Hell’s Kitchen: Alicia Keys’ Upbringing
“Raising awareness isn’t about spreading fear, it’s about demanding accountability. It means we deserve better results from institutions that are meant to protect us, including the MTA and NYPD.”
When we first heard that we had a school-sponsored trip to go see the musical Hell’s Kitchen, we were so excited. PJ and I love musicals. One of the things we bonded on when we first met was our love for the show Hamilton. And also, we would never miss out on the chance to go to Manhattan because we're rarely allowed to go on our own.
Of course, our journey started in the Bronx. We hopped on the 6 train and took it to Grand Central. When we walked out of the train station, we were met with the busy traffic on streets and sidewalks. It was all so lively, of course because NYC is known as the city that never sleeps. The bright screens, the people, and that feeling you get when you know you're in the heart of NYC—thatis what we love most about Manhattan. You can't really find that anywhere else. We continued walking and spotted this big open space and Mr. Losi shared his vision of our music group, PULSE, performing there one day. It was a spot near the infamous TKTS steps, where all types of artists show off their abilities. We kept on walking for a while. Manhattan blocks are longer than the ones you would find here in the Bronx, but there's so much going on that you hardly notice the distance. I couldn't help but feel my eyes attracted to the bright screens with ads, or the man in front of me breakdancing with his hat pushed out to the side for tips. Finally we arrived. We showed the man at the door our tickets and took our seats, unaware that the show we were about to see would leave such a strong impact on us both.
Directed by Michael Grief, and produced by AKW Productions the first ever showing of the hit broadway show “Hell’s Kitchen” happened on October 24th, 2023. The show ended up being a huge hit earning 13 Tony awards nominations, winning two, and even getting a Grammy award for Best Musical Theater Album. The musical itself is about Alicia Keys growing up in midtown Manhattan, showing her struggles at home with her mom, Jersey and with her love life. The musical starts off with Alicia Keys, or Ali as she likes to be called, giving a tour of her building and the talented people in it. She gets in the elevator and takes the audience through the floors.
Starting with the ground floor she shows the audience Miss Liza Jane in the Ellington Room playing the piano, then the dance class on the 27th floor, then Mr. Gordone playing the trumpet on the 32nd floor.
The musical goes on and Ali tries to get close with this bucket drummer named Knuck, but Jersey does not approve of him, which causes conflict between her and Ali. Later on, Jersey catches Knuck in bed with Ali and calls the police on him because Knuck is much older, while Ali is only 17. This only makes Ali even more frustrated with Jersey. Because of this conflict, Ali refuses to go back to the apartment while Jersey is there. She stays in the Ellington room on the first floor and finds Miss Liza Jane playing the piano. Miss Liza Jane decides to teach Ali piano.
As the piano lessons continued, they started to get closer, forming a mother-daughter relationship that Ali felt was missing since she started ignoring Jersey. At one point, Ali even said that she wished Miss Liza Jane was her real mother. Ali and Jersey have a much needed conversation and they start to reform their relationship. Sadly Miss Liza Jane reveals that she is Ill, and a few days later she passes away. Her death brokeAli at the same time as it inspired her, pushing her to practice piano in the Ellington Room even more in MIss Liza Jane's honor. The musical ends with everyone coming together to sing “Empire State of Mind,” tying the musical back to its New York roots.
Everybody interprets things differently, which is why we wanted to share how the Arts Department of Comp Sci High felt about the musical. When asked how the musical made them feel, Ms. Elle shared that it held such significance because Hell’s Kitchen is where she lives and where she raised her child. She even took her daughter to see the musical when she was 17. She also shared that during the song “Seventeen,” where Jersey sings about how cruel and dangerous the world can be to a 17 year old, she felt that the song was disrespectful to Ali.
She stated: “I know it was supposed to be funny, but listening to it with my 17 year old child, I tried to put myself in her shoes as if I was saying those things about her. It made me feel sad for their relationship but I totally understood the frustration and the fear of the mom in dealing with Ali’s choices.”
