Interview: HELL’S KITCHEN Tour Cast Talks Bringing Alicia Keys’ Music to Audiences Nationwide

The cast has officially been revealed for the National Tour of Hell's Kitchen, launching at Cleveland’s Playhouse Square in Cleveland, Ohio this fall. HELL’S KITCHEN, which is simultaneously playing on Broadway at the Shubert Theatre, will visit more than 30 cities in its first year on tour.

BroadwayWorld spoke with Maya Drake, playing Ali; Kennedy Caughell, playing Jersey; and Roz White, playing Miss Liza Jane about what it means to them to bring Hell's Kitchen to audiences across the country! 

Check out the complete tour route and learn more about the production here.

You are all leading the Hell’s Kitchen national tour. How did you each find out you got the role, and what was your reaction when you found out?

Maya: When I found out, I was in my room, and it was a little unfortunate because my mom wasn’t at home! And I knew that she would have loved to experience that with me. But she found out at a different time. My agents had called me and told me that they got an email, and I freaked out, I started crying, it was one of the best days ever. There was so much excitement because for five months before that, I had been obsessing over the show. And so to finally hear that I got that opportunity was so exciting, and I will always remember that moment.

Roz: I had been hanging out in New York the week after my final callback, and I was in the Whole Foods, about to get on the Peter Pan bus and come back home to DC. I was in line at the Whole Foods, getting my salad, and the phone rang, and they were like “How was your weekend?” That always means you booked it, everybody, just so you know [laughs]. And so, I screamed and cried, and everybody in line started clapping in the Whole Foods. And then I got on the bus and came home super happy that a year, almost to the date, I would be starting my second national tour in two years. This opportunity is huge for me. Finding out that quickly after finishing a tour that I booked this one was the best news ever.

Kennedy: I found out while I was at my house. It was about a month long of waiting and doing a very extensive callback process. They called me back from my tape, and then I ended up going to the final callback, singing for Alicia and the team two days in a row. It was really fun, and I was very honored. So, I was at home, about a month later, hadn’t heard anything. At that point in the game you’re like, “Oh, well, they probably found someone.” Then I got the call, and my husband and I danced around the living room with our puppies, and here I am!

What are you all most excited for in bringing this show across the country?

Roz: For me, I am both an artist and a teacher, so to be able to tell the story from the perspective of a teacher that was highly respected, and revered, and changed this character’s life and trajectory is pretty huge, considering I’ve been teaching just as long as I’ve been acting, about 30/40 years of both. I can’t say enough how soon this tour is happening for me, and it feels right. So, that’s what makes me most excited about it, it seems like the right time for us to be telling these stories, and our stories.

Maya: I think I am most excited for audiences who may not be able to see it on Broadway to still have the chance to see it. Because everybody that has seen it on Broadway has had such an incredible reaction, the experience they have is just so beautiful, and some people have not been able to go and experience that in New York. So, the fact that people will have it coming to them and get to experience the show is very special. There is something in the show for every person in the audience. So, for it to be able to get out into the world like that is very exciting.

Kennedy: I agree. Exactly that. I can’t wait to share this beautiful, energetic, hype show about Hell’s Kitchen in the 90s. It’s going to give you the New York City beats, it’s going to give you the musicality that’s going to have everybody leaving tapping their toes and feeling nostalgia. And I can’t wait to see the audience reaction and feel the connection as people watch and see a piece of themselves within the show. I think this show is epic, and it’s going to be so, so brilliant on the road, and I can’t wait to share it.

What do you each love most about the story and/or the characters that you are going to get to play?

Kennedy: When I saw the show, what resonated with me was the connection of the characters, and the community that comes around Ali. It’s basically her coming of age story. So, I play Jersey, and of course, who can’t connect with their relationship with their mom? And mothers connecting with their daughters. I can’t wait to see how that plays out.

