Review: HELL'S KITCHEN at Fisher Theatre
National touring cast of Hell's Kitchen performs in Detroit!
The national touring cast of Hell‘s Kitchen arrives at The Fisher Theatre. Hell’s Kitchen features pop hits from Grammy Award-winning Alicia Keys. Hell‘s Kitchen is a story of a young girl growing up in Manhattan trying to chase her dreams, find love, and navigate the city.
The national touring cast of Hell’s Kitchen had me dancing and singing throughout the whole show, with popular radio hits such as “No One” and “Empire State of Mind” that made the whole audience excited every time the cast began to sing. Hell’s Kitchen is loosely based on the life story of Alicia Keys. The musical is about Ali, a 17-year-old growing up in an artist community in Hell‘s Kitchen. The main artist in the show, Ali, was played by Maya Drake. Maya Drake really embodies the essence of Alicia Keys. She was sweet, funny and had a beautiful singing voice and led the show with true Grace. Her mother, Jersey played by Kennedy Caughell has a powerful incredibly controlled belting voice that really brought the house down. Kennedy Caughell's rendition of Pawn it All had the audience wanting to do a standing ovation mid-show. The applause lasted for well over a minute, and it was really the climax of the show. Speaking of Kennedy Caughell , her chemistry with Desmond Sean Ellington who played Davis, Ali’s Dad was off the charts. I felt like I was looking at a real couple during their rendition of Fallin. The duet was so steamy that I saw people visibly blush in the audience. Desmond Sean Ellington has one of the smoothest most sultry voices I have heard from a national touring cast. His ease and natural acting chops make him the perfect romantic lead. I would love to see what he does next.
One other part of this show I wanted to highlight was the truly spectacular ensemble. This show has some very powerful dance numbers, mixing contemporary, interpretive dance and hip-hop. Hell’s Kitchen’s Ensemble really pulled off some really complicated choreography very seamlessly.
Hell’s Kitchen is not the last show of the year at the Fisher Theatre; next up in the 2025 2026 season is Shucked beginning on December 23rd, 2025. Shucked will be playing through the new year. I can’t wait to see that show, and if you’d like to purchase tickets, please click here.
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