If you want to amp up Alicia Keys, the original Girl on Fire, ask her about the young inferno that’s criss-crossing the nation with the “Hell’s Kitchen” tour.

The inferno is Maya Drake, a 2025 graduate of Branham High School in San Jose and alum of Children’s Musical Theater San Jose, who’s been leading the national tour of “Hell’s Kitchen,” the jukebox musical based on Keys’ music,  since it kicked off in October.

“Hell’s Kitchen” stops at the Orpheum Theatre through ATG San Francisco May 6-24. The jukebox musical is built from Keys’ catalogue of R&B and soul hits, a semi-autobiographical story that treks through her Manhattan upbringing.

Drake plays young Ali, a 17-year-old girl growing up in Manhattan Plaza in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood in New York. For Keys, Drake is perfect for the role.

“You’re seeing this young woman literally out of high school, and she not only has that level of maturity and commitment, but also that level of focus and determination, and she’s tiny,” said Keys, who made it clear that Ali is not an autobiographical character, but an amalgamation of many aspects of Keys’ young life. “She’s like the littlest thing and you think a strong wind can blow her over, except it can’t. She’s mighty, and she has this kind of grit and a strong desire to understand Ali’s depth of character.”

Drake’s commitment to grasping every aspect of how to build and perform complicated characters was first forged at San Jose’s Montgomery Theater in 2019. That’s when Drake was cast in her first musical when she was 12, as Erma in the CMT San Jose Rising Stars summer production of “Anything Goes.” In subsequent years, Drake built a resume of lead roles at the company but wasn’t exactly sure if she was ready for a professional audition when her time at CMT San Jose concluded. Fortunately, she decided to give it a shot anyway.

“When I decided to submit an audition for the first time, it wasn’t even that I thought I could book this or be in this show; I didn’t have an agent, I didn’t have anything and I was still in high school,” said Drake, now 19. “I don’t even think that I felt ready, but I just wanted to see what the possibility was.”

Once Drake received a callback and began to train with other Hell’s Kitchen hopefuls, learning all the nuances of the role of Ali, she received a phone call weeks later when home alone. She was informed she’d been hired to play a role that garnered the show one of its two 2024 Tony Awards, out of 13 nominations. Once the tears of shock and joy subsided, it was time for Drake to transition out of performing for fun and into the professional world of commercial theater — not to mention her national tour. That meant diving into a show that Keys and her team made sure was fresh and exciting from the jump.

“We are all about breaking boundaries and breaking norms, creating a new experience,” said Keys, whose team on “Hell’s Kitchen” includes choreographer Camille A. Brown, book writer Kristoffer Diaz and director Michael Greif. “We had enough foundation to be true to the art form, but there was so much disruption. It would be like, ‘No, we can’t do that, Alicia, because the union doesn’t ever let us do that,’ and I’m like, great, how do we figure out what we’re going to do which will solve that? We were truly able to get to the next level because there was this beautiful balance of tradition and complete rebellion.”

Balance has been a key part of how Drake was able to transition from a child performer to a full-blown professional. She strove to be a quick study, soaking up information and tips from other veterans as to how to get through a grueling tour with her voice and all forms of health intact. She admits that she’s never paid much attention to her health, but that is now her No. 1 priority.

“You have to find some normalcy outside of the tour, which is sometimes easier said than done,” Drake said. “I’m a very independent person and doing things by myself is nothing new to me, so it’s just a way I can connect with myself without any distractions. You were a person before the show, and will be a person after the show, so it’s important to protect that person and not wear yourself down with this one job.”

What this one job has done is win her critical acclaim in the country’s major cities who have housed the tour thus far. Chris Jones, the longtime theater critic for the Chicago Tribune, lauded Drake’s performance as one few Broadway performers of her age can handle, declaring Drake was “really amazing” when the tour stopped in Chicago in November.

The homecoming for Drake is something that’s been on her mind for some time. Performing in San Francisco means so many who have been with her since her earliest days get a chance to bask in her glory, seeing a local girl making good and thriving at the highest levels of commercial theater.

“Lots of people from CMT San Jose are coming and that is going to be so exciting and fulfilling for me,” Drake said. “The fact that they are going to get to watch me in this show from the place that quite literally built me up to be the performer and person I have become is super exciting.”

Seeing Drake make it back to her home region is also terribly exciting for Keys, who is bullish on how much she herself loves the Bay Area and can’t wait to return.

“To do all she’s doing just out of high school, touring eight days a week across the country and remain sane and balanced, it’s like whoa, she’s an anomaly, she’s a unicorn,” Keys said. “I’m so happy she’s coming home to be able to show her hometown how freaking brilliant she is. She’s unbelievable, and she was born for this.”

David John Chávez is a former chair of the American Theatre Critics/Journalists Association, a 2020 O’Neill National Critics Institute fellow, and a two-time juror for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama (2022-23). @davidjchavez.bsky.social.

‘HELL’S KITCHEN’

Based on the music and lyrics of Alicia Keys, presented by ATG San Francisco

When: May 6-24

Where: Orpheum Theatre, 1192 Market St., San Francisco

Running time: 2½ hours, with an intermission

Tickets: $69.03-$274.95; us.atgtickets.com