BACKGROUND
Before I started working on this blog and chose to review various Disney Channel Original Movies, I had thought that I was aware of pretty much every DCOM musical that has existed.
I’d watched the biggest Disney Channel musicals, like all the High School Musical films, the Cheetah Girls trilogy, and both Camp Rocks, the ones that everyone knows about and still talk about. I’d also watched some of the lesser-known ones, like StarStruck (2010).
Around 2011 though, I decided I was too old to be watching Disney Channel and moved away from it. By the time Disney+ had come out, I found myself catching up with the DCOM musicals that I had missed, like Descendants and ZOMBIES, though.
However, I discovered that there was a gap in my Disney Channel musical knowledge that spanned from 2011 to 2015. I’d remembered seeing Lemonade Mouth (2011) heavily advertised as I was starting to move away from Disney Channel and chose not to watch it. I had some awareness of what was out afterwards, like the Teen Beach films and Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure (2011) – and I eventually made myself watch them in order to write reviews of them – but I was completely unaware of one musical: Let It Shine.
Let It Shine was released in 2012, so the timeframe explains why I had not seen it advertised – because I wasn’t watching Disney Channel at the time. But why I hadn’t known it had even existed until very recently, I have no idea. I can only assume that it is because Let It Shine did not become one of the hugely iconic and popular DCOMs. It has a group of very dedicated fans, but it did not reach mainstream DCOM fame like High School Musical.
The reason it is so beloved by its fans though is because it is relatively unique, both in terms of its story and its musical genre. After making musicals that felt very safe, or very similar to High School Musical, Disney Channel decided to take some risks with their musicals in the early 2010s. Lemonade Mouth was inspired by the 80s film The Breakfast Club (1985) for example, and has some rock infused into its soundtrack. Teen Beach Movie in 2013 was inspired by 60s musical movies like Beach Blanket Bingo (1965).
Let It Shine was released in the middle of these two films, and was inspired by the French play Cyrano de Bergerac. Bit of a random story basis, but what really spoke to the young people of the day was not its plotline, although it was modernised well. It was the musical genres of rap, hip-hop, and even gospel, that make this film really stand out.
PLOT
Let It Shine begins at a Sunday morning church service, where the church choir are in the middle of singing a hymn. However, the choir, and the choir director, teenage Cyrus DeBarge, decide to liven up the hymn, by putting their own spin on it, adding in more of a contemporary feel to it, with rap lyrics. The congregation love it, even if the pastor does not.
The pastor, Jacob, his wife, Gail, and their son return home after church – and we learn that the pastor’s son is Cyrus. He is given a lecture about his responsibilities as the choir director, being told that rap does not belong in a house of worship and is not to be included in the choir’s singing ever again. This is non-negotiable.
That evening, Cyrus chooses to sneak out to an underground rap club, called the Off the Street club, where he works as a busboy, being able to watch all the rap battles that take place there. Cyrus meets up with his friend Kris, who is chatting up a group of girls, something that Cyrus doesn’t have the confidence to do. A rap battle begins between rappers Da Boss and Lord of Da Bling, with Da Bling winning. Da Bling is cocky and arrogant, believing him to be the best rapper that ever existed.
After the battle, Cyrus is tripped up whilst carrying a tray of food and drinks, accidentally spilling it on Da Bling. Cyrus calls Da Bling out on his lacklustre rap lyrics, as Da Bling attempts to insult him, leading to Da Bling getting up on stage and challenging Cyrus to a battle. Cyrus doesn’t have the confidence to go up against Da Bling and walks away.
Kris and Cyrus head home together after this and discuss his confidence issues. Kris says if he made some changes to his appearance, he’d feel so much better about himself. Wow, thanks for the pep talk! Inside, Kris and Cyrus turn on the TV to watch a music show. They see their childhood friend, now famous singer Roxie, on the show, who is promoting a new music video. She also announces a competition that she is running, inviting amateur artists to submit songs. The winner will get their song produced by Roxie’s record company and made as a music video. They will be announced on live TV. Inspired by this competition, Cyrus spends days writing his song for the contest, knowing that his friend Kris is also going to submit a song. Cyrus’s song is his sole focus for the next few days, but he successfully submits “Don’t Run Away”, submitting it under the pseudonym Truth.
Having spent many hours on this song, Cyrus then ends up oversleeping and running late for church. On arriving, he hears his father giving a sermon about the young people of today, and how they are too tired to come to church on Sunday mornings. He goes on to say the youth dress poorly, and that they spend too much time at the rap clubs on Saturday nights, meaning they don’t want to go to church the next morning. Cyrus sits there awkwardly, knowing he goes to that rap club downtown and hides it from his father.
Meanwhile, Roxie is listening to songs for her contest, coming across the song by Truth. She likes the song, and sees the photograph submitted alongside it, realising she knows both the boys in it. Yes, for some reason, Cyrus chose to send a picture of both him and Kris to go alongside his song. Couldn’t he have just cut Kris out of it? Roxie goes to show her manager, Lyla, and notices she is hiding a magazine from her. Roxie has had some negative press recently, around her style and singing abilities. They change the subject by stating that Truth is the winner of Roxie’s contest. Looking at the photo, they assume Kris must be Truth, either because he seems to be the most confident or because he is the first boy in the photo. See, Cyrus, I said you should’ve cut him out!
Roxie then arrives at the Off the Street club to announce Truth as the winner. Kris is approached, and told he is the winner, although the name “Truth” is not mentioned. Cyrus can’t believe Kris’s song would’ve beaten his, and is devastated. Roxie comes over to Kris and Cyrus, saying Kris looks great and that Cyrus looks exactly the same as he did in Third Grade. Nice. Cyrus attempts to complement Roxie, but makes it really awkward… Roxie focuses back on Kris, saying that it seemed his song was about her, and that she loved it. Roxie goes up on stage to perform for the adoring crowd.
After her song, Roxie announces Truth as the official winner of the contest, confusing Kris, who has never heard that name before. Cyrus tells Kris he is Truth, realising they must’ve gotten mixed up about who was who because he sent in a photo of both him and Kris to go along with his song entry. Kris says they’ll need to sort this out quickly, but then Da Bling arrives, trying to show up Kris, or Truth, for his rapping. Da Bling starts on Roxie next, with Lyla deciding it’s time to leave now. The club owner Levi comes over, amazed at Kris’s abilities. Cyrus tells Levi it was his song that actually won, and goes out to tell Roxie the truth. However, outside, he sees Roxie and Kris hugging and posing for photos. Roxie even kisses Kris on the cheek. Kris comes over to Cyrus and says Roxie is the girl for him, wanting to be the deep, sensitive man she thinks he is. He begs Cyrus for his help in winning her over, with Cyrus admitting they ought to just let Kris pretend to be Truth if that is the case and he really wants to be with her. Before Roxie leaves, she invites Kris to the studio to re-record his song tomorrow. Kris says Cyrus will be coming along too, as his DJ.
