Hell’s Kitchen, based on the early life and song catalog of Alicia Keys, is a heaven-sent new musical that seems destined for a long and successful run on Broadway — and beyond. Rather than adapting Keys’ hits into musical-theater arrangements, the show roots its radio-friendly score in its own aesthetic mix of pop, hip-hop and jazz — with Camille A. Brown’s pulsing and propulsive choreography accentuating the syncopated beats. The show also boasts a star-making performance by newcomer Maleah Joi Moon as the young Alicia, while Shoshana Bean slays as her hyper-protective mother who rivals her onstage daughter in belts and vocal runs. Hell’s Kitchen doesn’t sound like Broadway — in the best way. It looks and sounds like now, or at least like the very recent past, kicking musical theater into bold, new, female-empowering directions.
My full review appears in the February/March 2024 issue of U.K.-based Musicals magazine.
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