“An incredibly beautiful celebration of musical theatre, resilience, and personal growth.“
As an award-winning and critically acclaimed performer, Shanay Holmes’s debut solo concert in collaboration with Chris Poon and the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra was bound to be mesmerising, but no one in the audience could have been prepared for the spell binding evening that unfurled.
Though billed as Shanay performing the musical theatre songs which had shaped her career to date, this concert was truly about Shanay embodying all the cumulative energy from her life and sharing it with her audience in the most beautiful light.
Shanay was flying from the very first words she sang, lifted on a bed of luscious string writing in a beautiful arrangement of The Sound of Music (The Sound of Music), her grandmother’s favourite musical. This was followed by Maybe This Time (Cabaret), where my friend exclaimed to me during the rapturous applause that ‘she sounds like a Disney princess!’. How fitting then, for Shanay to then speak about the impact Disney had on her concept of sound as a young child, and to perform A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes (Cinderella).
The uniqueness of her pop influenced voice fits perfectly within the world of classical musical theatre and was such a delight to listen to. It was so special to hear Shanay perform such a varied repertoire in concert, where she maintained the integrity and context of every piece she performed, whilst simultaneously making each song her own. This was particularly pertinent in her performances of Michael Jackson’s Smile, Burt Bacharach’s Alfie, Whitney Houston’s I Will Always Love You, and Where Is Love (Oliver!)
Everyone in the room was mesmerised by the sheer authenticity of her musicality, which was evident by the three standing ovations she had and the demand for two encores. It was so joyous to see an audience member perform a spontaneous standing ovation in the middle of the concert, after she performed a fantastic rendition of Bob Marley’s Waiting In Vain (originally sung by Shanay as Cindy Breakspeare, a role which she created, in Get Up Stand Up!).
Shanay’s performance at Cadogan was an exciting window into her upcoming debut album, Becoming, which is available for pre-order now and due to be released 16th October 2026. Shanay writes that her debut album is about ‘…finding connection, purpose and the courage to keep believing despite adversity’, a message which was embedded and felt so deeply by every audience member that night. What a transcendent experience.