The next day, at the recording studio, Kris realises that Cyrus will need to actually record the song somehow, otherwise they’ll be rumbled. Cyrus takes Kris into an elevator, and tries to get him to rap like him. Funnily enough, these few seconds of rap training don’t help. They are interrupted by Lyla anyway, who says they are running late, as are Roxie and the sound engineer. This gives Cyrus and Kris the perfect opportunity to begin recording the song in the studio on their own, after Lyla is sufficiently convinced that Cyrus knows how to be a sound engineer in a real studio. But she warns them not to break anything.
The two get to work, having Kris lip sync as Cyrus stands in the background actually performing the song. Roxie comes by, and Cyrus quickly ducks out of view. Roxie greets Kris, saying she heard him performing and thought he sounded great. Roxie once again asks if Kris wrote his song about her. Kris plays it cool, asking what she thinks. She thinks that the song is going to blow up, and that they’ll have to record a song together. She asks him to freestyle rap in front of her, but his rap is shallow and pretty bad. Cyrus overhears this, and speaks into the microphone, so only Kris can hear what he is saying through his headphones. Cyrus gives Kris the perfect rap lyrics to charm Roxie. Roxie’s phone rings and she leaves the room. Kris tells Cyrus all the plans Roxie has for him, making Cyrus jealous. Roxie then comes back, and Cyrus is the one she sees in the room, but she only sees his silhouette and doesn’t twig it’s not Kris. Cyrus raps for her, in the darkness, as Kris stays hidden. Roxie comes into the booth, so the two boys quickly switch places. Cyrus shows up in the studio, surprising Roxie who didn’t even know he was here. Ouch.
Cyrus shows up late to choir practice the next day, seeing his mother leading the choir instead. He tells his mother he’s here now so she can leave. Two of the singers ask Cyrus if they can spice up the song again, like they did last time. However, Cyrus senses his father behind him and quickly says they won’t be doing that ever again.
Back at the studio, Roxie sees Cyrus working on something and asks what it is. He says he’s working on a duet for her and Kris. She likes what she’s hearing so far. After their session, Lyla says Kris needs to change up his look ready for his big debut. She says the rap Grand Slam contest are looking for a headline act, and they want Roxie. She seems uncertain about performing there; however, Cyrus reassures her that she’ll be great.
Cyrus later goes to the rap club and apologises to Levi for missing work the other night. He says things have just been crazy lately. Levi has already guessed it’s got something to do with Roxie. Cyrus admits he hasn’t told Roxie that he is actually Truth, wanting to be a good friend to Kris. Levi says this is just an excuse for Cyrus to never admit his true feelings so that he doesn’t have to risk being rejected. He has been hiding in the shadows from everyone, like his father and Da Bling, and shouldn’t be doing that anymore. Levi encourages Cyrus to be more true to himself. With this in mind, Cyrus starts to practice rapping on the rap club stage whilst the club is empty.
The next day, Roxie arrives at the club to meet Kris, and sees Cyrus rapping on the stage. He quickly stops what he’s doing and claims he was just lip syncing to one of Kris’s old tracks. Roxie says she was here to meet Kris, but he isn’t going to make it now. Cyrus offers to grab a bite to eat with her instead. As they head off, Cyrus tells Roxie not to listen to the negative press around her, and asks if she’s got some new music in the pipeline, knowing she has always had a big voice from her time singing at church as a child. The two go on to have dinner, and they discuss their love of music in general. Surprisingly, Roxie finds she has quite a lot in common with Cyrus. They continue their evening together, and stumble across a rap battle in progress, between rappers Phantom and Revelation. Revelation ends up winning. Da Bling then goes up to try and defeat Revelation, seeing Roxie and Cyrus watching. Da Bling again bothers both of them, saying he’ll be the only real artist performing at the Grand Slam soon. They walk away from Da Bling, and talk about Cyrus’s parents and the church instead.
On Sunday morning, Cyrus is surprised but happy to see Roxie at the church. He encourages Roxie to sing the opening song. It’s clear she loved performing it; however, the good feeling soon dissipates as Pastor Jacob starts his sermon, talking about “hip-hop-crisy”, and how certain people seem to only go to God when it is convenient. This was clearly all a shot at Roxie, for her new pop star image, and she walks out embarrassed. That evening, Gail tells her husband that he will be sleeping on the couch tonight after what he said at church that day. He tries to defend himself by saying that Roxie is what is wrong with music today, but his wife simply says all he did was pick on a young girl in front of everyone. Pastor Jacob tells Gail there will be no further discussion, and she agrees, walking inside.
The next morning, Cyrus sees his father waking up after spending a night on the sofa. He heads out for the day, telling his father he has to run some errands. Gail then comes in and says she read in the paper that Roxie will be at the rap club today for the filming of a new music video, so it’s the perfect time for Jacob to apologise to her…
At the club, Kris arrives excited for his music video, as does Roxie. Roxie invites Kris to go to a museum exhibition with her later, but Kris says he had plans to go to a movie marathon tonight. Inside, Lyla tells Kris that he is going to be able to perform with Roxie at the Grand Slam, however, he will have to rap live and cannot lip sync. He doesn’t seem to realise the issue that could be, until Cyrus takes him aside. Kris tells Cyrus to figure it out, knowing that whatever happens, he’s getting famous and all the girls will love him soon. Cyrus is confused, thinking he likes Roxie, but Kris says he wants more than just one girl.
Kris is then distracted by filming his high-budget music video for Truth’s song. He is told that his lip syncing is a little bit off and they’ll need to fix that. Cyrus asks Roxie how things are going with Kris, to which she says she doesn’t know if she is even good enough for Kris. This comes as a shock to Cyrus who knows Kris is faking being Truth, and can’t believe what he is hearing. Their conversation is paused by the arrival of Cyrus’s father. Cyrus’s father apologises to Roxie for what he said the other day, and she accepts his apology. He sees Cyrus and asks what he is doing at the club, learning that Cyrus has been secretly working there. He demands that Cyrus come home with him right now, but Cyrus refuses. He is told by his father they’ll deal with this later. Back at home, Jacob learns Gail already knew about Cyrus’s secret job.
