Freestyle Love Supreme is an improvisational hip-hop (also known as

freestyle rap Freestyle is a style of improvisation, with or without instrumental beats (Mystrodamus), in which lyrics are recited with no particular subject or structure and with no prior memorization.Kevin Fitzgerald (director), '' Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme' ...

) comedy musical group started by

Lin-Manuel Miranda Lin-Manuel Miranda (; born January 16, 1980) is an American songwriter, actor, playwright and filmmaker. He is known for creating the Broadway musicals '' Hamilton'' (2015) and ''In the Heights'' (2005), and the soundtracks for the Disney animat ...

and Anthony Veneziale in 2004 and directed by Thomas Kail. In 2022, the group completed a Broadway musical run at the

Booth Theatre The Booth Theatre is a Broadway theater at 222 West 45th Street ( George Abbott Way) in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1913, the theater was designed by Henry Beaumont Herts in the Italian Renaissan ...

History

The idea for the project started during rehearsal breaks for Miranda's first Broadway musical, ''

In the Heights ''In the Heights'' is a musical with concept, music, and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda and a book by Quiara Alegría Hudes. The story is set over the course of three days, involving characters in the largely Dominican American neighborhood of ...

''. During shows, the performers rap and beatbox, backed by keyboards. Unlike traditional, scripted musicals, the audience is intended to be engaged and participate in the show, providing suggestions and occasionally even being brought on stage. Before being performed on Broadway, there were performances at Ars Nova in 2004, 2006 Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Montreal Just for Laughs Festival and the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

in 2005, as well as many other performances including Joe's Pub, Google Zeitgeist, Greenwich House Theater, Mo Pitkin's, and others. Members of the group appeared in several episodes of the 2009 ''

The Electric Company ''The Electric Company'' is an American educational children's television series produced by the Children's Television Workshop (CTW, now known as Sesame Workshop). It was co-created by Paul Dooley, Joan Ganz Cooney, and Lloyd Morrisett. T ...

'' revival, on which Miranda, Sherman, Jackson, and Sullivan were regular music contributors. The group created an 11-episode television series that aired on Pivot in 2014. Now available for a fee on Prime video and Youtube The group performed its Off-Broadway and Broadway shows in 2019–2020 in celebration of their 15th anniversary. The story of the group and musical is featured in the 2020 documentary ''We Are Freestyle Love Supreme'', directed by

Andrew Fried Andrew Fried (born February 10, 1976) is an American documentary filmmaker, producer and director, and the president of Boardwalk Pictures. Fried is known for producing documentary films and television series, such as ''Chef's Table'', ''The Blac ...

, who began filming the group in 2005. The film contains footage shot over the 15 years of the group's history.

Cast and crew

Cast members have included the following, though other members have appeared, sometimes unannounced. The opening night performance on Broadway featured nine guest stars. ; Vocal performers The following performers have performed rap or

beatboxing Beatboxing (also beat boxing) is a form of vocal percussion primarily involving the art of mimicking drum machines (typically a TR-808), using one's mouth, lips, tongue, and voice.

on the show: *

* Anthony Veneziale - a.k.a. Two Touch * Chris Sullivan -

Shockwave In physics, a shock wave (also spelled shockwave), or shock, is a type of propagating disturbance that moves faster than the local speed of sound in the medium. Like an ordinary wave, a shock wave carries energy and can propagate through a me ...

* Utkarsh Ambudkar a.k.a. UTK the INC. * Chris Jackson a.k.a. C-Jack * Kaila Mullady a.k.a. Kaiser Rözé * Andrew Bancroft a.k.a. Jelly Donut * Daveed Diggs * James Monroe Iglehart a.k.a. J-Soul *

Wayne Brady Wayne Alphonso Brady (born June 2, 1972) is an American television personality, comedian, actor, and singer. He is a regular on the American version of the improvisational comedy television series '' Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' He was the host ...

* Ashley Pérez Flanagan * Aneesa Folds a.k.a. Young Nees * Jay C. Ellis a.k.a. Jellis J * Morgan Reilly a.k.a. Hummingbird * Dizzy Senze * Mark Martin a.k.a. Mandible * Tarik Davis a.k.a. Tardis Hardaway * Gable Johnson III a.k.a. Honeycomb ; Keyboardists The following keyboardists have accompanied the vocal artists: * Arthur Lewis a.k.a. Arthur the Geniuses (Sings during "True") * Bill Sherman a.k.a. King Sherman a.k.a. And Bill * Ian Weinberger a.k.a. Berger Time * Kurt Crowley a.k.a. The Lord and Lady Crowley * Alan Markley * Richard Baskin Jr. a.k.a. Rich Midway * James Rushin a.k.a. Shifty Hills * Simone Acosta a.k.a. Sims * Victoria Theodore a.k.a. Gigawatts ; Crew * Cody Renard Richard, Production Stage Manager

Performances

''Freestyle Love Supreme'' was performed on Broadway at the Booth Theatre from October 2, 2019 through January 12, 2020. On October 7, 2021, the group began a three month limited run back at the Booth Theatre. After four months on Broadway, the show finished the Broadway run on January 2, 2022. ''Freestyle Love Supreme'' announced that they would do a National Tour, with stops in 11 cities. The tour will start on January 21, 2022 at the

American Conservatory Theater The American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) is a nonprofit theater company in San Francisco, California, United States, that offers both classical and contemporary theater productions. It also has an attached acting school. History The Americ ...

, in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. The tour concluded at the

Pasadena Playhouse The Pasadena Playhouse is a historic performing arts venue located 39 S. El Molino Avenue in Pasadena, California, United States. The 686-seat auditorium produces a variety of cultural and artistic events, professional shows, and community engag ...

, in California on August 7, 2022. Their performances consist of freestyle "games" including: What Ya'll Know, On the Fence, True, Day in a Life, Foundations of Freestyle, Pet Peeves, Home, Second Chance, Deep Dive and more.

References

External links

Official website
{{Special Tony Award, state=collapsed Broadway musicals Off-Broadway musicals Musicals by Lin-Manuel Miranda 2019 musicals Musical groups established in 2004 2004 establishments in New York City