I saw "Freestyle Love Supreme" several times back in the early 2000s, at various improv venues, and was blown away by them, especially Chris Sullivan's beatboxing. So happy to read about this show, and sorry to have missed it.
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Saw the late show tonight (10/21) and enjoyed it a great deal even though it was a bit uneven and too short. During one segment that dealt with the audience-supplied word “mermaid”, each cast member had to rap their truth related to that word. In that segment, I laughed so hard and also got teary-eyed as the cast rapped about media representation, vegetarianism and sobriety...it was amazing what the cast shared about themselves triggered by the word “mermaid”. No guest stars tonight, but had a great time regardless.
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I think this is a well written review. We saw it last night and couldn’t stop laughing. It was amazing and impressive and hilarious. We flew across the country for this and we were not disappointed. Some people are too critical. I was googling more info. on the show because I just couldn’t get enough.
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OMG. The snarky comments! My teenage daughter and I saw this last week. No, Mr Miranda wasn’t the special guest, but Chris Jackson was, and the whole cast was great. Wasn’t sure what to expect, but we loved it! Funny, smart, and surprisingly thoughtful. The time flew. I’ve never seen such diversity (both in age and ethnicity) in a Broadway audience before, either. As for price, well TDF is a wonderful thing, and there are other options for affordable tix. This show is both entertaining and accessible for many people, and everyone who is on that stage - “big” name or no - is unbelievably talented, quick-thinking, and definitely Broadway-caliber. Try it!
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What coincidence you were there the same night as Mr Miranda, now go back on a night he's not..
@jonggentry Yah, I agree!
@Spectator I did, and it was great!
@jonggentry I did, and it was awesome!
Of course, Lin-Manuel just "happened" to be the "surprise" guest for the performance. LOL. Undoubtedly, the producers and publicists for the show knew Ben Brantley was scheduled to be there. Well played, though. I'm looking forward to seeing it on 10/26. Do you suppose Lin may join them for a 10:00 PM performance? ;-)
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@Harlemboy, this may turn out to be similar to Billy Joel showing up at "Movin' Out." People thought it would be once in a blue moon, but I saw Billy Joel join the cast on my second visit, and from the reports, he started coming every time he had a hole in his schedule, because he had a good time every time it happened.
I get the feeling that for as long as Mr. Miranda will pop in often enough to keep it all exciting, but not so often that the buzz and excitement in anticipation of his appearances might fade.
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I saw the show downtown in a much smaller venue. It felt very personal. I saw it on Broadway twice last week. The first time spending a gazillion $$. The second by winning the lottery. These guys are so talented but the not worth the price gouging. Also, playing in such a huge theatre the sound sometimes gets distorted and difficult to understand.
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@Susan P Can we now have a Latina version of "The Sound of Music.? If not, why not?? Ahoy, diversity.
Meh. Mildly entertaining, but not enough to sustain even its very slim length. Go see a real show instead.
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Sounds awful.
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For anyone else who finds stories coming together coincidentally the same day worth a mention: This is likely the first time there have been four articles at the same time where "Hamilton" is discussed, but the articles are not about "Hamilton."
There's this review, of course; the review of the play that Javier Muñoz opened in off-Broadway (Mr. Muñoz was great enough for Pres. Obama to see him as "Hamilton"); the feature article on Jonathan Groff; and the Camus musical hoping to be the next "Hamilton." Not a huge milestone, but maybe worth noting in the comment area.
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I'm honestly sick to death of hip hop. Can rock please come back?
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@Mixilplix Then make sure your elected officials put art and music back into public schools. Deprive the young of opportunities to express and they will come up with their own ways to get their messages out. I just know there are some mini-Hendrixs trying to get out there but without resources and chances the genius go unchallenged and unrecognized.
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I’m sick to death of both. Can something new please come on the scene (but not something horrible?) Thank Humanity for classical and jazz.
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@Mixilplix, hip hop being part of Broadway musicals goes back at least to "Gimme the Ball" in "Chorus Line" - I remember my Mom (who had huge issues with the concept that any boss in real life even in 1975 could legally put any applicants through that torment for a chorus job), so admired everything but the concept, and whispered during the lengthy applause,"I've never seen anything like that before" in decades of seeing theater. The first full number seems to be this in "Runaways"
"Enterprise" from "Runaways" in 1978 [just one NSFW repeated word at 0:45] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIIzV7MDCHg
But it then took until 2015 for a show to utilize hip-hop in such a brilliantly realized way, that ALSO became successful financially - which on Bway isn't the main thing to encourage producers to make more attempts, it's of course the only thing. It's just too soon in 2019, after just four years, IMHO (in my hip-hop opinion) to not let Bway build on what it took 35+ years to make work as commercial.
[Some historians claim "Rock Island" in "Music Man" is Bway's first rap; in the sheet music all rhythms, no pitches - to the train they're on. A production I saw in Hartford a decade ago seemed to emphasize the rap there, and when Patrick Cassidy was revealed as Harold Hill, it felt like the roof was going to lift off the house. Wondering if or where the Broadway revival might take that with Hugh Jackman, for whom I think we already started cheering when we got our tickets.]
What a great concept for a show. I wish I was in New York to see this. My only criticism - the title, most of which should be attributed to the great John Coltrane.
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@Diane Steiner I was trying not to be a stick in the mud but I couldn't help thinking over and over while reading this review and my wish is that the Coltrane estate is getting some of the cash for clearly a riff (theft?) on his Love Supreme album.
The phrase "A Raisin in the Sun" wasn't the invention of its playwright, likewise "Morning's at Seven," "Fiddler on the Roof," "Mt Fair Lady," and the list could go in. in great novels, "Death Be Not Proud" or "Grapes of Wrath" and even "I Know This Much Is True."
This show could sell just as well (maybe better?) with a title like "Lin Manuel Miranda's First Broadway Venture After Hamilton."
This feels like homage, and for all we know, maybe they did get an OK.
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I saw this excellent show on Tuesday, the night prior to the official opening. We also had the pleasure of Lin Manuel Miranda joining our performance. The truth was, while it was nice to have him on stage and he undeniably is a larger than life playwright for our ages, the rest of the cast more than equally compelling and talented.
Yes they improvised, but they did it in such a manner that they are able to still capture the audiences affections and drew uproarious laughter, even from my 66yo Indian mom.
I have not had this much fun at a show in ages. Kudos to these Broadway stars !
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An 80 minute gathering with no script and where one doesn't even know who the performers will be on any given night and where there are only 4 stools for "setting" is priced at $314 a seat (including Telecharge fees). $3.92 a MINUTE for this? Nice hutzpah, but no thanks.
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@Bill prices start at $59 and there's a lottery with $35 tickets. That gets your theoretical cost down to $0.43 a minute. I'm not sure if that meets your required cost/fun ratio threshold though.
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@Bill it is called improv, perhaps you have heard of the form? If not, no problem....more genius and love for the rest of us.
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@Fountain Thanks for the clarification. I am much too middle class to have seen Hamilton.
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