Cyrus finally comes home, and is confronted by his father, who tells Cyrus he will not be returning to the rap club, and will only focus on the church choir. Cyrus’s mother tells Jacob that Cyrus is talented and it shouldn’t matter what genre of music he likes. Cyrus commits to his father’s punishment, but can’t ignore all the publicity surrounding Kris. He also randomly learns that Da Bling is a taxi driver. Meanwhile, Jacob reads his son’s songs.
One morning, Roxie comes to Cyrus’s house to see him, wanting to talk to him about Kris. She says things aren’t going so well between her and Kris, not understanding how he can write such amazing love songs, but is nothing like that in person, struggling to find a deeper connection when they just talk. Roxie and Cyrus head into a record store, and talk about their favourite songs and music again. Cyrus says Roxie should take inspiration from this, and record some new music. Roxie doesn’t believe her record label would like that. The two lean in to kiss, before Roxie says Kris is taking her to a jazz museum, so she has to go.
That night, Cyrus turns up at the rap club, and sees Kris flirting with a group of girls, having just taken Roxie on that date. The two begin arguing. Cyrus does not like Kris messing around with Roxie’s feelings. Kris hits back by saying Cyrus needs to get his plan in place ready for their Grand Slam performance tomorrow. Cyrus tells Kris he will never be a good rapper, with Kris stating Cyrus is too scared to ever do anything with his talent. A fight ensues, which is soon broken up by Levi. Cyrus leaves, saying Kris is on his own tomorrow. Later, Cyrus comes home, angry at Kris, but also feeling guilty. He admits to his mother that Kris is not Truth, and that he is, knowing he can’t leave Kris to fend for himself tomorrow.
Cyrus is about to head out to the Grand Slam the next morning, telling his father it is important and he is going. Jacob tells Cyrus he knows where he is going, and that he actually likes Cyrus’s songs, despite them being rap songs, because they have good messages related to good Christian values. Jacob admits he has been too hard on his son. They all decide to go to the Grand Slam together.
Roxie is getting ready for her performance at the venue; however, she tells Lyla that she hates the gimmicky costume she’s been put in. She wants to go back to using her own voice and having her own style, regardless of what the business might want – and tonight is the night to make those changes. Kris is also getting ready for the show, but he is incredibly nervous, thinking Cyrus has abandoned him. Cyrus comes backstage to reassure him he will help him get through the show today. Kris admits everything Cyrus said was right, and that he should never have pretended to be Truth, but only did it because he was jealous. Kris knows Cyrus should be with Roxie and they agree they need to make this right tonight.
The Grand Slam is introduced by the host, stating that the final two rappers are ready to face off against each other tonight. The final rappers are Revelation and Lord of Da Bling. But first, there will be a performance from Roxie and Truth. Cyrus sees Roxie backstage with her new, more natural look, and says she should just be herself tonight.
Roxie begins her song, which Lyla loves. She asks Kris if he is ready to go on, but Cyrus gets ready instead, confusing her. Roxie introduces Truth – and Cyrus turns out to be the one standing there. Roxie is stunned, not understanding what Kris and Cyrus’s plan was, feeling betrayed and misled by the two guys. Cyrus attempts to rap an apology to her, but Roxie doesn’t want to hear it. She leaves the stage after finishing up the song. Cyrus chases after her backstage, trying to talk to her. Roxie refuses to forgive either of them. She is told she needs to present the trophy to the winning rapper. She says Truth should do it instead.
Cyrus goes up on stage to deliver the trophy to Da Bling who was the big winner. Da Bling jokes about how the busboy at the club just presented him with his trophy, not even shining it up properly for him. Da Bling continues his insults, winding Cyrus up to the point where he challenges him to a rap battle in front of everyone, right here, right now. Da Bling continues with his usual comments about how weak and shaken Cyrus is, and has always been. It seems that Da Bling is winning the battle, however, Cyrus delivers the blow, stating that he knows Da Bling is just a cab driver, and has kept up a fake image to look like he’s a rich somebody, revealing the truth to the crowd. Cyrus is declared the real winner.
After the show, Kris goes to Roxie, who is about to head off in her limo. He reiterates how sorry he and Cyrus are, with Cyrus only doing what he did because Kris wanted him to; it wasn’t Cyrus’s idea to trick her. Anyway, Roxie was the one to assume that someone who looks like Cyrus could never be a big star rapper. She can’t deny that… Kris tells Roxie that she is meant to be with Cyrus because he is the real man she’s been looking for.
Shortly after, Kris comes over to Cyrus and his family outside church, wanting to join them today. They are all stopped by the arrival of a limo. Roxie comes out of the car, and shows that she wants to start over with Cyrus. Roxie joins Cyrus in performing with the church choir at the service that day, pepping up everyone in the room, including Cyrus’s dad.
CHARACTERS & CAST
Cyrus DeBarge is a quiet, shy teenager, seriously lacking in confidence and self-esteem. He has a real love for music, especially rap, and enjoys writing songs and lyrics in his spare time. He even works at a rap club as a busboy, where he gets to silently judge all the would-be and wannabe rappers who battle there, knowing he is better than all of them, but not having the belief to go up and battle himself. Cyrus compares himself to his confident best friend Kris, who doesn’t have a problem speaking his mind, wanting to be more like him. He also struggles to cope with his father’s expectations of him, and balancing that with his hopes for the church choir. When the rap contest comes around, Cyrus knows this is the perfect opportunity to show what he can do, and it might even give him the chance to reconnect with a childhood friend, Roxie, who he has always liked. Cyrus doesn’t believe in himself though, and submits the song under the name Truth, along with a photo of him and Kris, leading to Roxie to simply assume Kris must be Truth and not Cyrus. Cyrus doesn’t enjoy seeing Kris take credit for his work, or like seeing him get close to the girl he likes because of that work, however, Cyrus is an incredibly loyal friend to Kris, wanting to help him win over Roxie. In the end, Cyrus gets fed up with Kris taking him and Roxie for granted, but just can’t bring himself to leave him to look embarrassed at the Grand Slam performance, so he shows up, wanting to help. But Kris wants Cyrus to finally get the credit he deserves and reveal himself as Truth. The big reveal doesn’t go as planned though and he winds up hurting the girl he loves. Thankfully, Roxie sees sense and realises Cyrus is the perfect guy for her. Cyrus’s father also starts to see that Cyrus has a musical gift, and it doesn’t matter what type of music he writes, knowing his son will always be true to himself and his values.
