Veteran actor-host Wayne Brady has joined forces with Freestyle Love Supreme Academy and Speechless Inc. to launch a virtual business and educational training platform built around improv acting techniques.
Brady will become chief creative officer of the venture dubbed Fls Plus. Steve Johnston, former president and managing partner of the of the famed Second City improv group, is on board as an investor and will serve as president.
The deal company brings together the assets of Fls Academy, an offshoot of the acting troupe behind the Off Broadway hit “Freestyle Love Supreme,” and Speechless, a San Francisco-based improv company that offers training services, live entertainment and video production services.
Fls Plus is supported by seed money from investors including several Broadway producers. The goal is to target corporate and institutional clients with virtual services. The partners strive to eventually build brick-and-mortar training centers in major cities to serve underprivileged youths and other hard-to-reach communities.
Brady will become chief creative officer of the venture dubbed Fls Plus. Steve Johnston, former president and managing partner of the of the famed Second City improv group, is on board as an investor and will serve as president.
The deal company brings together the assets of Fls Academy, an offshoot of the acting troupe behind the Off Broadway hit “Freestyle Love Supreme,” and Speechless, a San Francisco-based improv company that offers training services, live entertainment and video production services.
Fls Plus is supported by seed money from investors including several Broadway producers. The goal is to target corporate and institutional clients with virtual services. The partners strive to eventually build brick-and-mortar training centers in major cities to serve underprivileged youths and other hard-to-reach communities.
- 1/26/2022
- by Cynthia Littleton
- Variety Film + TV
Additional performers and presenters have been announced for The Tony Awards Present: Broadway’s Back!, the two-hour live concert special airing on CBS and Paramount+ this Sunday following the livestream-only presentation of the 74th Annual Tony Awards.
Joining the special’s roster are Jon Batiste, Stephanie J. Block, Wayne Brady, Tituss Burgess, Darren Criss, Robbie Fairchild, Beanie Feldstein, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Jordan Fisher, Santino Fontana, Andrew Garfield, Jared Grimes, Josh Groban, Jennifer Holliday, Nikki M. James, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Ron Cephas Jones, Cyndi Lauper, Norm Lewis, John Lithgow, Lindsay Mendez, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Jennifer Nettles, Lynn Nottage, Adam Pascal, Bernadette Peters, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Andrew Rannells, Anthony Rapp, Anika Noni Rose, Lea Salonga, Ali Stroker, Black Thought, Courtney B. Vance, Daniel J. Watts and Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber.
The telecast also will feature performances including David Byrne and the cast of American Utopia, John Legend and the cast of Ain’t Too Proud,...
Joining the special’s roster are Jon Batiste, Stephanie J. Block, Wayne Brady, Tituss Burgess, Darren Criss, Robbie Fairchild, Beanie Feldstein, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Jordan Fisher, Santino Fontana, Andrew Garfield, Jared Grimes, Josh Groban, Jennifer Holliday, Nikki M. James, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Ron Cephas Jones, Cyndi Lauper, Norm Lewis, John Lithgow, Lindsay Mendez, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Jennifer Nettles, Lynn Nottage, Adam Pascal, Bernadette Peters, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Andrew Rannells, Anthony Rapp, Anika Noni Rose, Lea Salonga, Ali Stroker, Black Thought, Courtney B. Vance, Daniel J. Watts and Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber.
The telecast also will feature performances including David Byrne and the cast of American Utopia, John Legend and the cast of Ain’t Too Proud,...
- 9/23/2021
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Freestyle Love Supreme, the improvisational rap musical revue co-created by Lin-Manuel Miranda, is returning to Broadway’s Booth Theatre for a strictly limited three-month engagement in October, producers announced today.
“If live theater is coming back, so is Fls,” said Miranda, who co-created the show with Thomas Kail and Anthony Veneziale. “Our most important collaborator is the audience, and we can’t wait to get back in the Booth.”
The limited engagement begins Thursday, October 7, and runs through Sunday, January 2, 2022.
“We are thrilled to be back on Broadway and part of this theatrical community we love so much,” said Kail, who directs. “The immediacy of our show, with its content driven by audience suggestion, makes it one of the rare shows that can speak to whatever is happening in the moment.”
The production’s core performers will include Andrew Bancroft Aka Jelly Donut, Tarik Davis Aka Tardis Hardaway, Aneesa Folds Aka Young Nees,...
“If live theater is coming back, so is Fls,” said Miranda, who co-created the show with Thomas Kail and Anthony Veneziale. “Our most important collaborator is the audience, and we can’t wait to get back in the Booth.”
The limited engagement begins Thursday, October 7, and runs through Sunday, January 2, 2022.
