Broadway in Tucson Review: 'Hell's Kitchen'

Alicia Keys' autobiographical jukebox musical "Hell's Kitchen" may take a moment to preheat, but once it gets rolling, it truly cooks. The show overcomes a choppy start to hit its stride and sing its story with a gusto to match Keys' pipes.

Maya Drake, a recent high school graduate making her professional debut in the lead role, captures the callow angst of the adolescent version of Keys, known as Ali in the show, whose aimlessness abandon tortures her overbearing mother, Jersey, played by Kennedy Caughell.

If the plot is to be taken at face value, Ali was more than a handful at age 17. Hanging out on the streets, chasing older men and smacking her mom's dinner plates to the floor in frustration gave Jersey sleepless nights. Even as Ali starts to turn a professional corner by channeling her teen angst into her musical skills, she distances herself and becomes even less appreciative of her mother's efforts to protect her.

This dynamic sets up an emotional reckoning for both characters. Piano teacher Liza Jane (Roz White) and Ali's absentee father, Davis (Desmond Sean Ellington) represent fleeting parental figures who register in similarly powerful denouements. 

The Tuesday performance thrived despite operating with one major strike against it. Technical difficulties caused a 30-minute delay shortly after the show started. By the time the curtain raised again, the crowd had thinned out noticeably. There was little energy for the performers to feed off of.

It's a testament to the cast's professionalism that the show managed to pick up steam immediately once the musical resumed. The spell was quickly and decisively cast among the crowd, which sprang to life in unbridled appreciation of the thundrous choreo and soaring musical numbers. The crowd culling may have even helped the atmosphere in the long run. With the weak-willed, less-interested portion of the patrons absent, the diehards got to take over the tone, supercharging its half of the cast-audience interplay. 

Clever projections intersperse names of settings into the background staging, which comes alive with incredibly energeticand athletic 1990s-flavored. FUBU-cad hip hop b-boy numbers. This love letter to the glory days of 90s hip hop recalls the era when there was still plenty of "hop"in the equation.

It also helps that the musical is somewhat backloaded, building momentum as Keys' best-known hits start to trickle out before surging. Drake's caged bird-like rendition of "Girl on Fire" kicks the energy into a high gear. Why the musical isn't named after that anthem, and instead takes the rather generic moniker that has already been brand-worn by the Gordon Ramsay reality cooking show franchise, is tough to fathom. Other standouts are Ellington's half-spoken word version of "Fallin,'" a chills-inducing "If I Ain't Got You" and the bottom-of-Drake's-lungs belting of "Empire State of Mind."  

On its national tour, the show has proven well that it can indeed make it anywhere. Even in Tucson when its equipment takes a while to work right.

"Hell's Kitchen" plays through Sunday at Centennial Hall. Buy tickets here.

Book Report: 'Breaking Twitter: Elon Musk and the Most Controversial Corporate Takeover in History'

Breaking Twitter: Elon Musk and the Most Controversial Corporate Takeover in History by Ben Mezrich

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The thesis of the book goes that as Elon broke Twitter, it ended up breaking him. Delving into the corporate room-where-it-happened intrigue with the gusto he showed in Dumb Money, Ben Mezrich sifts through the flaming mess that transformed Twitter into X while painting a portrait of a mad king who loses his guardrails and spirals into mass corporate culture destruction.

Ripping through rumors and innuendo by verifying facts with those in the know, Mezrich constructs a fevered narrative. Employees who felt as though they've made it have their livelihoods ripped away at Musk's cost-cutting whims. Some seize opportunities that arise from the chaos and become Musk darlings as their bosses are rendered obsolete.

Although the book is indeed a nasty hit piece on Musk, it also dollops sympathy upon the antihero. A sketch of a Musk who faces humiliation at a comedy standup show, as well as a poll about whether he should step down as CEO backfiring, paints a master of the universe constantly swinging at insecurities that tower over even his monstrous wealth. No matter how rich or powerful he may be, Musk appears to be a little boy lost, struggling for fleeting self-affirmation with his latest bag of toys.