Cyrus DeBarge was played by Tyler James Williams. Prior to Let It Shine, he was known for portraying comedian Chris Rock in the semi-autobiographical sitcom Everybody Hates Chris (2005-09). He went on to star as Jake Harrison in the rom-com The Wedding Year (2019) with Sarah Hyland, as well as playing Lester Young in The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021). In television, Tyler James Williams was cast in the recurring role of Noah in Season 5 of The Walking Dead (2010-22), before landing the role of Gregory Eddie in the ABC sitcom Abbott Elementary (2021-present), created by co-star Quinta Brunson.
Roxanne Andrews, mostly known as Roxie, is Cyrus and Kris’s love interest. She was a childhood friend of theirs, having grown up in Atlanta with them, before moving away. She went on to become a famous singer, however, she has had some negative comments levelled at her for her bright, fancy fashion style and for her synthesised vocals in her music. Roxie is being managed by Lyla, who knows what is best for her if she wants to do well in the business, even if Roxie isn’t so sure about it sometimes. Roxie is distracted by the contest, as well as her feelings for Kris throughout much of the story, having assumed that Kris is Truth after looking at the picture of him and Cyrus that was sent in along with the song, showing that she is just as image-focused as everyone else. Roxie becomes closer to Cyrus as the story goes on, but she never sees him as a potential boyfriend, choosing to stick with Kris even though she knows he is not as deep as “his” rap lyrics are. By the time of the Grand Slam, Roxie has become focused on her future as a singer, and refuses to go along with what Lyla thinks is best for her anymore, leading to an amazing performance that the crowd loved. Roxie is rightly upset to find that Cyrus and Kris had been lying to her about their true identities though. She refuses to listen to their apologies, just wanting to go home. Kris ends up talking some sense into her, saying it was his idea to be Truth, not Cyrus’s, wanting her and Cyrus to be together. Roxie decides he is right and goes to Cyrus’s family’s church service, starting over again with Cyrus.
Coco Jones was chosen to play Roxie, having found fame as a contestant in Radio Disney’s The Next Big Thing singing contest, in its third season around 2010 and 2011. She later signed with Hollywood Records, which is Disney’s record label, and released the EP Made Of in March 2012, no doubt to coincide with her role in Let It Shine. She also had a recurring role as Coco Blue in the Disney Channel show So Random! (2011-12), the short-lived spin-off of Sonny with a Chance (2009-11), going on to play Kelsey in another Disney show, Good Luck Charlie (2010-14), for its third and fourth seasons. Jones was later dropped by Disney around 2014; however, she did not stop releasing music or acting after this. In music, her most recent album is Why Not More?, which was released in 2025, and she won a Grammy award for Best R&B performance for her song “ICU”. She also won BET and NAACP Image awards for Best New Artist in 2023. She was then an advisor on Season 27 of The Voice (2011-present) for Team Legend. She recently starred as Hilary Banks in the Peacock series Bel-Air (2022-25), based on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990-96).
Kris McDuffy is Cyrus’s girl-obsessed friend, who’d like to think he could be the next rap star, despite not having all that much talent for it. Kris is amazed and excited to find he won Roxie’s contest, but on hearing the name “Truth”, he realises he actually didn’t; Cyrus did. He plans to tell Roxie about the misunderstanding, but on seeing that this famous, pretty girl likes him, Kris decides it would be best if he and Cyrus kept up the ruse that Kris is Truth. Kris loves the fame and attention being Truth gets him, especially from all the girls, and doesn’t seem to understand that his best friend is not happy seeing him turn into this self-obsessed person, taking credit for the work that Cyrus did. Cyrus gets fed up with Kris and plans to let Kris flounder on stage at the Grand Slam by himself, making Kris incredibly nervous, knowing that he will be quickly found at as a fraud. After Cyrus comes to the Grand Slam to help him, despite their fight, Kris knows he has not been fair to his friend and wants Cyrus to go out as Truth. When the reveal backfires and Roxie ends up annoyed and hurt, Kris is the one to make things right there, by telling Roxie how great a person Cyrus is.
Trevor Jackson was cast as Kris. Prior to Let It Shine, Jackson was cast as Kevin Blake in Seasons 4 and 5 of the Syfy series Eureka (2006-12), going on to more mainstream fame later on in his career by starring as Aaron Jackson in the Freeform series Grown-ish (2018-24), this being a spin-off of the popular ABC series Black-ish (2014-22). Currently, Jackson plays Dr. Wes Bryant in Grey’s Anatomy (2005-present), a role he has held since Season 22. Jackson is also a singer, with his most recent album being The Love Language.
Lord of Da Bling is Cyrus’s biggest rap competition, easily beating anyone he comes across in rap battles. He is a talented and accomplished rapper, however, his attitude and persona, thinking he is better than everyone else, being built up by his entourage, means that he loses all respect. Da Bling is constantly in Cyrus’s face at the rap club, referring to him as “Urkel” and laughing at him for just being a busboy. He also criticises Roxie and her singing talents at points during the film. Da Bling is not a nice guy, but luckily, when Cyrus mans up and gets on stage to battle Da Bling, it soon comes out that he is not this super rich, super important rapper, but is a taxi driver, clearly rapping during his time off. The persona he built up around himself is completely fake, and Cyrus breaks it down in just a few solid rap lyrics. Da Bling does not win the Grand Slam trophy, with it being decided that Cyrus was the worthy winner. Da Bling storms off stage, humiliated. To be fair, I get Cyrus wanting to tell everyone he is a phony and wanting to bring him down, but I don’t think it’s nice to laugh at him for being a taxi driver. It’s just a job.
Brandon Mychal Smith was cast as Lord of Da Bling, having already made a name for himself on Disney Channel thanks to his roles as Stubby in the DCOM musical StarStruck (2010), and as a cast member in Sonny with a Chance (2009-11) and its spin-off So Random! (2011-12), playing Nico Harris. Prior to that, he also had roles in other Disney Channel and Nickelodeon series, including Phil of the Future (2004-06) and Unfabulous (2004-07). In more recent years, Brandon Mychal Smith was a series regular in the Hulu miniseries Four Weddings and a Funeral (2019), cast as Craig Thompson, and voiced Michelangelo in the animated series Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2018-20). He also played Leo in the movie Sick Girl (2023), which starred Nina Dobrev, and recently played Darryl “DG” Grant in the FX series The Drop: A Snowfall Saga (2026-present).