“We are thrilled to be back on Broadway and part of this theatrical community we love so much,” said Kail, who directs. “The immediacy of our show, with its content driven by audience suggestion, makes it one of the rare shows that can speak to whatever is happening in the moment.”
The production’s core performers will include Andrew Bancroft Aka Jelly Donut, Tarik Davis Aka Tardis Hardaway, Aneesa Folds Aka Young Nees,...
- 6/16/2021
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Hulu premiered filmmaker Andrew Fried’s We Are Freestyle Love Supreme documentary in July — which chronicles the past 15 years of the upbeat improv hip-hop group — after it originally debuted at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Fried began following Fls with his camera back in 2005, when they were still rapping on New York City sidewalks and playing small clubs and venues. Over the years, the fanbase for the hip-hop collective has grown — as has the stature of founding members, including Lin-Manuel Miranda, Christopher Jackson, and director Thomas Kail before Hamiltonmania.
- 8/20/2020
- by Jerry Portwood
- Rollingstone.com
For years, the Freestyle Love Supreme experience was a “completely ephemeral” one, as founding member Thomas Kail puts it. Only those in the small, usually 99-seat, theaters who witnessed one of the hip-hop improv group’s shows live shared in the unique memory and magic of what they delivered. But through Andrew Fried’s documentary “We Are Love Supreme,” debuting on Hulu July 17, some of those performances have been given more permanence.
“It was like we were writing poetry and lighting it on fire. And later we ended up writing a couple of novels and people liked our novels,” Kail, who also executive produced the documentary, says of the difference between Freestyle Love Supreme’s shows and “In The Heights” and Hamilton.” “We thought, ‘Well, what if we go back and show them some of the poetry we wrote?’ It informed and infused the novels.”
As Freestyle Love Supreme founding...
“It was like we were writing poetry and lighting it on fire. And later we ended up writing a couple of novels and people liked our novels,” Kail, who also executive produced the documentary, says of the difference between Freestyle Love Supreme’s shows and “In The Heights” and Hamilton.” “We thought, ‘Well, what if we go back and show them some of the poetry we wrote?’ It informed and infused the novels.”
As Freestyle Love Supreme founding...
- 7/16/2020
- by Danielle Turchiano
- Variety Film + TV
Utkarsh Ambudkar is probably best known as Donald from the Pitch Perfect franchise, the resident smooth-talkin’ beatboxer of the acapella group the Treblemakers. He also appeared in The Mindy Project as Mindy Kaling’s younger brother. His other film and TV credits include the comedy feature Brittany Runs a Marathon, the IFC series Brockmire and he lends his voice to the Disney Junior animated series Mira, Royal Detective. He also appears in a whole slate of films including the rom-com The Broken Hearts Gallery, the comedy action pic Free Guy alongside Ryan Reynolds and Disney’s Godmothered — but did you know that he played Aaron Burr in early workshops for Hamilton?
Even before Hamilton, he was part of the hip-hop improv group Freestyle Love Supreme founded by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Thomas Kail and Anthony Veneziale, the subject of the Hulu documentary We Are Freestyle Love Supreme which hits the streamer July...
Even before Hamilton, he was part of the hip-hop improv group Freestyle Love Supreme founded by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Thomas Kail and Anthony Veneziale, the subject of the Hulu documentary We Are Freestyle Love Supreme which hits the streamer July...
- 7/14/2020
- by Dino-Ray Ramos and Amanda N'Duka
- Deadline Film + TV
In today’s TV news roundup, Apple TV Plus released the trailer for its new drama series “Little Voice” and Hulu dropped a teaser for “The Handmaid’s Tale” upcoming fourth season.
Renewals
Quibi has announced that its LGBTQ+ comedy competition “Gayme Show” has been renewed for a second season. Hosted by Matt Rogers and Dave Mizzoni, “Gayme Show” pairs two straight contestants with a celebrity “life partner” to complete challenges in order to be crowned “Queen of the Straights.” “Gayme Show” is produced by Jax Media and executive produced by Rogers, Mizzoni, showrunner Genevieve Aniello, Brooke Posch, Séamus Murphy-Mitchell and Tony Hernandez.
Dates
Netflix announced Jim Jefferies’ fourth streaming stand-up special, “Jim Jefferies: Intolerant,” will premiere July 7. This time, the Australian comedian cracks jokes about things he just can’t tolerate, namely lactose, germaphobes and people with peanut allergies. Watch a trailer below.
Amazon Prime Video announced “World’s Toughest...
Renewals
Quibi has announced that its LGBTQ+ comedy competition “Gayme Show” has been renewed for a second season. Hosted by Matt Rogers and Dave Mizzoni, “Gayme Show” pairs two straight contestants with a celebrity “life partner” to complete challenges in order to be crowned “Queen of the Straights.” “Gayme Show” is produced by Jax Media and executive produced by Rogers, Mizzoni, showrunner Genevieve Aniello, Brooke Posch, Séamus Murphy-Mitchell and Tony Hernandez.
