Love Hamilton? You won’t want to miss Freestyle Love Supreme!
Jan 28, 2022 / Blog
Way before In the Heights and Hamilton hit Broadway, a relatively unknown Lin-Manuel Miranda and his buddies were already experimenting with hip hop and creating together in the basement of a New York bookstore. Their concept? A show called Freestyle Love Supreme, which combines hip hop music, improv and comedy to create an original performance every single time.
After stints off-Broadway, on TV and recently on Broadway, the show is now heading out on a limited national tour, including a weeklong stop at Charlotte’s Knight Theater, May 24 - 29, 2022.
Boris “Bluz” Rogers, Blumenthal Performing Arts’ director of creative engagement, and Andie Maloney, Blumenthal’s vice president of Education, had the chance to check out the show in New York and were blown away by the experience. They also spoke with the show’s conceiver and co-creator, Anthony Veneziale, to get the inside scoop on the production and develop plans for workshops and other special events tied to the Charlotte run.
So, What’s The Show Like? In A Word… Amazing.
“It’s built very well,” says Rogers, who holds national and international titles, himself, as a spoken word poet. “And then they roll into this amazing show… You don’t know it’s an opener until they say, ‘Welcome to the show.’ You’re like, ‘Holy crap, we thought you guys were just testing the mics!’...The opening experience is so dope.”
The audience gets a sense of the remarkable skill and intentionality of the performers from that opening bit, according to Maloney. They also quickly see they will play a huge role in the performance. Cast members interact with the crowd throughout the evening, taking word and story suggestions that help shape the show.
It’s definitely not your typical Broadway musical experience, she adds. “The audience is participating and laughter is abundant. It is a mind-blowing, hip-hop comedy improv experience and you will have an amazing time.”
In the show, each of the four vocal performers has different strengths and slightly different roles: there’s someone acting as host, another who is primarily an actor/comic, a third who is a strong singer/rapper, and a fourth who is the beatboxer. Then there are a couple keyboardists. After the group hones in on a word, the musicians kick things off, and that could lead in a million different directions.
“If they just started playing ‘Jingle Bells,’ then that’s where they go,” Rogers says. “If they started playing Beyonce’s ‘Love on top’—then that’s where they go. It’s a lot of chemistry that happens and a lot of trust on stage. So wherever they go, the other person follows.”
Another really cool aspect is that special guests sometimes join the performance, unannounced. A few weeks ago, Tina Fey showed up in a performance. Other performers who have joined from time-to-time include Christopher Jackson and Daveed Diggs (both of Hamilton fame), spoken word poet Sarah Kay, actor/comedian Bill Irwin, singer Josh Groban and many more. Local celebrities also sometimes take the stage so stay tuned…
A Teen-Only Night, Workshops and a Masterclass All Planned For Charlotte
Since the audience plays such a big role in guiding the show’s content, Maloney and the Blumenthal team thought it would be the perfect opportunity to give local teens their own special night.
Blumenthal has bought out one entire evening performance and will be working with local schools and teen-serving organizations to fill the house that night with young people and their chaperones. 100% of the tickets will be subsidized by Blumenthal with the support of generous donors! (Want to help? See below.)
In conjunction with this special event, teens will also have the opportunity to participate in workshops led by local performers to learn some of the techniques used in the show to perform improv and freestyle rap. Blumenthal will host up to 25 different workshops for various teen groups, modeled on the FLS Academy, which was developed by Veneziale and other cast members to teach these unique skills.
While they are in town, the touring cast will also offer a special Master Class opportunity to creatives in the Charlotte community, who are already experienced in improv and freestyle rap.
There’s a lot of brain science behind the work that Veneziale does, especially regarding the ways we tap into creativity and how our brains work and adjust during different types of activities. This knowledge is put into action in the workshops, which focus on building confidence, creative risk-taking, trying new things and developing trust. Those are the same skills that performers in Freestyle Love Supreme need to be successful at what they do and they also provide valuable life lessons.
“Everybody on stage relies on each other, right, and they mess up, and it’s ok,” Maloney says. “...There is a space to try things and to fail and to rely on other people with you and to be creative.”
READY, SET, GO GET YOUR TIX!
→ Click here for showtimes and to purchase tickets.
→ Know a teen-serving organization that could benefit from participating in this event?
Email: EducationDepartment@blumenthalarts.org
→ Are you or your company interested in helping to sponsor the teen night and workshops? Email Haley Rafferty: hrafferty@blumenthalarts.org.
Freestyle Love Supreme
Want to attend with your friends and family? Groups of 10+ receive 10% off, plus one complimentary ticket. Valid on select performances. Student Groups - Learn More