Cyrus’s parents are his strict pastor father Jacob and his kind mother Gail. Jacob is very against the ways of the youth of the day, commenting on their bad fashion sense, their unholy musical tastes, and their lack of faith. Jacob wants Cyrus to stay on the straight and narrow so tries to control his interests, despite Cyrus loving rap music and wanting to make it as a rapper one day. Jacob has made Cyrus the choir director to focus on music with good values, and is incredibly annoyed to find Cyrus trying to put in more modern lyrics into the church choir’s music, telling him in no uncertain terms to never do that again. Jacob even goes so far as to embarrass Roxie during a church sermon, by once again dismissing the interests of young people. Jacob sees the errors of his ways, thanks to his wife, who tells Jacob to apologise to Roxie in person, and to try and understand his son’s love of music by reading his songs. Jacob eventually figures out that Cyrus’s rap songs do have good messages and meanings within them, allowing him to continue with what he loves. His parents even attend the Grand Slam together to see their son perform, wanting to be there to support him and show how proud they are of him.
Pastor Jacob DeBarge was played by Courtney B. Vance. On stage, Vance was nominated for Tony awards for his performances in plays such as Fences, where he played Cory on Broadway from 1987 to 1988, and Six Degrees of Separation, playing Paul in the Broadway show from 1990 to 1992. Vance later won a Tony for his role as James “Hap” Hairston in the 2013 Broadway production of Lucky Guy. In film, Vance is known for such roles being the narrator of Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs (2018) and for playing Cobra Bubbles in Disney’s 2025 live-action remake Lilo & Stitch. In television, Vance was cast as Assistant District Attorney Ron Carver in Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001-11) from 2001 to 2006, and later portrayed Johnnie Cochran in The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story (2016) miniseries, winning him a Critics’ Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Movie or Limited Series, and an NAACP Image Award.
Gail DeBarge was played by Dawnn Lewis, who began her career by playing Jaleesa Vinson-Taylor in the sitcom A Different World (1987-93), before being cast in the role of Robin Dumars in Season 1 of Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper (1992-97). More recently, she was cast in the recurring roles of Mama Leone in Season 4 of iZombie (2015-19) and Marcia Langdon in Season 4 of Veronica Mars, part of its revival for Hulu in 2019. She was later cast as Prime Minister Angela Honig in Season 3 of Young Rock (2021-23). Lewis also has a history of voice acting, including voicing the characters LaBarbara Conrad in Futurama (1999-present) and Bernice Hibbert in The Simpsons (1989-present) since 2021. She also provided the voice of The Chief / Tamara Fraser in Carmen Sandiego (2019-21).
Lyla is Roxie’s manager, shielding Roxie from negative press and guiding her through her journey as a rising star. Because Roxie is young and fairly inexperienced, she leans quite heavily on Lyla and has accepted the route her career has gone in, such as releasing songs with synthesised vocals, and wearing bright, extravagant costumes for her live performances and interviews. Lyla says she knows what the business requires and what the record label wants, clearly wanting to make Roxie as big a star as possible. She is also on hand to deal with Kris and Cyrus, and their competition win. By the end of Let It Shine, Roxie is tired of keeping up an image that is not true to herself, with the final straw being a crazy outfit that Lyla insists Roxie must wear for her Grand Slam performance. Roxie dismisses Lyla’s idea, saying she’ll be fine with her own choices from now on. Lyla still continues to be Roxie’s manager at the end of the film, but with more awareness of what Roxie wants now.
Nicole Sullivan was cast as Lyla, having already had some history with Disney and Disney Channel before this. Nicole Sullivan was chosen to voice Franny in Meet the Robinsons (2007) for Disney Animation, having already voiced Shego in Disney Channel’s Kim Possible (2002-07). Sullivan is also known for her role as Holly Shumpert in The King of Queens (1998-2007). More recently, Sullivan was cast in the recurring role of Janine in the sitcom Black-ish (2014-22), and has voiced the character Kara Danvers / Supergirl in the Cartoon Network series DC Super Hero Girls (2019-21).
Finally, we have Levi, the owner of the Off the Street rap club. He has hired Cyrus to work at the club as a busboy and is shown to be supportive of him, giving Cyrus advice about Roxie and about his rapping, not wanting Cyrus to waste his talents by only watching others. Levi is essentially the voice of reason in Let It Shine, allowing Cyrus to work things out for himself and encourage him to do what is right, not only for himself, but for everyone else too. It’s no coincidence, surely, that Levi happens to be the one who let slip that Cyrus has been working at the club. This allows all Cyrus and his father’s grievances to be aired in the open, so they can move past them and move forward.
Levi was played by Alex Désert. Before Let It Shine, Désert had been cast as Julio Mendez in the superhero series The Flash (1990-91) and as Jake Malinak in the CBS sitcom Becker (1998-2004), starring Ted Danson in the titular role. More recently, Désert has taken over the roles of Carl and Officer Lou from Hank Azaria in The Simpsons, voicing the characters since 2020. He also had a recurring role as Edgar Chapman in the Amazon Prime series A League of Their Own (2022).
Finally, I will just mention a cameo appearance by the singing duo of Chloe and Halle Bailey, also known as Chloe x Halle. They appear in Let It Shine as members of the church choir. Around this time, the two had won Season 5 of Radio Disney’s The Next Big Thing. They have since had various nominations at award ceremonies like the Grammys and the MTV Music Video awards for their music together, releasing albums such as The Kids Are Alright in 2018 and Ungodly Hour in 2020. They both appeared in the series Grown-ish as well, with Chloe playing Jazlyn Forster, and Halle playing Skyler Forster. Halle also went on to star as Ariel in Disney’s 2023 live-action remake of The Little Mermaid.
MUSIC
Let It Shine’s soundtrack consists of a wide variety of musical genres, including gospel, hip-hop and R&B music, as well as featuring plenty of rap.
The first song in Let It Shine is “Make A Joyful Noise” or just “Joyful Noise”. It is used in the opening sequence, and sees the choir singing during the church service. The tempo soon speeds up though, as Cyrus, the choir director, has found ways to modernise the song, with the addition of some rap lyrics, making the congregation sit up and listen, but annoying his father, who is also the pastor, in the process! “Joyful Noise” was written by Jay L’Oreal, Dapo Torimiro, and Glorious Foreman. It was performed by the Let It Shine choir singers.
This is followed by the first of many rap battles that exist within Let It Shine. “Tonight’s the Night” is performed at the Off the Street club, and it consists of rappers Lord of Da Bling and Da Boss facing off against each other, with Da Bling winning. Cyrus watches as this rap battle takes place, saying he could beat both of them, if only he had the confidence to stand up and try. “Tonight’s the Night” was written by Toby Gad, Lindy Robbins, David Banner, and J-Doe. It was performed by Brandon Mychal Smith as Lord of Da Bling; Spencer Lee seemingly providing the vocals for Da Boss, although Algee Smith played the character on screen, going on to be cast as Chris McKay in Seasons 1 and 2 of the HBO drama Euphoria (2019-26); and Tyler James Williams as Cyrus.
