vocal run, but it did feel like 80% of this score is riffing and sometimes I just wanted a melody/theme. Earn the riffs. The most successful numbers are Shoshana’s big act II moment and a few of the ballads. The ensemble… so so so talented but so so so overused. There was a wonderful scene toward the end of act II that was ruined by suddenly throwing the ensemble into the end of the song. 
 

I commend this show for not being a standard jukebox/bio musical. It doesn’t focus on rise to fame or anything like that. It’s just a mother/daughter story and the discovery of the joy and therapy that is music. Unfortunately the execution is disappointing. I really wish they’d workshopped this more. 

[getatme]

Posted: 4/4/24 at 11:40am

Saw the show this past Saturday evening and unfortunately found it rather a chore to sit through.

The biggest issue is that there's no real plot or storyline. Every time there's the hint of a problem or an obstacle, it goes away in a bout 2 minutes. It hints at some interesting things--What is it like for Ali as a young Black woman in NY to be raised by essentially a white single mother? How does her connection to music/Miss Liza Jane allow her to embrace an aspect of her identity she doesn't otherwise get to?--but avoids them in order to shoe-horn an Alicia Keys b-side in and distract you from the lack of anything driving the show forward.

Maleah Joi Moon is a star, plain and simple. Her voice is so unique and special, and beyond that she has charisma oozing out of her and is working incredibly hard to make the turkey of a book even sort of function properly. She has a huge career ahead of her. Shoshana Bean is in excellent voice, she clearly understands she was hired to sing her face off and she does just that. I usually don't particularly care for her vocal pyrotechnics, but they worked incredibly well here. Brandon Victor Dixon has taken on probably the most thankless role in a musical this Broadway season and is...sufficient.

The staging/choreo is fine, mostly seems to serve as a distraction from everything else happening onstage. Drove me crazy every time there was an ensemble harmony in a duet/solo and the ensemble would just come onstage and stand on the scaffolding watching.

Didn't especially care for Chris Lee's role, and I don't know that I completely bought him in the part.

It feels like a weird misstep not having Maleah sing any of Alicia's biggest hits (Girl On Fire, No One, Fallin', If I Ain't Got You, You Don't Know My Name) as a true solo rather than a duet/group number/not at all. She's given songs to show off what she can do, but it still stuck out to me that she doesn't get any of the THE Alicia Keys songs.

Overall, not the worst thing I've seen, but I had higher expectations and aside from Moon/Bean, did not feel they were met.

[HunterK]

Posted: 4/6/24 at 2:14pm

Did anyone read or hear that Shoshana Bean will be out the 7th - 18th of April? Performances just went up on TDF Passport and people were talking about it on some other boards. I trust you all a lot more. I have tickets for 4/16 and very much like to see and hear Ms. Bean. 

I thank you much in advance!

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/6/24 at 2:26pm

If that’s true, she’s missing the entire week the critics will be reviewing the show. 

[HunterK]

Posted: 4/6/24 at 2:40pm

Jordan Catalano said: "If that’s true, she’s missing the entire week the critics will be reviewing the show."

Thank you Jordan for always making sense out of stupidity! I should have taken a moment and just thought. I thank you again. 
 

All the best!

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/6/24 at 3:02pm

I’m not saying she couldn’t have some real reason she has to be out (I hope she doesn’t) but just to vacation then wouldn’t happen. 

[BroadwayNYC2]

Posted: 4/6/24 at 3:25pm

Plus Bean being out or in would do absolutely zero for the box office. 

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 4/6/24 at 5:01pm

Gianna Harris went on for Ali this afternoon. 

[GottaGetAGimmick420]

Posted: 4/6/24 at 11:17pm

A lot of understudies going in very early for previews

[C4b2a3b]

Posted: 4/15/24 at 12:41am

HunterK said: "Did anyone read or hearthat Shoshana Bean will be out the 7th - 18th of April? Performances just went up on TDF Passport and people were talking about it on some other boards. I trust you all a lot more. I have tickets for 4/16 and very much like to see and hear Ms. Bean.

I thank you much in advance!"

Has Shoshana Bean been out since 4/7 as suggested by HunterK?

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 4/15/24 at 12:59am

Shoshana was on Saturday night and sounded absolutely amazing. The whole cast is extremely talented and they sing the heck out of this score.

 

The plot, however, is paper thin and it drags on way too long.

[bdboston]

Posted: 4/18/24 at 11:05am

Anyone have insight as to stage height?  Row AA center orchestra is available for many shows. Advice appreciated! Thank you!

[BETTY22]

Posted: 4/18/24 at 12:57pm

Could Alicia go into the show to save it?

I don't want to hear anyone but her singing her hits. 

[jkcohen626]

Posted: 4/18/24 at 1:26pm

BETTY22 said: "Could Alicia go into the show to save it?

I don't want to hear anyone but her singing her hits."

There's really no role for her in this show though. She's basically ageless, but there is a level of suspension of disbelief. She can't play a 17-year-old and how would it look to fire this rising star that they've been cultivating? She can't play Jersey because Jersey is white. I suppose she could play Miss Liza Jane? But it seems like Kecia Lewis might be Tony nominated for it and why would you fire a performer nominated for your show. 

