Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – The ecstatic FREESTYLE LOVE SUPREME effortlessly makes the leap to Broadway, its free-flowing exuberance and unalloyed goodwill intact

• By drediman
• October 3, 2019
• No Comments

Anthony Veneziale, Chris Sullivan, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Aneesa Folds in “Freestyle Love Supreme” at the Booth Theatre. Photo by Joan Marcus.

Last night, Freestyle Love Supreme – which is also the name of the outfit (co-founded by Lin-Manuel Miranda) that performs the show – opened at the Booth Theatre, making the leap from Off-Broadway phenomenon to a mainstream hip hop musical offering on the Great White Way. Whereas most Broadway musicals strive to be well-oiled machines that are pretty much on autopilot and with every moment directed to an inch of its life, this unlikely show thrives on just the opposite. Freestyle Love Supreme heavily relies on improvisation and in-the-moment inspiration – most of it influenced by the audience – to provide the evening’s entertainment (the less I give away, the better for you).

That’s a risky proposition, but it pays off handsomely. Like Derren Brow’s Secret, I had fretted over whether Freestyle Love Supreme would be able to successfully make the transition from the more intimate confines of the cozy Greenwich House Theater, where the show ran earlier this year. I needn’t have worried. these guys are pros, and the show’s free-flowing exuberance thankfully remains intact. If anything, production’s energy has expanded – surprisingly effortlessly – and is even more palpable in a larger house (although the Booth is one of Broadway’s smaller houses). The current deluxe edition, which has been once again cleverly and tightly directed by Thomas Kail, is one of the most ecstatic and unique experiences to be found on Broadway.

Although the cast, and therefore the experience, changes from performance to performance, the ridiculously talented and smart core members are constant – Utkarsh Ambudkar (“UTK the INC.”), Andrew Bancroft (“Jelly Donut”), Arthur Lewis (“Arthur the Geniuses”), Chris Sullivan (“Shockwave”), and Anthony Veneziale (“Two Touch”) are all masters of their improvisational hip hop craft. There are also two excellent standbys, Aneesa Folds and Kaila Mullady (I saw the latter). And if you’re lucky, you’ll get “spontaneous guests” of the likes of original Hamilton stars Daveed Diggs or Christopher Jackson, or maybe even Lin-Manuel Miranda himself. That these guys exude nothing but unalloyed goodwill is certainly refreshing and a strong antidote to the mess just on the other side of the theater walls.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

FREESTYLE LOVE SUPREME
Broadway, Musical
Booth Theatre
1 hour, 30 minutes
Through January 5