Lin-Manuel Miranda & Thomas Kail to Present Off-Broadway Run of Freestyle Love Supreme

Lin-Manuel Miranda, Thomas Kail, Jon Steingart and Jill Furman have announced a limited return engagement of Freestyle Love Supreme, the high-energy show that blends hip-hop, improvisational theater, music and vocal stylings, all backed by live music from keyboards and beats. Conceived by Miranda, Kail and Anthony Veneziale, Freestyle Love Supreme will begin previews on January 30, 2019 with an official opening set for February 12 at off-Broadway's Greenwich House Theater.

Freestyle Love Supreme features six talented performers providing nonstop action throughout a fast-paced evening, spinning cues from the audience into humorous bits, instantaneous songs and fully realized musical numbers. The vocals of the performers—from singing to rapping to beat-boxing with harmonies and freestyle flow—are backed by keyboards and human percussion.

"When Lin and I were developing In the Heights, our friend Anthony kept grabbing Lin during breaks from rehearsal and freestyling. When I heard them, I knew they were on to something special," said producer/director Kail. "We spent years crafting the show after that, and many of our favorite, and most hilarious memories, are from Freestyle Love Supreme shows. We've been waiting for just the right moment to bring the show back to New York. It's time!"

"Freestyle Love Supreme is the most exciting thing I've ever been a part of in my life. There is nothing like a live hip-hop show that is improvised from the first moment till the final curtain, and the skill set required to pull it off has introduced me to this deep bench of multi-hyphenate genius musician emcees," said producer Miranda. "No two shows are the same, each show its own experience. I'm so thrilled to get the band back together; and even though I'm a co-producer this time around, I selfishly hope they let me jump onstage a couple of times over the course of the run. FLS for life."

Freestyle Love Supreme will feature 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."

Special surprise guests are planned for select performances during the run, which could include, in addition to Miranda, FLS members Christopher Jackson, James Monroe Iglehart and Daveed Diggs. All audience cell phones will be checked at the door for a truly memorable and personal experience.

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 Furman.

The 80-minute show will feature set design by Beowulf Boritt, costume design by Lisa Zinni, lighting design by Jeff Croiter and sound design by Nevin Steinberg.

Freestyle Love Supreme will play a limited off-Broadway run through March 2.