Review: Luke Islam LIVE IN CONCERT at The Cutting Room

For his age, Luke Islam has incredible vocal control, range, and awareness of what he wants. Islam’s solo show at the Cutting Room on Sunday April 28th at 7 pm featured a mix of the Broadway classics he grew up on, and R&B classics (he joked that he’s “entering my R&B era”).

Islam has appeared on screen in The Mighty Ducks (Disney +) , 13 The Musical (Netflix)
 and in the film Theater Camp with Tony award-winning actor Ben Platt. However, at the Cutting Room Islam was all live, connecting with an intimate audience of mostly Gen Z fans. He took a moment to talk about how special the night was before launching into song, saying “I always grew up playing a part, and now I just get to be me.”

Part of being himself included wearing a fabulous outfit. At the start of the show, Islam appeared on stage in a cape, which he took off to reveal a black jumpsuit with a pink frilly neckline. Throughout the show, he showed off his immense vocal range, belting high notes, showcasing his acting chops on character numbers and displaying a wide range of moods.

He shared duets with three very special guest stars who came out to support the young rising star. After talking about how much seeing Wicked, his first ever Broadway show, inspired him to pursue musical theater, Shoshana Bean came out, singing a stunning “For Good”, with Islam taking Glinda’s part and Bean taking Elfie’s. Jennifer Holliday spoke movingly about how she made an effort to be there despite being incredibly busy (of course she’s busy! She’s Jennifer Holliday) because she knows how important it is to support young talent. She spoke about her own start on the Broadway stage at age 17 before appearing in Dreamgirls at 21, before they launched into a duet from the show, “That’s Life.” Islam held his own against the more experienced stars, matching them in power, vocal strength, and stage presence – no easy feat.

Islam spoke throughout the night about just how important it is to be oneself. Towards the end, he sang “You Coulda Knocked Me Over With A Feather” from Shaiman and Whitman’s Some Like It Hot, talking about how inspiring it was that non-binary J. Harrison Ghee won the Tony last year. Islam is already inspiring a whole new generation of musical theater kids to just be themselves – no matter who that is.

Towards the end of the night, the final surprise guest came out – Islam's Theater Camp co-star Ben Platt. They dueted on a moving rendition of Platt's "Carefully."

Islam ended the night on an Ariana Grande song because "everyone can dance to it." As he sang, hundreds of bubbles descended from the ceiling, giving the perfect magical touch to a sweet, strong show.

The evening featured music direction by Darnell White (also on the piano), guitar by Mike Rosengarten, bass by Sean Murphy, drums by Jesse Ray, and Anthony Ware on the sax and flute. It was produced and directed by Islam’s vocal coach, Brooke Procida.

The show was produced and directed by Brooke Procida / Studio PCI @studiopci

Follow Luke online at @thelukeislam.

Photo credit: Ian McQueen @mcian98 

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