After that night, Cyrus and his friend Kris go home to see singer Roxie announcing a competition, wanting people’s original songs, with the winner going on to re-record their song in a real studio and getting the chance to film a music video for it. Cyrus sees this as his opportunity to finally be noticed for his musical talents, and spends days writing and recording the song “Don’t Run Away”. It is essentially a love song written for Roxie. I actually quite like this song, and it’s a good thing too because “Don’t Run Away” reappears when Cyrus and Kris are re-recording the song at Roxie’s studio, and when Kris is filming the music video for it. “Don’t Run Away” was written by Antonina Armato, Tim James, Thomas Armato Sturges, Jon Vella, and In-Q. It was performed by Tyler James Williams, with the boy band IM5 credited as a featured artist.
When Cyrus’s, or Truth’s, song is announced as the winner at the club, and Kris is assumed to be Truth, Roxie appears to congratulate the winner in person. She then proceeds to perform the song “What I Said” to the clubgoers. This is an upbeat pop, hip-hop song, showcasing that Roxie is the latest singing sensation to come on to the music scene. “What I Said” was written by Lambert Waldrip, Justin A. Mobley, Anya Vasilenko, Tocarra Phillips, and Steven Jones, and was performed by Coco Jones as Roxie.
At the studio to record Cyrus’s song, Kris lip syncs in the booth whilst Cyrus actually raps. Roxie shows up wanting to talk to Kris. At some point, she sees someone in the booth and believes it to be Kris, but it is Cyrus. He says he wants to sing her something, and he sings “You Belong to Me”, putting all his feelings out there, even though Roxie thinks it’s Kris singing this song to her. “You Belong to Me” was written by Antonina Armato, Tim James, Thomas Armato Sturges, Jon Vella, and In-Q, and was performed by Tyler James Williams.
Following on from that, after Cyrus gets some advice from Levi, the Off the Street club owner, he decides to practise his stage presence by rapping on the stage of the empty club. This montage of scenes is accompanied by the song “Guardian Angel”. He is later caught by Roxie performing this song, but Cyrus claims he was just lip syncing to one of Kris’s tracks. She doesn’t question it any further, only saying he must be brilliant at lip syncing! “Guardian Angel” was written by Antonina Armato, Tim James, Thomas Armato Sturges, Jon Vella, and In-Q. It was performed by Tyler James Williams and Coco Jones.
Shortly after this, as Cyrus and Roxie spend the evening together, since Kris was unavailable, the two stumble upon a rap battle in the park. This rap battle is between rappers Revelation and Phantom. They perform “Around the Block”, with Revelation being named the winner of this rap battle. This rap song was written by Antonina Armato, Tim James, Thomas Armato Sturges, Jon Vella, and In-Q. It was performed by Hans Daniels as Phantom, and Courtney Gray as Revelation.
During that evening, Cyrus and Roxie talk about Cyrus’s family and the church, with Roxie saying she should attend a service soon. She does just that, and at that service, Cyrus encourages Roxie to sing. Roxie clearly enjoys performing this song, and it really is like a homecoming for her, going back to her church choir roots instead of the pop and hip-hop songs she’s been singing as a professional. This gospel song Roxie sings is “Good to Be Home”. It was written by Adam Watts and Andy Dodd, and performed by Coco Jones.
A chain of events happens after this moment, which eventually lead to Cyrus’s father finding out about his job at the rap club. Cyrus is told to stay away from the club and focus on church. In the meantime, Cyrus sees Kris getting more and more famous off his song and his Truth persona. This montage is accompanied by the song “Who I’m Gonna Be”, which matches both Roxie and Cyrus journeys in wanting to figure out who they are and where they are going; Roxie doesn’t want to be a manufactured pop star anymore, and Cyrus wants to finally get credit for his songs. “Who I’m Gonna Be” was also written by Adam Watts and Andy Dodd, and performed by Coco Jones.
Towards the end of the film, we get the final showdown at the Grand Slam competition. Here, all the lies and misunderstandings are uncovered, and the truth is finally revealed. Firstly, Cyrus comes clean to Roxie about being Truth, and not Kris. He chooses to do this in public, in front of the crowd during Roxie and Truth’s duet, which comes as a shock to Roxie as she expects Kris to come on stage, but Cyrus appears instead. Roxie ends the song feeling incredibly hurt and confused about this, wondering why they wanted to trick her and what they achieved by doing that. This duet is “Me and You”, and it ended up being my favourite song in the soundtrack, and probably my favourite moment in the film too. “Me and You” was written by Toby Gad, Lindy Robbins, and Adam Hicks, and was performed by Coco Jones and Tyler James Williams.
The second half of this showdown comes in the form of a rap battle between Cyrus and Lord of Da Bling. Cyrus has found the courage to stand up for himself and calls out Da Bling, stating that he is not the best rapper around, no matter what he might think, and telling the whole crowd that Da Bling is not the rich, popular guy he claims to be. “Moment of Truth” was written by Antonina Armato, Tim James, Thomas Armato Sturges, Jon Vella, and In-Q, and was performed by Brandon Mychal Smith and Tyler James Williams.
The finale number of Let It Shine is the song “Let It Shine”, taking place in the church. It is quite a nice song to tie up the events of the movie and end it on a high note, with the characters not wanting to hide away from what they want anymore. “Let It Shine” was written by Antonina Armato, Tim James, Thomas Armato Sturges, Jon Vella, and In-Q, who used the traditional gospel song “This Little Light of Mine” within the song’s chorus. “Let It Shine” was performed by Tyler James Williams and Coco Jones, with the Let It Shine church choir providing the backing vocals.
The only other song to appear in the Let It Shine soundtrack is the song “Self Defeat”, which was used in a deleted scene included in the Extended Edition version of this film. This rap battle was meant to take place just after Cyrus spills food on Lord of Da Bling at the club, on the night Da Bling beats Da Boss in a rap battle. In the original version of the film, Cyrus tells Da Bling that his rapping is not great, which leads Da Bling to challenge him to a rap battle. Cyrus simply walks away. In this deleted scene, Cyrus goes up against Da Bling with this song “Self Defeat”. I can see why this scene was cut, because it makes no sense for Cyrus to do this. He’s meant to be shy and uncertain at this point in the film. It might’ve made sense as a dream sequence or a daydream though, having Cyrus imagine what he’d say to Da Bling. “Self Defeat” was written by Antonina Armato, Tim James, Thomas Armato Sturges, Jon Vella, and In-Q, and it was performed by Tyler James Williams
The soundtrack for Let It Shine was released on 12th June 2012, just a few days before its official premiere date on Disney Channel. It reportedly peaked at No. 12 in the US Billboard 200 chart, and reached No. 1 on the Billboard Kid Albums chart, as well as No. 2 on the Billboard Top Soundtracks chart.
