Exclusive: Maya Drake, Kennedy Caughell, & Roz White Will Lead HELL'S KITCHEN Tour

BroadwayWorld can exclusively reveal the first three principal cast members who will electrify stages across the country in HELL’S KITCHEN, the hit Broadway musical from 17-time Grammy Award winner Alicia Keys. The highly anticipated, multi-year North American tour will star Maya Drake as Ali, Kennedy Caughell as Jersey and Roz White as Miss Liza Jane. Additional principals and full ensemble casting will be announced at a later date. 

The HELL’S KITCHEN tour will premiere with a three-week engagement at Playhouse Square in Cleveland, Ohio October 10 - November 1, 2025. Tickets are on sale now and available at playhousesquare.org. The tour will visit more than 30 cities in its first year. For additional tour cities and ticket information, visit hellskitchen.com. 

HELL’S KITCHEN is directed by four-time Tony Award nominee Michael Greif (Rent, Dear Evan Hansen and The Notebook), with choreography by five-time Tony Award nominee Camille A. Brown, a book by Pulitzer Prize finalist Kristoffer Diaz, and the music of Alicia Keys. 

….Clifton (Makeup Design), Monet (Associate Director), Ricky Tripp (Associate Choreographer), and Foresight Theatrical 
(General Management). Casting by Heidi Griffiths, CSA & Kate Murray, CSA. The Production Stage Manager is Veronica 
Aglow and the Company Manager is Deborah Barrigan.

HELL’S KITCHEN won the 2025 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. The musical, now in its second full year on Broadway, continues to play to rapturous audiences nightly at the Shubert Theatre in New York City.

Your journey begins with Ali, a 17-year-old girl full of fire, searching for freedom, passion, and her place in the world. Along the way, you'll meet the musical mentor who changes her life, her dynamic family, and the neighborhood that helps her grow. Relatable, raw, and refreshingly fun, HELL’S KITCHEN is a celebration of finding yourself, your purpose, and the people who lift you up.

More than watching a performance, this experience pulls you out of your seat and has you buzzing when you leave, wondering who to tell about it first. The music—a mix of Keys’ greatest hits and new songs written exclusively for the show—is brought to life through exhilarating choreography. It’s a soundtrack of rebellion, life, and love that speaks to you no matter where you’re from, where you’ve been, or where you’re going.

The creative team for HELL’S KITCHEN includes Tony Award® nominee Robert Brill (Scenic Design), Tony Award® winner Dede Ayite (Costume Design), Tony Award® winner Natasha Katz (Lighting Design), Tony Award® winner Gareth Owen (Sound Design), Tony Award® nominee Peter Nigrini (Projection Design), Mia Neal (Hair and Wig Design), Michael Clifton (Makeup Design), Monet (Associate Director), and Foresight Theatrical (General Management). Casting by Heidi Griffiths, CSA & Kate Murray, CSA. The Production Stage Manager is Veronica Aglow and the Company Manager is Deborah Barrigan.

The music team of HELL’S KITCHEN includes orchestrations by Tony Award® winner Tom Kitt and Tony Award® nominee Adam Blackstone, arrangements by Alicia Keys and Adam Blackstone, music consulting by Tom Kitt. Lily Ling is the Associate Music Supervisor and Emily Orr is the Music Director for the tour.

BroadwayWorld exclusively sat down with the cast this week to talk about the upcoming tour. Check out the interview here!

Hell's Kitchen Tour Cast

MAYA DRAKE (Ali) is thrilled to make her professional debut in HELL’S KITCHEN!  As a recent high school graduate, this is a dream come true! A Native of San Jose, California, Maya trained at the Children’s Musical Theater San Jose, one of the nation’s top youth theater programs.  Some of her favorite roles include Leading Player (Pippin), as well as Esmeralda (Hunchback of Notre Dame). She received the Frank Frye Award for Singing from CMTSJ in 2024, as well as the Brian Alfred King Award for Acting in 2023.  On screen, Drake guest starred on NBC’s “Law & Order: SVU”.   Huge thanks to CMTSJ, Paradigm, and love to my family. @mayaadrake

Kennedy Caughell (Jersey) is thrilled to join HELL’S KITCHEN! A Broadway and voiceover artist with Oklahoma roots, Kennedy has captivated audiences nationwide with her powerhouse vocals and magnetic stage presence. She was most recently seen as Jenna in Waitress, and has starred in iconic roles such as Carole King in the national tour of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Elphaba in Wicked, and Elsa in Frozen. Broadway credits include Paradise Square, Beautiful, and Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812. Kennedy made her Carnegie Hall debut in the leading role of Super You, returning just a month later to star in Mozart: Her Story – The New Musical. Other favorite regional credits: MTWichita, NLB, 9 to 5 at the Fulton (Judy), Tick, Tick… Boom! at the Kennedy Center (dir. Neil Patrick Harris), and Great Comet at PCLO (Sonya). On screen, she’s appeared in “Law & Order: SVU”, “Parked for Love”, and “The Outlier”. Beyond the stage, Kennedy is preparing to release her debut album Just the Beginning, and is a passionate educator, offering masterclasses and private coaching across the country. BFA in Music Theatre from Elon University. This performance is lovingly dedicated to her mother, who is the reason she’s onstage today. Reps: DGRW / Schachter Entertainment | @KennedyCaughell | To God be the glory!

