Following a successful limited Broadway engagement this fall that included a 2020 Special Tony Award, the critically-acclaimed improv sensation Freestyle Love Supreme, conceived by Anthony Veneziale and created by Thomas Kail, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Anthony Veneziale, announced a national tour to kick off in San Francisco on January 21, 2022.
Produced by Kail, Miranda, Jenny & Jon Steingart, and Jill Furman, Freestyle Love Supreme is an intermission-less, roller-coaster ride of a show that Rolling Stone calls “pure joy” and Entertainment Weekly describes as “lightning in a bottle.”
Created before In the Heights and Hamilton and directed by Kail, Freestyle Love Supreme is a thrilling, improvised musical comedy show that features talented performers providing non-stop action throughout this fast-paced evening, spinning suggestions from the audience into humorous bits, instantaneous songs and riffs, and fully realized musical numbers. The electrifying vocals of the performers – from singing to rapping to beat-boxing with harmonies and freestyle flow – are backed by tight tunes from keyboards and human percussion. The show is created live every night with the audience contributing words, ideas and inspiration. No two shows are ever the same.
“We’ve had many of our happiest and most fulfilling creative moments working on Freestyle Love Supreme and are excited to see its next chapter unfold on this national tour,” said Thomas Kail and Lin-Manuel Miranda. “It is a show that consistently surprises us: we have no idea what to expect any time we do it – and isn’t that the true beauty of live theater? We are thrilled to bring Freestyle Love Supreme to audiences across the country!”
Freestyle Love Supreme’s company on tour includes Andrew Bancroft AKA “Jelly Donut;” Jay C. Ellis AKA “Jellis;” Aneesa Folds AKA “Young Nees;” Kaila Mullady AKA “Kaiser Rözé;” Morgan Reilly AKA “Hummingbird;” Chris Sullivan AKA “Shockwave;” and Anthony Veneziale AKA “Two- Touch.”
Special spontaneous and unannounced guests are planned for select performances during the tour, which may include Freestyle Love Supreme members Lin-Manuel Miranda, Christopher Jackson, Daveed Diggs, James Monroe Iglehart, Wayne Brady, Ashley Pérez Flanagan, Arthur Lewis, Bill Sherman, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Alex Lacamoire and many more.
In name and beyond, Freestyle Love Supreme pays homage to John Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme,” with a nod to musical roots in jazz, soul, blues and hip-hop. Freestyle Love Supreme was originally developed and produced in 2004 by Ars Nova, in association with Jill Furman and Back House Productions. The show has played in all five boroughs and many states, as well as the U.S. Comedy Festival, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Melbourne Comedy Festival, and the Montreal Just for Laughs Festival. Hulu premiered the documentary “We Are Freestyle Love Supreme” at the Sundance Film Festival in 2020 and the acclaimed film was nominated for a Grammy Award.