Roz: Once again, I am a teacher as well, and I believe next to that parental relationship, your teachers are some of the most influential people in your life. I could say, without question, that several of my teachers either changed or saved my life at some point in time. And to be able to still do that, and to be able to tell the story of that relationship, and how the vulnerability of our teachers helps us to show strength, as opposed to just, “Do what I say,” when we see our teachers give us themselves, the most intimate part of themselves intellectually, and inspirationally, that’s when real magic can happen. Not just in the classroom, but all over. And so, it’s very important to me that this story gets told everywhere. I’m so excited about Miss Liza Jane. The music fits my voice very well, and so, that’s exciting. It’s just going to be excited to do the work, but also to be affected by the work. 

Maya: I’m very excited about continuing to explore the similarities between me and Ali. I’m 18 now, but throughout my entire audition process I was 17, and so, having that same age connection was very exciting. In the show she’s still in school, and I just graduated high school. I just love that I already have so many similarities. And obviously, doing this show I’ll continue to find so many more, and so many more connections. Ali is around this community, and I’ve been doing community theatre for most of my life, so I have that similarity of the people around you lifting you up and supporting you. Even though there are ways that we are different, there are ways that we are similar. I just feel very lucky to be playing a role that I feel so comfortable in, and that speaks to me in many different ways.

Do you all have a favorite song in the show?

Kennedy: I’m a big fan of ‘Kaleidoscope,’ which is one of the new ones that Alicia specifically wrote for the show. I can’t wait for audiences to hear that. It is such a beautiful new song.

Maya: I think my favorite song is ‘The River,’ which is another new song for the show. It’s the first time the audience hears Ali sing on her own, it’s her first song. It introduces her, and introduces the fact that she’s longing for something more in life, and she feels like she’s made for more. And the song does a really good job of having the audience understand what she is longing for in life, and how she feels a little lost and incomplete in where she is in that moment. It sets up the rest of the show, she’s trying to find her purpose, she’s trying to find her identity, she feels like there is a missing part. And so, I love that song, and I feel like it introduces that sort of characteristic of hers very well. It’s so fun to sing, and I feel very connected to it.

Roz: Definitely ‘Perfect Way to Die.’ What a song. I thought that I knew all of the Alicia Keys songs in the world, except for the new ones that were specifically written for the show. And then I went back and listed to Alicia’s recording of the song, it’s such a powerful message, several messages within one. And what a vehicle for someone who has that kind of presence. I remember being on tour and watching the Tonys and seeing that performance and just weeping. And here we are, and I get to sing that song. Are you kidding me! It’s such a beautiful piece, very powerful, and I do believe that it has a message that resonates for me as a veteran. I’ve seen so much of that. I lived the 90s, I lived the early 2000s. That’s my favorite.

What do you hope audiences will be feeling and thinking after they leave a performance of Hell’s Kitchen?

Maya: I hope they will be feeling that there is light on the other side. I feel like throughout the show a lot of conflicts come up, and it can seem like, 'This is not in a good spot to be in, I’m not sure how these problems will be overcome.' There are moments where you feel like Ali might be stuck, or this is the lowest point in her life, and she emphasizes at the end, 'Things are not perfect, but they are better,' and, ‘Yes, I went through these challenges, but they made me who I am.’ And so, hopefully people at the end can learn to embrace their challenges, embrace their struggles, and realize that is a part of who you are. And even though you had to go through those hard moments, it makes you who are you today.

Kennedy: I hope that people leave the theater feeling rejuvenated, and cathartically released in a way. And I hope that people learn to accept all of who they are, especially as I am learning the character of Jersey, accepting all the parts, including the messy parts, the parts that aren’t always perfect. And sometimes those parts are the beautiful parts of humanity that shepherd you to where you’re supposed to go. And I hope that the audience leaves feeling hopeful, and refreshed, and ready to maybe dive deeper into the dreams that they haven’t let themselves dream yet, through Ali’s story.

Roz: This has always been such a hard question for me, because it makes me go into the minds of those couple thousand people who agree to sit down together in the dark and go on this journey with us. What I will say is, what I hope is that everyone that needs to will see in themselves each character and their journey, and be more empathetic. And understand a little better from another perspective. And it’s a love letter to New York, but you could have that wherever you are. It’s what you’re trying to achieve, it’s what you’re reaching for, it’s the fire inside of you. And in this story it’s represented in that specific place geographically, but you can find that anywhere that you are. I would hope that audiences have a fire in their belly after this, and know that they can achieve. Know that it is possible.