Alicia Keys biography on stage in Charlotte production

MARC J. FRANKLIN

The company of the North American Tour of Alicia Keys’ ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ Hell's Kitchen comes to Belk Theatre Sept. 8-13.

Alicia Keys’ life story hits the stage at Blumenthal Arts.

The Broadway musical “Hell’s Kitchen” is coming to Belk Theatre, 130 N. Tryon St., Sept. 8-13. Ticket prices start at $47.02 and are available online. The jukebox musical is inspired by Keys’ teenage years and features her biggest hits along with original music.

Set in the 1990s, the musical will take the audience through the life of 17-year-old Ali as she navigates life, family and her upbringing in New York City, with music as a driving force. Desmond Sean Ellington, who plays Ali’s dad, Davis, said the music is more than just a collection of Keys’ biggest songs.

“The songs are used to push the plot forward in a way that almost makes it like an original piece and not so much like a jukebox,” he said.

Using songs from Keys’ albums as the soundtrack, the production takes her familiar music and gives it new meaning by using it in moments throughout Ali’s life.

“I get to perform as Davis ‘If I Ain't Got You,’ one of my favorite songs, one of her biggest songs,” Ellington said. “In this show, the song is sung from Davis to Ali as a song that he wrote for her as almost like a lullaby when she was a kid when she was a baby. It's sung from a father to his daughter, which is totally different.”

A central part of the musical is the relationship between Ali and her mother, giving audiences a look at the complicated dynamic between mother and daughter.

“Seeing a mother-daughter relationship played out on stage is really going to hit home because we don't see that a lot in theater,” Ellington said. “We see a single mom raising a daughter in New York in the ‘90s, living in a one-bedroom apartment.”

The story also focuses on community and the idea that it can take a village to raise a family. The people who support and surround Ali shape who she becomes, with touches throughout the production that give the audience a feel of a summer in New York City.

Ellington said the musical is sure to pull on heartstrings and that everyone can pull something from the show, whether it’s about family relationships or finding a sense of belonging.

“You're going to get the whole entire gamut of emotion from laughter to tears,” he said. “We've had grown men wiping their eyes at the end of the show.”

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