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Lin-Manuel Miranda’s ‘Freestyle Love Supreme’ Is Coming to Broadway

[ Written on June 19 2019 by Francesca ]

The improvised hip-hop show from Miranda, Thomas Kail, and Anthony Veneziale, will begin previews September 13. Opening is set for October 2. The show is scheduled for a 16-week run. Tickets go on sale to American Express holders June 21 and to the general public July 9. The core cast will be comprised of core Andrew Bancroft AKA “Jelly Donut,” Arthur Lewis AKA “Arthur The Geniuses,” Bill Sherman AKA “King Sherman,” Chris Sullivan AKA “Shockwave,” Anthony Veneziale AKA “Two-Touch,” and Utkarsh Ambudkar AKA “UTK.” Expect surprise appearances during the run from Miranda, Tony winner James Monroe Iglehart, Daveed Diggs, and Chris Jackson.

Check Freestyle Love Supreme official site.

NEW YORK TIMES: Freestyle Love Supreme, the improvisational hip-hop group whose creators include Lin-Manuel Miranda, is coming to Broadway.

Mr. Miranda will co-produce and periodically (on unannounced occasions) appear in the show, which is scheduled to run for four months, from September to January at the Booth Theater.

“There’s nothing like live theater,” Mr. Miranda said in an interview, “and when it’s being created in front of you, there’s really nothing like it.”

Among the other occasional performers: Christopher Jackson, James Monroe Iglehart, Wayne Brady and Daveed Diggs. The core company includes Andrew Bancroft, Arthur Lewis, Bill Sherman, Chris Sullivan, Anthony Veneziale and Utkarsh Ambudkar.

The group was created in 2004 by Mr. Miranda, Mr. Veneziale and Thomas Kail when they were working on the development of Mr. Miranda’s first Broadway musical, “In the Heights,” which Mr. Kail directed. Mr. Miranda went on to create and star in “Hamilton,” also directed by Mr. Kail; Mr. Veneziale has become an improv educator.

Freestyle Love Supreme has performed periodically around the world, and had a short-lived television show. It had an Off Broadway run earlier this year at the Greenwich House Theater, which is run by Ars Nova, the nonprofit that also housed the first public performances of Freestyle Love Supreme years ago.

“We’re going to try to take all the feeling we captured downtown and put it in the middle of Times Square,” Mr. Kail said in an interview. “It’s a secret more people should know about.”

The Broadway run of “Freestyle Love Supreme” is being produced by Mr. Kail, Mr. Miranda, Jenny and Jon Steingart (founders of Ars Nova), and Jill Furman (a producer of “Hamilton”). It is scheduled to begin performances on Sept. 13 and to open Oct. 2.

The “Freestyle” run will be one of two on Broadway this season — the other is a one-week run by Dave Chappelle this summer — that will require patrons to secure their smartphones in a locked pouch throughout the performance. The pouches, made by Yondr, are used in other venues, and these shows will be early experiments for Broadway, which has been grappling with how to manage the disruption and distraction caused by cellphones.

Mr. Miranda said he expected to wrap up two big projects this summer — the filming in Wales of the next season of the HBO adaptation of “His Dark Materials” (in which he plays Lee Scoresby) and the filming of a screen adaptation of “In the Heights” (in which he will appear as Piraguero) — and that he would be available by the time “Freestyle” begins.

“When we did the Off Broadway run, I probably did a couple times a week, and I’m hoping to do something similar to that” on Broadway, he said. “It will be a happy time when I will watch the edit,” he said, referring to “In the Heights,” “and rap with my friends.”

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