Also, this show needs saving? I was not the biggest fan of it, but many others love it. It's been on Broadway for all of three weeks and it's probably been profitable for all of them. It's not even open yet! Seems a bit early to be discussing how to "save" the show. 

[NotOnSugarMountain]

Posted: 4/18/24 at 1:56pm

…saw Monday night, first row mezzanine. Disappointing.

Finely directed by Michael Greif, still this show is no Rent or Dear Evan Hansen. The show’s narrative (book) is simultaneously lightweight and heavy handed while somewhat rescued in each moment by a terrific cast and earworm tunes.

Alicia Keys succeeds in sharing her themes of social injustice and feelings of youthful exuberance. Yet, as Jordan Catalano notes, a lot of it is “cheesy as all hell.”

The show gives us more than a rise-to-fame jukebox bio by focusing on an artist’s genesis. Yet this adult needed more meat on the bone than the juvenile sentiments provide. The second act is entirely redundant. More Ali trying to seduce poor Knuck on the scaffolding. More Mom preparing food in the kitchen while kvetching. More flakey yet talented and lovey dad. What’s so unfortunate is that Knuck’s dalliance in the first place with a minor, exposing him to arrest for statutory rape, undermines AK’s desire to shine a light on the real unjustified social injustices of racial profiling of young black men. Knuck was lucky he wasn’t prosecuted for cause.

Also unfortunate is that the character of Miss Liza Jane is more symbol than character. She passes the torch of musical spark to Ali before dying. But making Ali’s father a talented working pianist makes Ali’s musical gift seem more like heredity than a mystical gift from the gods. And as a working musician, Ali’s dad has to hustle for work and travel to wherever the work is. It's a wonder he can show up as much as he does! At least a pilot or flight attendant who will be gone a lot on overnights has steady work. A working artist's life – as we all know – is ten times harder and more stressful.

Yet, at the end of the night, we’re swept away by Empire State of Mind, and feel special to be watching the show in Manhattan.

Updated On: 4/18/24 at 01:56 PM

[InTheBathroom1]

Posted: 4/18/24 at 4:16pm

NotOnSugarMountain said: "And as a working musician, Ali’s dad has to hustle for work and travel to wherever the work is. It's a wonder he can show up as much as he does! At least a pilot or flight attendant who will be gone a lot on overnights has steady work. A working artist's life – as we all know – is ten times harder and more stressful."

Not you defending the deadbeat dad 😂

 

[JSquared2]

Posted: 4/18/24 at 6:28pm

NotOnSugarMountain said: "And as a working musician, Ali’s dad has to hustle for work and travel to wherever the work is. It's a wonder he can show up as much as he does! At least a pilot or flight attendant who will be gone a lot on overnights has steady work. A working artist's life – as we all know – is ten times harder and more stressful."
 

Broadway Flash -- is that you??

 

[always bway]

Posted: 4/19/24 at 9:58am

Soooooo...here's the real problem with the musical, besides act two schizophrenia:

Hells Kitchen in the 90's was NOT the ghetto. Not even close. The writers make it sound like Brownsville, Brooklyn. (Now that would make a compelling place to situate a musical).

Manhattan Plaza had (and still has ) a long long waiting list. People LOVED living there. It has a pool and tennis courts. You might have to choose where to go to dinner, I mean Esca anyone for a $40 fish? Delta Grill? Joe Allen? Amy's Bread? Little Pie Company? High end fusion cuisine at the restaurant called...Hells Kitchen? The area even used to have a weekend farmers market near port authority with fresh produce and flowers.  

The sketchiest corner in the area was at The Gaiety. haha :)))

it feels disingenuous and grotesquely capitalizing on this political moment of DEI and focus on racism. Though some of the discourse is healthy and real, this musical book could be in American Fiction. It is exactly what the movie lampoons.

Also why the liturgical dance on the right hand of the stage when I am trying to watch the actor act and sing on the left side of stage? It took away from the actor's most emotional moments. The were reduced to sound booth singer. 

Updated On: 4/19/24 at 09:58 AM

[terrilovesNY]

Posted: 4/19/24 at 5:48pm

bdboston said: "Anyone have insight as to stage height? Row AA center orchestra is available for many shows. Advice appreciated! Thank you!"

Saw this last night from AA109 and WOW amazing view. (Stage is low, you do miss the actors feet, a few scenes are blocked once or twice by some set pieces, nothing major at all). I saw this at The Public and yes,  I understand the criticisms of the book and yes it could be trimmed a bit but I haven’t had such a wonderful feeling of joy at a show in a long time. I’m still buzzing from the performances! I was invested in these characters way more than anything else I’ve seen this season. As a mother, with a daughter, I felt that story deep in my heart. 

Updated On: 4/19/24 at 05:48 PM

[kidmanboy]

Posted: 4/19/24 at 6:09pm

Does the Broadway production still end have visuals of current day Lower Manhattan (one WTC, etc) during Empire Stare of Mind? That seemed like a glaring error in a show that takes place one the 90s - or was it trying to tell us the story is over and this is now just a bunch of folks singing on the stage of the Shubert in 2024?