Roz White (Ms. Liza Jane) is ecstatic to be a part of musical theatre history in the Broadway National Tour of HELL’S KITCHEN. Roz is celebrating 40 years as an arts professional and educator, with a BFA in Musical Theatre from Howard University and an M Ed. in Curriculum from Northcentral University. Recently, Roz made a box -office record setting turn as Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill at Mosaic Theater Company in Washington, D.C. She won a Helen Hayes award for her role in Bessie’s Blues at Studio Theatre. She received a Helen Hayes award nomination for her role in Gee’s Bend at Metrostage. Roz is a graduate of the acclaimed Duke Ellington School of the Arts. Roz has performed as a featured vocalist with Yolanda Adams, Stevie Wonder, and more. She spent two years as Zelma Bullock in the Broadway National tour of TINA – The Tina Turner Musical. Other theatre credits include The National tour of Dreamgirls, and regional productions of Once On This Island, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Seven Guitars, Violet, Anne and Emmett, The Amen Corner, and her self-penned cabarets Pearl Bailey by Request and Roberta’s First Take. Roz starred as The Lady from the Road in Arizona Theatre Company’s Blues In The Night. She made her feature film debut as a lead playing the role of Sybrina Fulton in the award-winning film “Veils – Requiem for Trayvon”. Roz is a Mom to two brilliant sons- Anthony Jai and King Elijah. Roz is a member of the Alliance for New Music Theatre, D.I.V.A. Incorporated

Hell's Kitchen North American Tour Dates

Cleveland, OH - Playhouse Square - 10/10/2025 - 11/1/2025
Pittsburgh, PA - Benedum Center for the Performing Arts - 11/4/2025 - 11/9/2025
Chicago, IL - James L. Nederlander Theatre - 11/11/2025 - 11/30/2025
Detroit, MI - Fisher Theatre - 12/2/2025 - 12/14/2025
Appleton, WI - Fox Cities Performing Arts Center - 12/16/2025 - 12/21/2025
New Orleans, LA - Saenger Theatre - 12/30/2025 - 1/4/2026
Atlanta, GA - Fox Theatre - 1/6/2026 - 1/11/2026
Cincinnati, OH - Aronoff Center for the Performing Arts - 1/13/2026 - 1/25/2026
St. Louis, MO - Fabulous Fox Theatre - 1/27/2026 - 2/8/2026
Greenville, SC - Peace Center - 2/10/2026 - 2/15/2026
Durham, NC - DPAC - 2/17/2026 - 2/22/2026
Greensboro, NC - Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts - 2/24/2026 - 3/1/2026
Orlando, FL - Dr. Phillips Center - 3/3/2026 - 3/8/2026
Fort Lauderdale, FL - Broward Center for the Performing Arts - 3/10/2026 - 3/22/2026
Tampa, FL - Straz Center - 3/24/2026 - 4/4/2026
Oklahoma City, OK - Civic Center Music Hall - 4/7/2026 - 4/12/2026
Denver, CO - Buell Theatre at the Denver Center for Performing Arts - 4/14/2026 - 4/26/2026
Tempe, AZ - ASU Gammage - 4/28/2026 - 5/3/2026
San Francisco, CA - Orpheum Theatre - 5/6/2026 - 5/24/2026
Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Pantages Theatre - 5/26/2026 - 6/21/2026
Las Vegas, NV - Smith Center - 6/23/2026 - 6/28/2026
Reno, NV - Pioneer Center - 6/30/2026 - 7/5/2026
Salt Lake City, UT - Eccles Theatre - 7/7/2026 - 7/12/2026
Portland, OR - Keller Auditorium - 7/14/2026 - 7/19/2026
Seattle, WA - Paramount Theatre - 7/21/2026 - 7/26/2026
Sacramento, CA - Safe Credit Union Performing Arts Center - 7/29/2026 - 8/9/2026
San Diego, CA - Civic Theatre - 8/11/2026 - 8/16/2026
Tucson, AZ - UA Centennial Hall - 8/18/2026 - 8/23/2026
Charlotte, NC - Belk Theatre at Blumenthal Arts - 9/8/2026 - 9/13/2026