The composer of the score on Let It Shine was Richard Gibbs. He had previously worked on the music for some Disney live-actions films, like First Kid (1996) and That Darn Cat (1997). He was also the composer on their direct-to-video sequel 101 Dalmatians II: Patch’s London Adventure (2003). Around this time, Gibbs worked on the music for other family-friendly films such as Dr. Dolittle (1998) and Like Mike (2002). He is also known for composing the music on the series Battlestar Galactica (2003-09) with Bear McCreary. After Let It Shine, Gibbs composed the score for the DCOM Adventures in Babysitting (2016).
PRODUCTION
Disney Channel has created a variety of DCOMs based on original stories, but have also used books and other forms of literature as inspiration for a selection of their other movies.
In terms of musicals, The Cheetah Girls (2003) was originally based on a book series by Deborah Gregory, and Lemonade Mouth was inspired by a young adult novel written by Mark Peter Hughes. Let It Shine was inspired by the French play Cyrano de Bergerac, written by Edmond Rostand in 1897. It is based on the 17th Century French novelist of the same name, known for having a large nose, which is generally exaggerated in adaptations of this play. The story of Cyrano de Bergerac follows Cyrano, a gifted poet, who is secretly in love with a woman named Roxane. He is ashamed of his appearance, because of his large nose, so he is unable to tell Roxane of his love for her. Instead, she falls for a man called Christian, and Cyrano decides to write love letters to Roxane on his behalf, as he is not as good with his words as Cyrano is. Years later, Roxane discovers that Cyrano was the one writing to her, and she realises she loves him, just as he dies[1]. Cheery stuff…
There have been numerous stage productions of Cyrano de Bergerac over the years. Famous actors such as Derek Jacobi, Kevin Kline, James McAvoy, and Adrian Lester have portrayed the titular character in these. But there have been various adaptations and references to Cyrano de Bergerac on screen too, introducing the story to a wider audience.
For example, Steve Martin starred as Charlie “C.D.” Bales in the film Roxanne (1987), based on Cyrano de Bergerac; Daryl Hannah played Roxanne, and Rick Rossovich played Chris, Roxanne’s other love interest. Roxanne is a romantic comedy film and a contemporary adaptation of the original play. The screenplay for it was written by Steve Martin. Roxanne received mostly positive reviews from audiences and critics alike. It also received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical for Steve Martin, who went on to win the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium for the film’s screenplay.
Other more contemporary references to Cyrano de Bergerac include the Season 7 episode of Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1996-2003), “Getting to Nose You”, where Sabrina conjures her own “Cyrano” in order to find out how her boyfriend Aaron feels about her. It wasn’t the best episode of the show, and it does little to actually explain the original play to its, likely, young audience. When I first watched this episode, I just found it funny seeing Sabrina with a big nose… Futurama even parodied this story in its Season 2 episode “Why Must I Be a Crustacean in Love?”. Another modern retelling of Cyrano de Bergerac can be seen in the Netflix teen comedy Sierra Burgess Is a Loser (2018).
The 1950 film Cyrano de Bergerac was the first English film version of the play, and saw José Ferrer take on the titular role, going on to win the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance. In 2022, it was selected to be part of the National Film Registry in the US. Gérard Depardieu later played Cyrano de Bergerac in the 1990 French film version. Most recently, Peter Dinklage starred as Cyrano in the 2021 musical Cyrano, and this time, Cyrano did not have a comically large nose. Haley Bennett was cast as Roxanne, and Kelvin Harrison Jr. played Christian. Cyrano was nominated for various awards, including the Academy Award for Best Costume Design; the BAFTA for Outstanding British Film; and the Golden Globe for both Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, and Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for Peter Dinklage. Cyrano received highly positive reviews as well. I have seen this musical, and I think it’s a good adaptation of the story, plus some of the songs are excellent. I listen to “Every Letter” pretty often.
Anyway, back to Disney Channel. Eric Daniel and Don D. Scott were tasked with adapting Cyrano de Bergerac to fit a modern story, suitable for its young audience. The story was obviously set in present day, and takes place in Atlanta, Georgia. Their version of Cyrano de Bergerac, Cyrus DeBarge, does not have any extraordinary facial features, and is instead just the more average-looking best friend. His friend Kris is taller and more confident so he stands out, whereas Cyrus blends into the background. Rap music also takes the place of the traditional poetry from the original story.
Let It Shine was directed by Paul Hoen, a highly respected and trusted director who has worked on a large number of Disney Channel Original Movies. Some of these include other musicals, such as The Cheetah Girls: One World (2008); Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam (2010); and the ZOMBIES movie franchise. His non-musical directing extends to The Luck of the Irish (2001), Read It and Weep (2006), Jump In! (2007) and Invisible Sister (2015).
Let It Shine was filmed in Atlanta, Georgia in late 2011. Some of the locations used were Glover Park and Marietta Square in Atlanta. These appear to have been used for the scenes of Roxie and Cyrus spending time together, when Roxie wants to open up to Cyrus about Kris and why they aren’t connecting as well as she’d hoped. The Strand theatre was used as the location for the Grand Slam performance[2].
A large interior set was built for the Grand Slam, which had to accommodate a huge crowd scene. A stage was set up in the centre to allow for full focus on the performances, the rap battle between Cyrus and Lord of Da Bling, and the duet between Roxie and Truth, a.k.a. Cyrus. Another set built for Let It Shine was the Off the Street rap club. This set was used for a few different scenes, and it was clearly meant to look quite gritty, with its exposed brick walls, makeshift stage, and its overall industrial vibe[3]. It shows that this is not a place for polished performers; they won’t fit the vibe here. The production designer on Let It Shine was Mark Hofeling, who has worked on such DCOMs as the High School Musical trilogy, and the ZOMBIES and Descendants films.
RECEPTION
After being shown privately in Atlanta, Georgia at The Coca-Cola World Studio on 18th May 2012, Let It Shine premiered on Disney Channel in the US on 15th June 2012. The premiere of Let It Shine was followed by the first-ever episode of Disney Channel’s animated series Gravity Falls (2012-16). Let It Shine later filtered out internationally through the rest of 2012.
