Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
They honestly dont even have to be that good (Im looking at you,Hinterland).
Then she walked it back: I dont want you to now quote me and say Im reinventing Broadway.
Brown, andHells Kitchendoes sometimes have a shiny, focus-grouped quality.
Its a funny experience seeing the machinery thats moving you and being moved nonetheless.
It does, however, take a little while beforeHells Kitchenreally starts to cook.
The shows establishing beats are its most stale, which makes sense given the textbook coming-of-age premise.
That so few of Keyss pre-existing hits stick out in this way is impressive.
Act One mostly belongs to the girl-meets-boy plot.
Given thatHells Kitchencontinues to check narrative boxes all along the line, what catches us?
Mostly, its Lewis and Moon.
From opposite ends of the career spectrum, these two performers absolutely carry the show.
It can float, soft and clear and impeccably controlled, and it can plummet to the lower depths.
Shes rooted and unshakable, and she succeeds in shaking us.
And then theres the 21-year-old Moon, whos making her professional debut as Ali with sparkling passion and ease.
As Alis estranged parents, Bean and Dixon also bring loads of vocal power and variety to the show.
They take Keyss remarkable solo work and fill it out, expanding its feeling of context and community.
Hells Kitchenis at the Public Theater through January 14.