Dates
Netflix announced Jim Jefferies’ fourth streaming stand-up special, “Jim Jefferies: Intolerant,” will premiere July 7. This time, the Australian comedian cracks jokes about things he just can’t tolerate, namely lactose, germaphobes and people with peanut allergies. Watch a trailer below.
Amazon Prime Video announced “World’s Toughest...
- 6/24/2020
- by Klaritza Rico
- Variety Film + TV
The Andrew Fried-directed documentary We Are Freestyle Love Supreme produced by Hamilton icon Lin-Manuel Miranda has found a home at Hulu and will hit the streamer June 5.
The docu made its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and spotlights the 15-year journey of the hip-hop improvisational group founded by Miranda, Thomas Kail and Anthony Veneziale. The group called Freestyle Love Supreme was formed long before Hamilton and In The Heights hit Broadway. Fried began chronicling the group in the summer of 2005, documenting the early days of Freestyle Love Supreme beatboxing and rapping on the sidewalks. Fast forward 14 years later and Fried brings us to a reunion with a series of shows in New York City that led to a triumphant run on Broadway.
In addition to Miranda, Kail and Veneziale, the docu features Arthur Lewis, Christopher Jackson, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Chris Sullivan, Bill Sherman, James Monroe Iglehart and Andrew Bancroft.
The docu made its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and spotlights the 15-year journey of the hip-hop improvisational group founded by Miranda, Thomas Kail and Anthony Veneziale. The group called Freestyle Love Supreme was formed long before Hamilton and In The Heights hit Broadway. Fried began chronicling the group in the summer of 2005, documenting the early days of Freestyle Love Supreme beatboxing and rapping on the sidewalks. Fast forward 14 years later and Fried brings us to a reunion with a series of shows in New York City that led to a triumphant run on Broadway.
In addition to Miranda, Kail and Veneziale, the docu features Arthur Lewis, Christopher Jackson, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Chris Sullivan, Bill Sherman, James Monroe Iglehart and Andrew Bancroft.
- 4/30/2020
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
Broadway’s Freestyle Love Supreme, co-created by Hamilton team Lin-Manuel Miranda, Thomas Kail and Anthony Veneziale, has recouped its investment after 14 weeks, making it one of the first shows of the season to recoup.
The improvisational production, which blends hip-hop and comedy, will play its final Broadway performance on Sunday, January 12 at the Booth Theatre. The show began previews on September 13, 2019 and officially opened on October 2. When it closes, Freestyle Love Supreme will have played 23 previews and 118 regular performances.
Directed by Kail, the production has a core group of performers – Andrew Bancroft, Aneesa Folds, Arthur Lewis, Kaila Mullady, Chris Sullivan, Anthony Veneziale and Utkarsh Ambudkar – that’s often been joined by special guests including Wayne Brady, Daveed Diggs, Ashley Pérez Flanagan, James Monroe Iglehart, Christopher Jackson, Alex Lacamoire, Sarah Kay, Bill Sherman, and Miranda. Surprise appearances have been made by Josh Groban, Jimmy Fallon, Ian McKellan and Helen Mirren.
The...
The improvisational production, which blends hip-hop and comedy, will play its final Broadway performance on Sunday, January 12 at the Booth Theatre. The show began previews on September 13, 2019 and officially opened on October 2. When it closes, Freestyle Love Supreme will have played 23 previews and 118 regular performances.
Directed by Kail, the production has a core group of performers – Andrew Bancroft, Aneesa Folds, Arthur Lewis, Kaila Mullady, Chris Sullivan, Anthony Veneziale and Utkarsh Ambudkar – that’s often been joined by special guests including Wayne Brady, Daveed Diggs, Ashley Pérez Flanagan, James Monroe Iglehart, Christopher Jackson, Alex Lacamoire, Sarah Kay, Bill Sherman, and Miranda. Surprise appearances have been made by Josh Groban, Jimmy Fallon, Ian McKellan and Helen Mirren.
The...
- 1/7/2020
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Lin-Manuel Miranda is about to make your Hump Day so much better. The Hamilton mastermind stopped by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Tuesday night with his musical, improv group Freestyle Love Supreme—and the talented singers performed a live version of "Tonight Show Pet Peeves." The group, comprised of Miranda, Anthony Veneziale, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Aneesa Folsd, Kaila Mullady, Andrew Bancroft, Arthur Lewis, and Chris Sullivan, took suggestions from the audience and transformed them into instant riffs and full-length musical numbers. "We, of course, are called Freestyle Love Supreme, but we don't love everything," Veneziale said while introducing the...