Ms Medina had a similar feeling, saying that the show had a strong emotional impact: “It reminded me of growing up in New York City: the sounds, the energy, and the struggles that shape who we are.” After being asked what artistic elements stood out to them the most, Ms. Medina talked about the rhythm and the visual storytelling, saying: “Every detail, from the lighting to the choreography, worked together like a living painting. I appreciated how the show used art to express emotion and identity.”
For Ms. Elle, something different stood out. It was Jersey making sure that Ali always ate even when they were upset with each other. She says: “No matter how mad they were at each other, she couldn't help but keep caring for her. The amount of times she said, “Sit, eat,” built up the underlying love she had for Ali.”
To me [Kaylee] I really liked how the musical formed Ali’s relationship with Miss Liza Jane. Ali starts off skeptical about learning the piano, then Miss Liza Jane makes her learn it, and eventually it turns into something Ali really loves to do. And even more than that, Ali starts to bond with Miss Liza Jane, seeing her as a spiritual grandmother or mentor. It reminded me much of my relationship with my grandma. Then, when Ali heard the news that Miss Liza Jane had passed, I was brought back to August 14th 2021, the day I found out my grandma died. I felt what Ali was going through, her disbelief, her confusion, all of it.
From a personal perspective, I [Pryah] really loved every aspect of this musical. I really resonated with parts like being a teen who feels locked up by her guardian most of the time. Ali was a very outgoing person and the only restriction was her highly overprotective mother who doesn’t want her to make any mistakes she made as a teen herself. While watching, I would really get fed up with some of the mother’s remarks because while they did make sense to me, they still ruined that once in a lifetime experience. One consistent saying throughout the musical was, “You only live once,” which is completely valid in my opinion. Like Ali, I also experienced the absence of a father figure in her teen years, Although she did get to see him once in a while, I actually never saw mine, which made me a little hurt inside. Having a father figure is really important and so I really appreciate my grandfather who fills that gap.
Some may be asking aloud, “What significance does this ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ even hold?”. Well, this musical spotlights the importance of mentorship as well as a viewpoint of what life is like as both a teen like Ali and a parent like Jersey.
Someone not mentioned as much is Ali’s dad Davis, and this is because he was barely present, even when he said he would be. When Davis first found out who’d been teaching his daughter piano after his lack of presence due to business deals, he was very appreciative. He did try and reconnect with Ali, but she had her doubts in mending their relationship. Now, this is where the spotlight shines on the importance of mentorship. Later on in the musical, Davis starts actively making time to spend with his daughter between his busy schedule, and this makes Ali very happy and Jersey really proud. When someone’s child has parents who are rarely around, this causes them to feel really lonely and they may get closer with another adult who is present as often as 24/7. When a parent sees this start to happen, they should start to consider where they went wrong and fix it as soon as possible in order to save the relationship between them and their child. Both of Ali’s parents have spoken to Miss Liza Jane at some point in the musical, and she highlighted what they were missing that made such a huge gap in the bond with their child.
‘Hell’s Kitchen’ gives parents a way to think about ideas of strictness and accountability. Some parents may fail to realize that the only way their teen can learn from mistakes is by actually making them first. Sometimes just warning them of what will happen won’t be enough. Plus, the stage after teen is adulthood. To prepare for that, parents need to let their teens have more independence and let them make their own decisions. If a wrong decision is made, they can learn from that. Ali messing around with a grown man and soon getting him in trouble with the cops is a perfect example of this. While they may have been in love, Ali did lie about her age to Knuck and therefore he didn’t see any problem with their relationship. But the day Jersey caught them on the couch, Ali learned just what trouble lying about her age would cause. Now, Jersey was right to worry about Ali running around with Knuck because he could have been someone weird but he luckily wasn’t. The musical also gives teens this idea of being careful of the choices you make, and the times it is better to listen to your parents about things. When making certain choices, teens should always proceed with caution and think it all the way through.
We discussed Ali’s teenhood, but where is she now? And how’d she get there? Alicia Keys is now 44 years old, winning Grammy awards and has globally sold over 90 million records. She’s been learning to play piano since she was little, and now she’s performing and producing absolute hits. The ups and downs in her younger years have shaped her into an icon. Who she is now proves that no matter where you start from, there’s always a way out. Alicia escaped a messy teenage life and entered the world of fame from doing what she’s loved since she was a child.