Hell’s Kitchen on Broadway
Opening April 20, 2024
Shubert Theatre
In the mid 90’s, in an apartment high above the energy and grit of Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood, 17-year-old Ali squints toward the horizon until she can just see the Hudson River. Despite the warnings of her protective mother, the symphony of the street calls to her—promising freedom, excitement, and the possibility of love. Finding herself. When a wise piano teacher helps her find her voice, Ali learns she can make the city her own.
Music & Lyrics By: Alicia Keys
Book Written By: Kristoffer Diaz
Directed By: Michael Greif
Choreography By: Camille A. Brown
Associate Choreographer: Rickey Tripp
Assistant Choreographers: Shay Bland & Kamille Upshaw
PRESS
“The retooled musical with its top-notch performances and exciting choreography, “stands out as one of the rare must-sees” in a crowded season.”
- The New York Times
“The most exciting complement to the music is the choreography by Camille A. Brown, a Tony Award nominee for “Choir Boy” and “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf.” The movement pulses with life and is fully integrated into the show’s overall aesthetics, but it’s the attention to detail that’s memorable. As is standard for Broadway these days, the dancing is ensemble-based, but Brown and her troupe brilliantly find the individual in the group, and each one exists, like the dancer blowing gum bubbles in the middle of a number. There is, always, a sense of the person within a community, as with Ali growing up in a village known as Manhattan Plaza. That she’s back in the old neighborhood feels just right.”
- The New York Times
“Camille A. Brown’s energetic, genre-defying choreography explodes off the stage, with dancers regularly appearing as avatars of Ali’s emotions, expressing her feelings better than any words could. All of it comes together to tell the story of a restless city teeming with unfulfilled dreams, a place that will keep moving with or without her but is happy for her to join the dance.”
- Theatermania
“But the most important factor is Brown’s outstanding choreography: Executed gorgeously by an ensemble that includes several dancers she has worked with in the past, the show’s bold and graceful movement summons a world of kinetic energy for Ali to tap into when she is finally able to organize her talent. When Hell’s Kitchen inevitably concludes with “Empire State of Mind,” the song doesn’t feel tacked on, because New York has been keenly felt throughout the show. It may touch on social issues of consequence, but Hell’s Kitchen is ultimately a celebration of the city—and the people who make it pop. ”
- Time Out New York
“Lively, scene-stealing choreography by Camille A. Brown.”
- Entertainment Weekly
“Better yet, choreographer Camille A. Brown adds a high-energy movement suite that manages to be performatively exciting without feeling overly removed from how real teenagers swagger around 10th Avenue after school. The show is a visual blast .. so vibrant in its zest and energy.”
- Daily News
“choreographer Camille A. Brown, whose dances burst with unrestrained youth and Manhattan chutzpah”
- New York Post
“Brown’s choreography—a dazzling mix of social dance, step, and modern—captures the constant, chaotic movement of the city”
- New York Stage Review
“the secret sauce is choreographer Camille A. Brown. While many a show highlights athletic, exuberant street dance in all its forms, Brown is determined to tell story through dance. Her ensemble is never there just to show off, but participates to reflect and extend character. The highlight of much of this Broadway season has been choreography, and Brown’s work ranks among the very best.”
- New York Stage Review
“Choreography by Camille A. Brown is muscular and fun”
-Associated Press
“Brown’s dancers enter with a burst of enthusiasm. it’s a great spectacle of music and motion”
-Vulture
“Camille A. Brown's choreography for the new musical "Hell's Kitchen" is kinetic, athletic and rhythmic. That's not unheard of for the choreographer…But what is particularly fresh for the production…is the New York-ness of Brown's choreography.”
-Broadway News
“That blend of dance languages, that emphasis on ambitious choreography, that translation of culture is all of Camille A. Brown. And it's also New York.”
-Broadway News
“Thrilling choreography…The show features dazzling choreography from Camille A. Brown, who is known for her acclaimed work on the stage in productions like “Choir Boy,” “Once on This Island” and more. The true heartbeat of the show, Brown’s choreography takes us from scene to scene, supercharging the story with energy that impresses all the way to the last seat in the house.”
-The Grio
“fly, fast-footed choreography by Camille A. Brown.” -The Washington Post
“Camille A. Brown continues her meteoric impact on American theater with choreography that is breathtaking and fresh, bringing a sophisticated dance vocabulary to the streets of Hell’s Kitchen with a rigor reminiscent of Jerome Robins bringing ballet to the streets of Bunker Hill in West Side Story”.
-Oskar Eustis
Award Nominations
