Hell's Kitchen's Maleah Joi Moon on the Matriarchs That Guided Her to Tony Victory

Maleah Joi Moon, the 21-year-old actress who made her professional debut as the star of Alicia Keys’ Hell’s Kitchen, walked away from her first Broadway season with a Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical.

“This is the biggest dream come true,” she said to The Broadway Show in the Tony Awards press room after accepting her trophy. “I was just so honored to be in the category with those wonderful women who I get to now call my friends and my colleagues.” Those women included past Tony Award winners Maryann Plunkett (The Notebook) and Kelli O’Hara (Days of Wine and Roses)—O’Hara coming to the ceremony as an eight-time nominee. But Moon’s performance as Ali, a budding artist and rebellious teen coming of age in New York City, was the one that stole the season.

In her acceptance speech, Moon dedicated the award to her parents: “Hell’s Kitchen is about a 17-year-old on the cusp of a dream. I can’t imagine how many dreams deferred, how many sacrifices you made to give me the life I have today.” She shared more with The Broadway Show after leaving the stage. “My mom is my biggest influence. She’s my glue. She’s my best friend,” Moon said of her mother, Fabia Jeffries, who immigrated to the States from Belize. “She came here when she was 17. Ali is 17. And I think that’s such a beautiful coincidence.”

Moon also couldn’t ignore the connection between her real mother and Hell’s Kitchen’s fictional one, Jersey, inspired by Keys’ mother. “At its heart, Hell’s Kitchen is a mother-daughter love story,” she said. “Alicia oftentimes talks about how the parallel between Jersey and her mother—the common thread is that both of them had to give up on their dreams in a way, or defer their dreams, so that their kids could have the best life that they could possibly have.”

Self-sacrifice, however, is only one of the ways mothering has appeared in Moon’s life this season. Her Broadway experience has been filled with maternal figures assuming the roles of guide and mentor. She’s gotten close with Shoshana Bean, who plays the overprotective Jersey and has taught Moon how to manage the grind of an eight-show week; Kecia Lewis, who won a Tony for her performance as Ali’s piano teacher Miss Liza Jane, claims the title of backstage “Mama” to Moon and the cast, reading the young performer's mood at every performance; and Keys herself has taken Moon under her wing since the start of her Hell’s Kitchen journey. “She's one of the most down-to-earth, protective people I've ever met in my life,” the actress said of Keys while holding her Tony Award. “She's so special about energy and spirit and livelihood. And she always reminds me about what really matters, which is the present.”

“It truly takes a village,” Moon adds, acknowledging all the people who contributed to this life and career milestone. “I hope I make them proud by holding this.”