Review: HELL'S KITCHEN National Tour Presented by Broadway In Chicago

HELL’S KITCHEN, the Alicia Keys jukebox musical now making its Chicago premiere as part of the first national tour, has a messy storyline wrapped in slick packaging. While the show is loosely based on Keys’s childhood in Manhattan, the storytelling is generic, and the songs are often awkwardly incorporated into the book. Admittedly, Kristoffer Diaz’s book is weak. It’s a flimsy vehicle for Keys’s song catalog. Huge Alicia Keys fans might enjoy hearing her biggest hits performed by musical theater actors, but the plot around them doesn’t hang together.

The musical follows 17-year-old Ali (Maya Drake, a recent high school graduate in her Broadway debut), who lives in subsidized artist housing at Manhattan Plaza with her overprotective mother Jersey (Kennedy Caughell). Dede Ayite’s excellent and colorful costumes place us squarely in the 90s. Outside of being a regular sassy teen, Ali’s main interests include: her crush on a young man named Knuck, who doesn’t know she’s only 17, and learning to play the piano from her talented neighbor Miss Lisa Jane. Jersey’s personality is characterized by her desire to have dinner every night with her daughter. That’s not inherently bad, but it’s odd that Diaz includes so many dinner scenes. The overprotectiveness and the consistent dinners seem, of course, like a way to compensate for Ali’s absent father Davis (Desmond Sean Ellington) and as penance for Jersey’s own mistakes. 

The mother/daughter dynamic makes up the show’s center, but Diaz also throws in tons of other plotlines and underdeveloped characters. Both Ali and Jersey have close friends who appear briefly in the first act, then mostly disappear. Ali’s preoccupation with Knuck comes to a truly bizarre conclusion at the end of act one in which the musical pivots from failing the Bechdel test to briefly commenting on police brutality and systemic racism. It simply doesn’t work for HELL’S KITCHEN to try and go deeper, but the story sadly isn’t cohesive enough to be immensely fun, either.

I think the challenge comes from the fact that Keys’s back catalog isn’t a ready fit for a musical. The songs come from different albums, so the lyrics focus on various narratives. I usually really enjoy bombast if I’m going to see a jukebox musical, but most of Keys’s songs featured here are more mid-tempo. This includes “Kaleidoscope,” a showpiece for Ali that’s one of three new Keys songs in the show. In addition to the scattered storylines, Diaz’s book frequently includes awkward transitions to song — or essentially no transitions at all. I appreciated some creative attempts to encapsulate the songs, but it’s still awkward when Keys’s love songs become duets between Ali and her parents.

That said, that’s also the main reason to see HELL’S KITCHEN. Ali and Davis duet on “If I Ain’t Got You,” under the guise that Davis wrote the song for her. It’s a ridiculous idea since it’s so clearly a romantic love song, but Drake and Ellington sound great together. Drake has an exceptionally bright tone and a lot of vocal power. She’s an affable presence, but the role doesn’t give her much to chew on. The vocals are where she shines. Ellington has an impressive vocal range, and his more mature voice blends nicely with Drake’s brightness.

Likewise, Drake and Caughell sound lovely on “No One” at show’s end. Caughell has a straightforward contemporary Broadway voice, which is sometimes at odds with Keys’s style, but she sounds great here. She also has some welcome opportunities to use her powerful belt.

I wanted a little more power from some other voices in the cast. JonAvery Worrell has a sweet tone, but his voice is a bit thin — the band often drowned him out. I enjoyed Roz White’s acting as Miss Lisa Jane, but she has incredibly raspy vocals that were not my taste.

Overall, Ali and Miss Lisa Jane’s relationship is the most specific and ownable storyline. In one scene, Miss Lisa Jane explains to Ali that she comes from a long line of Black female pianists, and how it’s important to honor that legacy. Sure, it’s a little didactic, but it feels educational in a way that’s true to the material. It’s also a natural fit for an Alicia Keys musical.
 

Beyond that, Diaz’s book, Michael Greif’s direction, and Camille A. Brown’s choreography often feel chaotic. The plot flits frequently between the story lines, never grounding us in specific moments or characters. I enjoyed hearing Keys’s big hits, but many of the other songs are awkwardly placed. Unfortunately, HELL’S KITCHEN lacks the vibrancy and specificity of its New York City setting. Hard-core Keys fans will probably still want to see this — but you’ll have to be in it for the songs, not the story. 

HELL’S KITCHEN national tour plays Broadway In Chicago’s James M. Nederlander Theatre, 24 West Randolph Street, through November 30, 2025. Tickets are $40-$149. Patrons can enter a digital lottery for $30 tickets and limited day-of rush tickets are available for $49 in-person at the box office. 

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