By Joe Contreras, Latin Life Denver Media
It took Alicia Keys 12 years to cook up this musical. 12 long years of being involved in every aspect of the play, “Hell’s Kitchen”, not just the music but the story and characters that were inspired by her own life as well as the neighborhood and those she grew up with. But, there is a deeper aspect of this production that delves into the human experience. This is not a jukebox musical.
Hell’s Kitchen is not about the neighborhood songstress Alicia Keys grew up in nor is it the life story of Alicia Keys. Unlike Lin Manuel Miranda’s ‘In The Heights’ or Arthur Laurents ‘Westside Story’ which both focus on life in boroughs of Manhattan in New York City, Hell’s Kitchen is more like Stewart Stern’s screenplay, ‘Rebel Without a Cause’ which starred James Dean, Natalie Wood and Sal Mineo.
Just as that film focused on teenage angst and identity struggles so too does Hell’s Kitchen. Ali, played by Maya Drake, is a 17 year-old girl with a helicopter mom, Jersey, Kelsee Kimmel, who only wants to protect her daughter from all the negative elements that surround her housing complex. She doesn’t want her daughter to make the same mistakes she made as a teen.
The name, Hell’s Kitchen goes back to the 1880’s when the area had a reputation as a notoriously violent and impoverished slum. By the 1990’s the area had not improved much still blighted with homelessness, drugs and prostitution. Over the past 30 years it is has become a trendy, gentrified community.
But in the 1990’s it was still a rough place to grow up in. That’s the backdrop for the production which is “loosely based” on Alicia Keys teen years. Ali lives with her single mom in Manhattan Plaza, a 46 story tall apartment complex where 70 percent of the housing units are reserved for people who are trying to make a living through the arts. Riding up and down the elevator Ali is treated daily to the various sounds of musicians and poets practicing their passion.
Ali doesn’t have a passion, she only knows she wants more out of life. She resents her mother’s overbearing intrusion into her life keeping her confined to their apartment while the world outside is passing her by. She does have a couple of close friends, Tiny, Gigi Lewis and Jessica, Marley Soleil. They all hangout outside the housing complex whenever Ali’s mom is at work.
Ali develops a strong crush on one of the boys/men, Knuck, Jonavery Worrell, who regularly gather outside the building to play bucket drums adding to the musical ambiance of the neighborhood. When her mother comes home from work to find Knuck, an older man and her 17 year-old daughter half naked and asleep on the couch inside her apartment, all hell breaks loose. The police are called and Ali is slapped hard across her face for defying her mother.
That’s when the real trouble starts. Ali accuses her mother of ruining her life and begins to distance herself from her. She avoids her mom at all costs not talking to her for weeks on end.
Miss Liza Jane in the North American Tour of
Alicia Keys’ Hell’s Kitchen. Photo by Marc J Franklin.
She retreats to a room in the building, the Ellington room where a grand piano sits in the middle. There is an older woman there, Miss Liza Jane, played by Roz White who plays the piano at 6pm every single day. She is a stern woman who does not tolerate any type of disrespect. She encourages Ali to learn to play the piano as a way to find direction in her life and as a way to vent her anger.
Ali’s absent father, Davis, Desmond Sean Ellington, comes into the picture to help out her mom get control of Ali’s rebellious attitude. He too is an accomplished piano player with big dreams and ambitions. So much so he really doesn’t have much time to spend with his daughter. But, they do connect, briefly through the song “If I Ain’t Got You”. Ellington’s voice is smooth as silk as he tries to get Ali to come out of herself imposed shell. Ali can’t help but to join in and they both connect, if only for a short time.
And so goes this wonderful, beautiful production of teenage rebellion and discovery of one’s own path into adulthood. Maybe you have a rebellious teen or maybe you were one yourself. It’s a scary part of life for both teens and parents. One most people go through, like it or not.
The music and the songs by the 17 time Grammy Award winning Alicia Keys thunder through the space of the Buell Theatre at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. Some will be stuck in your head for days to come. Some you will recognize, some are new. “Girl on Fire, “Fallin” “If I Ain’t Got You” and of course “Empire State of Mind” stand out.
The voice of Kelsee Kimmel, who plays Ali’s mother is a show stopper. She literally steals the show with her commanding rendition of “Fallin”. Maya Drake, (Ali) is impressive in her professional stage debut. Fresh out of high school her voice is charming and eloquent. The entire ensemble is fabulous. The dance choreography is amazing.
Hell’s Kitchen won the 2025 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. It won two Tony Awards in 2024.
Hell’s Kitchen, music and lyrics by Alicia Keys, book by Kristoffer Diaz, choreography by Camille A. Brown and directed by Michael Greif plays the Buell Theatre through April 26, 2026.
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