Alicia Keys' glorious music fuels blazing 'Hell's Kitchen' at the Hollywood Pantages

“Hell’s Kitchen,” the Alicia Keys philharmonic that has landed astatine the Hollywood Pantages Theatre successful a blaze of rousing sound, deploys the R&B star’s glorious treasure trove of enactment successful the work of a semi-autobiographical mentation of her coming-of-age communicative successful the Manhattan vicinity that gives the amusement its title.

The Hell’s Kitchen of Alicia Keys’ story, acceptable successful the 1990s, isn’t the gang-ridden Hell’s Kitchen of West Side Story, acceptable successful the 1950s. Keys grew up successful Manhattan Plaza, a federally subsidized residential analyzable that provides affordable lodging for artists. But for a teen successful rebellion from her watchful mother, the vibrant, music-filled thoroughfare beingness comes with its stock of dangers.

Kennedy Caughell arsenic Jersey and Maya Drake arsenic Ali successful the North American Tour of Alicia Keys’ “Hell’s Kitchen” astatine the Hollywood Pantages Theatre.

(Marc J. Franklin)

Ali (Maya Drake, who’s making her nonrecreational debut successful this North American circuit production) is simply a 17-year-old acceptable to interruption retired of the cage her mother, Jersey (Kennedy Caughell), has placed her in. Jersey, a azygous mom, isn’t a tyrant. She conscionable doesn’t privation to spot her girl marque the aforesaid mistakes that she did, namely get large astatine a young property earlier she’s had a accidental to recognize her ain dreams.

The publication by playwright Kristoffer Diaz (“The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity”) is structured astir a loving but combustible mother-daughter narration amid the originative ferment of New York. This creator neverland is crystallized successful the flat gathering that has euphony pouring retired of each level erstwhile Ali rides the elevator.

Maya Drake arsenic Ali and the institution of the North American Tour of Alicia Keys’ “Hell’s Kitchen” astatine the Hollywood Pantages Theatre.

(Marc J. Franklin)

The communicative isn’t the beardown suit of “Hell’s Kitchen,” which is powered by Alicia Keys’ versatile catalog, which has been supplemented with archetypal material. The hits — “You Don’t Know My Name,” “Girl connected Fire,” “Fallin’,” “If I Ain’t Got You,” “Like You’ll Never See Me Again,” “No One” and “Empire State of Mind,” among them — reverberate wrong the Pantages with a thrilling exuberance.

What’s astir impressive, however, is the mode these tracks person been arranged some musically and dramatically. Jukebox musicals are notorious for shoe-horning successful beloved songs without respect for storytelling integrity. “Mamma Mia!,” which crammed successful arsenic galore ABBA hits arsenic possible, hardly adjacent bothered to find pretext for their inclusion. The lucrative illustration paved the mode for much than 2 decades of philharmonic theatre shamelessness.

The institution of the North American Tour of Alicia Keys’ “Hell’s Kitchen” astatine the Hollywood Pantages Theatre.

(Marc J. Franklin)

“Hell’s Kitchen,” directed by Michael Greif, takes a much dignified approach, raiding Keys’ top hits successful a mode that doesn’t origin melodramatic discourtesy and amended yet, adds a furniture of astonishment to euphony that is truthful good known.

The songs are allocated successful unexpected ways. Numbers that you mightiness deliberation beryllium to Ali are divided among the company. Jersey is archetypal successful line, and Caughell makes the astir of her opportunities. But sharing successful the bounty are Davis (Desmond Sean Ellington), Ali’s mostly absent and chronically unreliable father; Knuck (Jonavery Worrell), Ali’s forbidden emotion interest; oregon Miss Liza Jane (Roz White), a pianist who lives successful the gathering and becomes Ali’s formidable mentor.

There are different characters who connection luminous assistance, but these are the principals successful a philharmonic communicative built astir Ali’s cardinal relationships. Keys’ root communicative is much dynamic connected an atmospheric than melodramatic level. A parent having trouble with her boy-crazy teenage girl isn’t precisely breaking immoderate ground, and Diaz avoids venturing into much turbulent territory. Ali’s divided identity, stemming successful portion from an all-too-present achromatic parent and all-too-missing Black father, sets up issues that are touched connected but ne'er profoundly engaged.

Desmond Sean Ellington arsenic Davis and Kennedy Caughell arsenic Jersey and the institution of the North American Tour of Alicia Keys’ “Hell’s Kitchen” astatine the Hollywood Pantages Theatre.

(Marc J. Franklin)

Miss Liza Jane spots Ali’s philharmonic acquisition close distant and fills her with a consciousness of pridefulness and work successful her Black heritage. But her character’s relation is somewhat earnestly compartmentalized. Knuck recognizes that Ali’s fascination with him stems successful portion from the mode she sees him, overmuch arsenic her parent does, arsenic a “thug.” But their tentative matter is secondary to the analyzable enslaved betwixt Ali and Jersey, whose troubled transportation with Davis helps Ali recognize wherefore her parent is truthful paranoid astir her romanticist choices.

But these concerns autumn distant erstwhile the performers commencement singing. Drake has a beauteous voice, but her Ali is slighter than that of Maleah Joi Moon, who won a Tony for her Broadway debut performance. I didn’t caput that Davis sings “Fallin’,” arsenic Ellington has a dependable of luscious thunder. Worrell’s Knuck much than holds his ain with his duets with Ali. (In fact, I was much taken by his velvety mentation of “Like You’ll Never See Me Again” than Ali’s much straightforwardly beauteous version.) White’s Miss Liza Jane takes the Pantages assemblage to religion successful her numbers. And erstwhile Caughell magnificently directs “No One” to Ali, I can’t ideate there’s a adust oculus successful the house.

Desmond Sean Ellington arsenic Davis and Maya Drake arsenic Ali successful the North American Tour of Alicia Keys’ “Hell’s Kitchen” astatine the Hollywood Pantages Theatre.

(Marc J. Franklin)

This circuit accumulation isn’t crisp successful each areas. The dancing isn’t ever smooth, the costumes struck maine arsenic a roadworthy amusement thought of New York cool, and the acting didn’t bash overmuch to compensate for immoderate of the book’s little subtle moments.

But the vigor of the accumulation is infectious. “Hell’s Kitchen,” a New York communicative of a wunderkind discovering her gift, helped maine get implicit my allergy to the jukebox genre. The soaring prime of the orchestra and the delectable institution of voices wage exhilarating homage to a singular artist, who seems close astatine location astatine the Pantages.