- 10/2/2019
- E! Online
Freestyle Love Supreme co-creator Anthony Veneziale has a very specific goal in mind as he steps out on stage each night to perform the improv-driven show. “I’m looking for those ‘oxygen deprivation’ moments — where the audience has a gasp of air,” he says. “The more the audience has those, ‘A-ha! moments,’ the more I know this is the direction that we need to go.”
A recent visit to the latest production, which is currently in previews on Broadway (it runs through January 5th, 2020), illustrated just how good he and...
A recent visit to the latest production, which is currently in previews on Broadway (it runs through January 5th, 2020), illustrated just how good he and...
- 9/18/2019
- by Jerry Portwood
- Rollingstone.com
Lin-Manuel Miranda did two important things on Tuesday’s “Tonight Show”: participate in an epic freestyle-rap battle with The Roots’ Black Thought and he announced that he’s going be taking his talents back to Broadway this fall with “Freestyle Love Supreme,” the improvisational hip-hop group co-founded by Miranda in 2004.
“Before ‘Hamilton,’ before ‘In the Heights,’ my first time performing in New York was with a freestyle hip-hop group called ‘Freestyle Love Supreme,'” Miranda said, after finishing the rap competition on Jimmy Fallon’s late-night show. “We are coming to Broadway this fall at the Booth Theater. It’s an entirely made-up Broadway show, you don’t know who is gonna show up. Black Thought might show up, I might show up one night, Chris Jackson might show up one night. You don’t know what’s gonna happen. Come see us in September!”
Miranda will co-produce the...
“Before ‘Hamilton,’ before ‘In the Heights,’ my first time performing in New York was with a freestyle hip-hop group called ‘Freestyle Love Supreme,'” Miranda said, after finishing the rap competition on Jimmy Fallon’s late-night show. “We are coming to Broadway this fall at the Booth Theater. It’s an entirely made-up Broadway show, you don’t know who is gonna show up. Black Thought might show up, I might show up one night, Chris Jackson might show up one night. You don’t know what’s gonna happen. Come see us in September!”
Miranda will co-produce the...
- 6/19/2019
- by Jennifer Maas
- The Wrap
Freestyle Love Supreme, the hip hop theatrical improv show co-created by Lin-Manuel Miranda in 2004 and staged intermittently since, will make its Broadway debut in September, producers – including Miranda – have announced.
The show, which recently completed an Off Broadway run, will begin previews at Broadway’s Booth Theatre on Friday, September 13, with an official opening on Wednesday, Oct. 2. The strictly limited 16-week run concludes Sunday, January 5, 2020.
The show combines singing, rapping, comedy, beat-boxing and human percussion, with the performers taking suggestions from the audience to create “humorous bits, instantaneous songs and riffs, and fully realized musical numbers.”
The production’s core company will be 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 unannounced guests are planned for select performances during the run, including Miranda, Christopher Jackson, Daveed Diggs, and James Monroe Iglehart,...
The show, which recently completed an Off Broadway run, will begin previews at Broadway’s Booth Theatre on Friday, September 13, with an official opening on Wednesday, Oct. 2. The strictly limited 16-week run concludes Sunday, January 5, 2020.
The show combines singing, rapping, comedy, beat-boxing and human percussion, with the performers taking suggestions from the audience to create “humorous bits, instantaneous songs and riffs, and fully realized musical numbers.”
The production’s core company will be 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 unannounced guests are planned for select performances during the run, including Miranda, Christopher Jackson, Daveed Diggs, and James Monroe Iglehart,...
- 6/19/2019
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Hamilton maestro and overall modern-day renaissance man Lin-Manuel Miranda took to Twitter earlier today and teased that he would be announcing some news. From the forthcoming Mary Poppins Returns to the developing In The Heights film adaptation to the live-action version of The Little Mermaid, Miranda has a lot of plates spinning so the news could have been a number of things. But his recent announcement doesn’t have anything to do with the big screen but more of his pre-Hamilton days. Miranda revealed that he is reviving his hip-hop improvisational hip-hop group and show Freestyle Love Supreme for an Off-Broadway run.
Miranda will co-produce the show and be an occasional guest performer of the show which will run from January 30 to March 2 at the Greenwich House Theater in New York for 32 performances. The regular cast will include Anthony Veneziale, Andrew Bancroft, Arthur Lewis, Bill Sherman, Chris Sullivan, Anthony Veneziale,...
Miranda will co-produce the show and be an occasional guest performer of the show which will run from January 30 to March 2 at the Greenwich House Theater in New York for 32 performances. The regular cast will include Anthony Veneziale, Andrew Bancroft, Arthur Lewis, Bill Sherman, Chris Sullivan, Anthony Veneziale,...
- 10/30/2018
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.