Review: HELL’S KITCHEN Lets Alicia Keys’ R&B Shine at Broadway San Diego

I’ve loved the music of 17-time Grammy Award winner Alicia Keys for more than two decades, but the award-winning musical Hell’s Kitchen gave her songs new meaning and possibilities. After opening on Broadway in April 2024, the musical ran for nearly two years at the Shubert Theatre, playing 767 regular performances and 23 previews before closing in February 2026. Now, the musical is hitting the road, bringing Keys’ music and a story inspired by her own upbringing in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen to audiences across North America.

At the center of the story is Ali, a spunky, feisty 17-year-old played with youthful freshness by Maya Drake, who is making her professional debut with the North American tour. While some of the larger emotional moments feel just out of reach, Drake shines in the more intimate scenes, particularly when she is singing alongside the other cast members. Ali falls in love with Knuck, played by JonAvery Worrell, but her mother, Jersey, is less than thrilled. Having fallen in love with Ali’s father, Davis, around the same age and ended up pregnant, Jersey is determined to protect her daughter from making the same mistakes. Her resistance creates friction between them, as the story explores the complicated push and pull between a mother’s protection and a daughter’s desire for independence.

With a book by Kristoffer Diaz and music and lyrics by Keys, the jukebox musical format works particularly well because not every song is assigned to Ali, allowing the entire company to inhabit the music. From classics like “No One” and “Girl on Fire” to newer songs like “Perfect Way to Die” and “Kaleidoscope,” Keys’ melodies and arrangements take on new possibilities in this theatrical context. The throughline of motherhood, heartache and teenage angst is balanced with enough Alicia Keys music to spread the love around. Beyond weaving Keys’ catalog into the narrative, the production also touches on issues including racial profiling, police brutality and white privilege, though these themes are explored only briefly.

The cast makes the most of it. The ensemble is equally strong, with choreography by Camille A. Brown, moving between lyrical movement and hip-hop in ’90s-inspired costumes full of baggy clothes and plaid everything by designer Dede Ayite. But it’s Ali’s parents — the overprotective Jersey, played with a hard softness by Kennedy Caughell, and the commitment-averse Davis, played extra suave by Desmond Sean Ellington — who provide some of the production’s biggest goosebumps. Their powerful vocals, velvety interpretations and magnetic stage presence make every appearance electric, whether they are dueting or performing solo. No wonder the story keeps bringing them back to each other...and we can't get enough of it. 

The piano teacher, Miss Liza Jane, played by Roz White, serves as a mentor to Ali and provides a welcome escape from the tensions of home. She teaches Ali not only to play the piano but to ground her emotions and turn them into art. Although her appearance is brief, White has such power in her voice and such a commanding presence that her scenes demand attention.

The minimalist scenic and lighting design work well together, with projections transporting us to the different places in Ali’s world, from the apartment she shares with her mother to Gramercy Park and beyond. The design maintains the landscape of New York — the metal, scaffolding and industrial textures — without overwhelming the performers, with structures flying in and out from the sides and above.

The story itself may be predictable, but the musical arrangements are anything but. For those who already love Keys’ music, there is plenty to enjoy in hearing these songs reinterpreted through character and story. The production is at its best when the performers share the music, whether in the jazzy “Fallin’” between Ali’s parents, “Unthinkable (I'm Ready)” between Ali and Knuck, or when the ensemble shifts from intimate, softer movements into powerhouse numbers like “Empire State of Mind.”

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