Alicia Keys’ Hell’s Kitchen Brings New York Grit and Powerhouse Vocals to Broward Center.

March 10, 2026

Some cities exist quietly in the background of a story. New York is never one of them.

In Hell’s Kitchen, the musical built around the music and life influences of Alicia Keys, the city does not simply serve as a setting. It pulses through every scene. It shapes every relationship. It pushes characters forward while occasionally threatening to pull them under.

During its stop at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, the production delivered a powerful reminder of why the story resonates so deeply. The show captures the tension of growing up in a place where dreams feel possible and dangerous at the exact same time.

From the opening moments, the audience is dropped into Manhattan’s restless rhythm.

A Stage That Feels Like the Back Alleys of New York

The set design immediately creates the illusion of standing somewhere deep inside the city’s maze of streets and side alleys. Towering scaffolding rises across the stage, giving the impression of a neighborhood constantly under construction. Metal staircases, platforms, and industrial textures create a layered cityscape that feels raw and authentic.

Scenes shift fluidly thanks to moving platforms that glide across the stage. Apartments appear. Street corners emerge. Rehearsal spaces come into view.

Maya Drake as Ali and the company of the North American Tour of Alicia Keys’ Hell’s Kitchen. Photo by Marc J Franklin

Projected imagery occasionally washes across the backdrop, hinting at memories and fragments of the neighborhood’s past. Lighting shifts constantly, sometimes bathing the stage in vibrant color and other times softening to reveal subtle emotional moments between characters.

Sound design deepens the illusion. Ambient noise and carefully layered effects make the world feel larger than the stage itself, as if the city continues just beyond the theater walls.

For stretches of the performance, it genuinely feels like you are standing somewhere in the back alleys of Manhattan.

A Daughter Searching for Her Voice

At the heart of the story is Ali, portrayed with energy and emotional honesty by Maya Drake. Ali is seventeen and hungry for independence. She feels the pull of the city around her and wants to explore everything it promises.

Her mother Jersey, played by Kennedy Caughell, sees the city very differently.

Maya Drake as Ali and Kennedy Caughell as Jersey in the North American Tour of Alicia Keys’ Hell’s Kitchen. Photo by Marc J Franklin

Jersey understands its dangers. She knows the cost of bad decisions. Her instinct is to protect her daughter at all costs, even if that protection feels suffocating.

Their relationship becomes the emotional backbone of the musical. Ali pushes for freedom. Jersey pulls back with caution.

Both believe they are right.

Both are carrying wounds the other does not fully understand.

A Father Both Loved and Missing

Adding another layer to Ali’s emotional journey is her complicated relationship with her father Davis, portrayed by Desmond Sean Ellington.

Desmond Sean Ellington as Davis and Kennedy Caughell as Jersey and the company of the North American Tour of Alicia Keys’ Hell’s Kitchen. Photo by Marc J Franklin

Davis is charismatic and well liked. When he appears, his presence carries warmth and charm. Yet he is also largely absent from Ali’s everyday life, and that absence quietly shapes the way she views the world.

Ali longs for connection with him. She wants to believe in the version of her father she holds in her mind.

Jersey sees something else entirely. To her, Davis represents a past filled with mistakes and heartbreak.

That emotional tension between admiration and resentment lingers beneath many of the show’s most important scenes. It adds complexity to Ali’s search for identity and reinforces the difficult reality that family relationships rarely fit into simple categories of right and wrong.

The Power of a Teacher Who Sees Potential

In the middle of this family conflict stands Miss Liza Jane, Ali’s piano teacher, portrayed by Roz White.

Maya Drake as Ali and Roz White as Miss Liza Jane in the North American Tour of Alicia Keys’ Hell’s Kitchen. Photo by Marc J Franklin

Miss Liza Jane becomes a guiding force in Ali’s life. She recognizes the spark within her student and encourages her to use music as a way to understand the chaos swirling around her.

Under her mentorship, the piano becomes more than an instrument.

It becomes a refuge.

It becomes a language.

It becomes the place where Ali begins to shape her identity and express the emotions she struggles to say aloud.

The storyline quietly echoes Alicia Keys’ own experiences growing up in New York, where music became both escape and expression.

A Cast With Remarkable Vocal Strength

While the show features strong performances throughout, Kennedy Caughell’s portrayal of Jersey stands out as one of the evening’s most unforgettable elements.

Her voice carries enormous emotional weight. During some of her most powerful moments, particularly in the second act, her vocal range fills the theater with such force that several audience members could be seen wiping away tears.

Maya Drake as Ali and Kennedy Caughell as Jersey in the North American Tour of Alicia Keys’ Hell’s Kitchen. Photo by Marc J Franklin

One of the most impactful numbers arrives with the song Pawn It All. Performed largely as a solo showcase, the song becomes an emotional eruption years in the making. Pain, frustration, regret, and love collide in a moment that lands with breathtaking intensity.

Caughell previously gained wide recognition portraying Carole King in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, and the emotional command she displays here makes it clear why she continues to be cast in demanding roles.

Yet the production’s vocal strength extends well beyond a single performer.

Maya Drake delivers a compelling performance as Ali, carrying much of the narrative and revealing the character’s vulnerability and determination through both dialogue and song.

Strong vocal moments also come from JonAvery Worrell as Knuck and Desmond Sean Ellington as Davis, while Roz White provides steady emotional grounding as Miss Liza Jane.

Maya Drake as Ali and JonAvery Worrell as Knuck in the North American Tour of Alicia Keys’ Hell’s Kitchen. Photo by Marc J Franklin

It becomes genuinely difficult to single out a single standout.

The cast functions as a cohesive unit, bringing the neighborhood to life with impressive musical and dramatic range.

The Second Act Finds Its Fire

While the first act carefully builds relationships and emotional groundwork, the second act raises the stakes dramatically.

The pacing tightens. Conflicts intensify. The emotional weight of earlier decisions begins to surface.

Songs land with greater power, and the audience becomes more deeply invested in the characters’ struggles.

Lighting grows more dramatic. Movement across the stage feels more urgent.

By the time the show reaches its later musical numbers, the emotional momentum feels undeniable.

A Love Letter to New York

Ultimately, Hell’s Kitchen feels like a tribute to the city that shaped Alicia Keys and countless others who grew up chasing dreams in its shadow.

New York is not presented as flawless.

It is loud. Chaotic. At times unforgiving.

Maya Drake as Ali and the company of the North American Tour of Alicia Keys’ Hell’s Kitchen. Photo by Marc J Franklin

But it is also a place where ambition thrives, where art finds its voice, and where people searching for themselves sometimes discover who they truly are.

As the closing moments arrive and the energy of the finale fills the theater, the message feels clear.

The city may challenge you at every turn.

But for those willing to face its noise, its pressure, and its unpredictability, it can also become the place where your voice finally finds its power.