Alicia Keys strikes a chord with her new musical, ‘Hell’s Kitchen,’ but where are the gays?
Timothée Chalamet, André De Shields, and Tennessee Williams. But the starry names on the inside haven’t always reflected the struggles on the streets outside before the neighborhood became a mecca for New York City gay nightlife.In her “new” musical Hell’s Kitchen, more than a decade in the making, Keys reflects on her formative years with the help of her Grammy-winning catalog, a book by Kristoffer Diaz, choreography by Camille A.
Brown, and a star turn by Keys doppelgänger Maleah Joi Moon that takes the show to stratospheric levels. Time-stamped late-90s, in large part thanks to costume designer Dede Ayite’s colorful, often oversized overalls, baggy pants, and cropped tanks, Ali (Moon) addresses the audience to bridge the gap between the musical’s straightforward plot: rebellious teen vs.
overprotective mother. Ali’s inner thoughts provide much of the musical’s emotional heavy lifting, allowing audiences to see the 17-year-old’s vulnerable side.
Interactions with her mother, Jersey (Shoshana Bean), and short-lived boyfriend, Knuck (Chris Lee), rely on the coping mechanisms she’s built to survive her experiences on the streets outside and the intermittent appearances of her mostly absent father, Davis (Brandon Victor Dixon).Ali, who’s grown up hearing musicians and singers among the hallways of the artist-subsided building, stumbles across Miss Liza Jane (Kecia Lewis) in the multi-purpose Ellington Room, where the elder comes to play the piano.