At large, the book is an elegy for the Twitter heyday. It took me back to the platform's early days, when it allowed me to develop a cadre of fast-moving, going-places friends and associates. It allowed me to overshare, connect with celebrities, go viral, amass followers and beam with satisfaction when I received the fabled blue check. And of course, it allowed me to relive the sting of having not only the check taken away at Musk's whim, but watching the community implode and dissipate.

Twitter may be broken, and so may be Elon, but both will no doubt continue to make lasting impacts in their new, bizarre forms. The book, then, is something of a preamble. Act two should be a doozy.





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Early Game Review: 'EA Sports Madden NFL 27'

 

Madden NFL 27 Review: The Persona Engine Breathes Real Life Into EA’s Gridiron Franchise

For years, the annual Madden release cycle has felt like a game of incremental gains—a yards-after-contact tweak here, a menu redesign there. With Madden NFL 27, Electronic Arts finally delivers the ground-up overhaul players have been demanding. Powered by the ambitious new Persona Engine, a revamped physical gameplay model, and a significantly expanded single-player journey, this year’s installment stands as one of the most complete and satisfying football experiences in recent memory.

Franchise Mode: A Living, Reactive League

The undeniable centerpiece of Madden NFL 27 is the Persona Engine. Far from a superficial marketing buzzword, this foundational system embeds unique "Persona DNA" and over 65 distinct personality traits into every player across the league.

Franchise Mode is no longer just a static spreadsheet simulator. Players now react dynamically based on career motivations, recent team performance, and contract statuses. Star athletes will hold out for guaranteed cash, demand trades over usage rates, or prioritize chasing a ring with a contender over a payday on a rebuilding team. The new Free Agency Frenzy introduces simultaneous bidding wars, multi-session contract negotiations, void years, and no-trade clauses, making front-office decisions feel like a high-stakes chess match. Combined with Scott Hanson’s enhanced weekly recaps and halftime reports, Franchise Mode finally feels like a living, breathing NFL ecosystem.

Turf Mechanics & Physicality

On the field, Madden NFL 27 dials up authentic NFL physicality. The highlight on offense and defense is the redesigned WR/DB interaction system. Battle for separation now features true hand-fighting, jostling, and leverage mechanics on every route. Timing-based catching and deepened contested catch mechanics give users far more leverage in 50-50 ball situations.

Short-yardage situations have also received long-overdue attention. New short-yardage mechanics—including dedicated plays like the "Tush Push"—make earning that critical third-and-one feel earned rather than random. Add in Dynamic Weather with mid-game rain transitions and progressive field degradation that impacts player stamina and footing, and every stadium environment presents its own tactical challenges.

Superstar & Ultimate Team Improvements

Outside of Franchise, the G.O.A.T. Career Journey in Superstar Mode offers a much deeper progression path. Tracing your player's rise from high school to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the mode introduces expanded skill trees across core, mental, physical, and specialty archetypes. New playable positions (including Tight End, Defensive Line, and Safety) and the interactive "Sphere of Influence" narrative mechanics give every career run distinct personal stakes.

Meanwhile, Madden Ultimate Team (MUT) receives structural refinements. The new EVO Items upgrade system allows players to earn skill points through in-game objectives to boost their favorite cards. Building around dedicated "Ultimate Captains" creates clearer synergy and team-building focus.

Visual Spectacle & Presentation

Presentation hits a new high watermark. EA has leaned into team-specific stadium traditions, incorporating signatures like Denver’s pregame skydivers and Jaxson de Ville’s zip-line entrances in Jacksonville. Combined with seasonal broadcast packages, pregame drone shows, and new "Secondary Motion" physics for dynamic mouthpieces and helmet gear, Sundays in Madden 27 feel like genuine event television.

Minor flaws do remain: canned commentary can still repeat during long seasons, and hyper-dense collision moments occasionally trigger strange physics ragdolls. However, these small hiccups rarely detract from the broader achievement.

Verdict

By putting player personalities at the heart of Franchise Mode and delivering genuine physical leverage on the field, Madden NFL 27 represents a massive leap forward for the series. It is an essential gridiron experience for hardcore simulation fans and casual football enthusiasts alike.

Publisher provided review code.