The US television premiere of Let It Shine was watched by 5.7 million viewers, with even a reported 1.2 million adults aged between 18 and 49 tuning in[4]. This is a decent figure for a Disney Channel Original Movie in terms of viewership of an average DCOM, yet it is not great when compared to viewing figures for Disney Channel’s musicals. For example, most musicals at a minimum were viewed by at least 6 million viewers by this time, with High School Musical 2 (2007) being a major highlight, with its record-breaking viewership of 17.2 million viewers. Let It Shine did not do well when compared to Lemonade Mouth, which was a similarly risky and different type of musical to come from Disney Channel, as Lemonade Mouth drew in 7.1 million viewers on its premiere, and Teen Beach Movie, just one year later in 2013, had 8.4 million viewers watch on its premiere night.
Let It Shine was, however, the best-performing DCOM of 2012, by some margin. Earlier in the year, Frenemies and Radio Rebel had debuted, bringing in just 4.2 and 4.3 million viewers respectively. For Halloween in 2012, Girl vs. Monster was released, which was watched by a little under 5 million on its debut in October.
But viewing figures aren’t everything, and even a DCOM that would seem quite underappreciated in its viewership can turn out to be a cult classic. In this case, Let It Shine was welcomed for its majority Black cast and for infusing Black culture into Disney Channel. This has been a rarity for Disney Channel and Disney in general, so it was a chance to showcase other talents and actually represent a wider proportion of their audience. This is a key reason why some absolutely love Let It Shine. In addition, people say that the music is brilliant, and Let It Shine was a more unique musical to come from Disney Channel, when compared to the likes of High School Musical and Camp Rock. Although those more iconic DCOM musicals remain incredibly popular with a selection of people, others found them to be too corny and unrealistic. The young cast were also highlighted for their acting performances in Let It Shine. This positive response to Let It Shine is reflected in its 84% Rotten Tomatoes score, which is pretty high for a DCOM.
On the other hand, not everyone enjoyed Let It Shine, with the usual comments of the DCOM being cringey and predictable. Besides that, some felt the message to kids, tweens, and teens to “be yourself” is incredibly overdone. Others said that Let It Shine had too similar a story to that of Footloose (1984) and even Eminem’s 8 Mile (2002).
For me, although I liked a few songs within Let It Shine, the movie was not to my taste. It’s nothing to do with the acting quality; it’s more to do with its story basis. I simply do not enjoy the story of Cyrano de Bergerac, probably because I don’t like stories about mistaken identity. It’s easy to open your mouth and fix these misunderstandings, so to have a whole story about something that could be sorted out in a minute is annoying and pointless. I’m also not a big fan of rap, so that didn’t help either.
In terms of awards, Let It Shine and its director Paul Hoen were recognised at the Directors Guild of America Awards for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Children’s Programs beating out competition from fellow DCOM Girl vs. Monster and Nickelodeon’s Big Time Movie. Let It Shine also won the Humanitas Prize for Children’s Live-Action Television and the Golden Reel Award for Best Sound Editing – Long Form Musical in Television.
For its acting, Trevor Jackson was nominated for Best Performance in a TV Movie, Miniseries, Special or Pilot – Leading Young Actor at the Young Artist Awards, and Tyler James Williams was nominated at the NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Performance by a Youth (Series, Special, Television Movie or Limited Series). At the Black Reel Awards, Trevor Jackson was nominated for Best Actor in a TV Movie or Limited Series, with Courtney B. Vance winning his category of Best Supporting Actor in a TV Movie or Limited Series. Let It Shine was also nominated here for Best Television Miniseries or Movie, and Outstanding Screenplay in a TV Movie or Limited Series.
LEGACY
Let It Shine did not reach the same heights as many other Disney Channel musicals.
It is unclear why exactly that is, but it is not unusual for the standalone musicals to only be remembered by a small selection of Disney Channel fans. This includes others like StarStruck and Lemonade Mouth. Frankly, the Disney Channel musicals that got three or more movies in their franchises are the ones that stand out, whether they deserved to have that many films or not. It’s just how it is.
And yet, it is worth noting that, according to Coco Jones, a sequel to Let It Shine was actually written for Disney Channel and early discussions about it were going on. For some reason, Let It Shine 2 did not progress further. That could’ve been a decision made by Disney after seeing that Let It Shine had not taken off in the same way that High School Musical and others like it had done. Regardless, it was still a disappointment for the cast members who had believed this sequel was in the works and were ready to film it[5].
Really, it is the movie’s fans and its cast keeping Let It Shine alive in each other’s memories. Coco Jones and Tyler James Williams are asked about their involvement in Let It Shine in interviews sometimes, and Brandon Mychal Smith celebrated the film’s 10th anniversary in 2022 on social media, thanking Disney for making this important movie.
The soundtrack of Let It Shine will, of course, live on as well, with the best songs from the movie being mentioned and talked about on social media. There also continues to be speculation online about whether Let It Shine will be revived in some way by Disney Channel, either with a sequel or a series. Personally, I doubt that will happen.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Let It Shine was made during a time when Disney Channel wanted to take their musical movies in a slightly different direction.
Lemonade Mouth before it and Teen Beach Movie after it are clear examples of Disney Channel not wanting to follow exactly the same formula as they had done in their earlier musicals, with their pop-centric tunes, and prim and proper teen experiences.
Let It Shine highlighted a completely different style of music that most Disney Channel viewers were probably not used to or even aware of: rap music. This makes Let It Shine unique and different, alongside its desire to represent Black culture, which, let’s face it, was rarely front and centre of any Disney Channel project at the time.
With these differences though, it did mean that Let It Shine was somewhat of a risk to Disney Channel and it did not pay off with record-breaking viewing figures, nor did it apparently warrant the creation of a new musical franchise for the channel.
Yet that does not mean that Let It Shine was a failure, as it captured the hearts of many who grew up watching Disney Channel at this time and wanted something more from their DCOMs. I think my era of 2000s Disney Channel was simply not particularly progressive when compared to the 2010s era.
REFERENCES
[1] Credit: Louisa Baldwin, ‘Everything you need to know about Cyrano de Bergerac at the Noel Coward Theatre’, WestEndTheatre.com, 24th June 2026.
[2] Credit: Melissa Kory, ‘’Let It Shine’ on the Square’, Patch.com, 11th November 2011.
[3] Credit: Mark Hofeling, ‘Let It Shine’, MarkHofeling.com, no date.
[4] Credit: Russ Weakland, ‘Disney Channel’s ‘Let It Shine’ Is An Overwhelming Success’, HollywoodLife.com, 18th June 2012.
[5] Credit: Coco Jones, ‘What Really Happened I Coco Jones’, Coco Jones Official YouTube Channel, 12th September 2020.