Jessica Vosk feels like she’s been “hit by a lot of double-decker buses.” But, in a good way. Not only is she about to kick off a week of performances as Jersey in Alicia Keys’ Hell's Kitchen on Broadway, but she is also navigating the euphoric mental fog of someone newly engaged. Having said yes to now-fiancé Dave Godar the night before this video shoot, Vosk said she drove into Manhattan with her eyes fixed on the sapphire sparkler on her finger.

“I feel, at any moment,” she says, still obviously in shock. “If I die, at least we’re all together.” Watch the latest episode of Playbill's Getting Ready series, where Vosk gets ready for a performance of Hell's Kitchen, and reveals which candy got her through Wicked’s difficult first act.

When it comes to channeling the way she’s feeling into her upcoming performance, Vosk first speaks to her character’s complexity. Hell’s Kitchen is a semi-autobiographical musical following 17-year-old Ali (Amanda Reid) as she falls into first love with older boy Knuck (Phillip Johnson Richardson) and the piano–all under the watchful eye of her overprotective mother. Jersey is inspired by Keys’ mother, a paralegal and part-time actor who raised Keys on her own in Hell’s Kitchen’s Manhattan Plaza.

“When I read the script,” Vosk says. “I just remember thinking, ‘Okay, there’s a journey here.’ This story is about a mom and a daughter, but there’s got to be some kind of nuance because moms can be many things at once.” Reflecting on her own “pretty awful” high school demeanor, Vosk found herself struck by realization that, while her mom often “wanted to kill” her, she also would have “[killed] someone for me.”

It’s this double-edged tenderness and ferocity in that mother-daughter love that Vosk captures so beautifully in her portrayal of Jersey (though she credits the iciness of Jersey’s glare to her meticulously microbladed eyebrows). And it doesn’t hurt that Vosk has some of the best breath-control in the business, showing seven times a week why her sound check for “The Wizard and I” as Elphaba during Wicked's 2018 tour frequently goes viral. Though Vosk jokes her lungs take up most of her 5’3” frame, she is quick to credit the versatility of Keys’ iconic music as the true backbone of Hell’s Kitchen.

“Her music lends itself so much to musical theatre,” Vosk asserts. “To sing her music is really the honor of a lifetime. People could make them so much their own and embellish. I’m a little bit more of an opposite girl. The songs...stand on their own.”

Having taken a three-week leave of absence from Hell’s Kitchen earlier in the summer, Vosk herself is standing stronger on the stage. An injury to one of the discs in her spine got progressively worse, leading Vosk to get two epidurals and a nerve blocker in her back just to make it onto the stage to the end of her Hell’s Kitchen contract. When her pain was no longer manageable, Vosk made the difficult decision to step away from the show. Vosk had never had an injury in a show, nor had she needed to take a leave of absence before. While facing the reality “sucked,” it was the team at Hell’s Kitchen that gave her the peace of mind she needed to rest and recover.

“My standby Kelsee Kimmel is amazing,” Vosk says. “She slays. [She has a] voice from the gods. That’s the thing you have to be most grateful for as an actor. Thank God somebody is there who is so capable while [I’m] gone.”

Back in Jersey’s ballet flats (she was wearing heels pre-surgery, but alas…) and brown blazers, Vosk is enjoying the start of her “MILF era.”

“Sure, I might be [playing] a working mom,” Vosk says of Jersey. “What, does that mean that I’m not attractive?” Citing Jennifer Coolidge, Reba McEntire, and Keys as “MILF-spirations,” Vosk is embracing (what she calls) her “neck vagina” and rolling her eyes at those who warn her that pursed lips from singing will give her fine lines. “Screw you,” she says playfully. “I don’t even have time to care if I’m doing that with my mouth.”

No, with her Broadway schedule, physical therapy, and now wedding planning, Vosk doesn’t have time for any noise. For now, she’s going to “let [her] body part be [her] body part,” celebrate this next chapter with her “forever boyfriend,” and embellish just enough to ensure Hell’s Kitchen audiences are having a fun night at the theatre.

To hear two spectacular riffs and why playing Beaches’ CeCe Bloom is the toughest gig Vosk has had to date, check out the latest episode of Playbill’s Getting Ready.

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Photos: Jessica Vosk Backstage at Hell's Kitchen

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