PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Before “Hamilton” or even “In the Heights,” a guy from Philly met Lin-Manuel Miranda at college, and together they started a hip-hop improv group called Freestyle Love Supreme.
That guy is Anthony Veneziale, and he gets to bring his show home to the Miller Theater this month.
No two Freestyle Love Supreme shows are the same. Performers take prompts from the audience and create raps on the spot, making it a completely different show every night.
“Everything I do has a bit of that Philly grit to it,” Veneziale said. “Philly is strongly represented in this show, and I cannot wait to do this show in Philly.”
Veneziale started the group out of a desire to bring more diversity to improv.
“I was doing improv in New York City in the late ’90s, early 2000s, and we had a lot of white men doing it,” he recalled. “Theater for me has always been a great place to ask the question of what is race in our country.”
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He found a place where improv meets hip-hop: freestyle rap.
Freestyle Love Supreme is performing in Philly from June 7 to 12, and the cast will be different night to night. James Monroe Iglehart, who won a Tony for originating the role of the Genie in “Aladdin” on Broadway, will join the crew from June 7 to 11. Christopher Jackson, the original George Washington in “Hamilton,” will also take the stage on June 11 and 12.
And the icing on the cake: The Kimmel Cultural Campus just announced that Miranda will join the tour in Philadelphia for one night only, on June 10.
“We have some super fans who have seen the show more than 60, 70, 80 times,” Veneziale said, “because they can. Because it's just totally different every time.”
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Veneziale is also one of the founders of FLS Academy and Speechless, Inc. The two organizations have partnered with Wayne Brady to teach the basics of freestyle in order to help people overcome a fear of public speaking.
On KYW Newsradio In Depth, Veneziale explains what happens scientifically in the brain while freestyling, and he gave a demo of how he puts a freestyle rap together.
Listen in the player below for KYW Newsradio In Depth, or listen to more of Veneziale on The Jawncast here.
