On Tuesday evening, Jan. 13, I was at the Aronoff Center for the opening night of the tour of this recent (2024) Broadway hit. With a score of music and tunes by Hip-Hop and R&B star Alicia Keys, it drew a young, diverse audience that appreciated how her music was woven into this semi-autobiographical show. The tour’s five leading performers all have powerful voices, and Maya Drake as Ali (the 17-year-old character rooted in Keys’ own life), herself a recent high school grad, anchors the show with moves and vocals that do justice to the score. The strong women in Ali’s life — her mother Jersey and her piano-playing mentor Miss Liza Jane — get powerful vocal performances by Kennedy Caughell and Roz White. An athletic set of performers make up a non-stop Hip-Hop dance ensemble.
You can read more about this engaging production, with performances continuing through Jan. 25, on my Facebook page, Rick Pender’s Theater Stages & Scenes. Photo by Marc J. Franklin
