Watch the full interview with Veneziale below!
The effervescent co-founder of Freestyle Love Supreme Anthony Veneziale discusses how the group with Lin-Manuel Miranda and Tommy Kail became a success, on this episode of "THEATER: All the Moving Parts", now streaming.
Watch it below!
Anthony Veneziale with Lin-Manuel Miranda and Thomas Kail are the architects of this magical improvisational hi-hop group, which became a hit on Broadway last season. Hulu then turned it into a documentary that is now streaming. The innovations introduced by Freestyle Love Supreme, which began to evolve when the three men were at Wesleyan University, also influenced the creation of "Into the Heights" and " Hamilton." Anthony Veneziale talks with host Patrick Pacheco about the development and tenets of the art form and its expression as an uplifting and collaborative audience experience. He brings us into the enchanting Freestyle Love Supreme style - a marriage of improvisation, rapping and rhythmic beats, the interplay between the group and audience, and the opportunities it provides to promote authenticity and community. Anthony also talks about the next stage -- Freestyle Love Supreme Academy-- where people of all ages and backgrounds can endeavor to learn and practice the techniques. "The mission is to foster a community of diverse creative voices," says Veneziale. The episode is filled with dazzling images of the history of freestyle hip-hop.
Patrick Pacheco says, "I was most impressed with Veneziale's deep research into the processes of the brain and how improvisation can silence the cerebral pathways which harp on failure and re-direct a person's consciousness toward those areas which encourage creative risk-taking and positive reinforcement. It's very therapeutic! "
"THEATER: All the Moving Parts" is a CUNY-TV show, featuring in-depth interviews with top theater artists, including playwright Theresa Rebeck, musical director Casey Nicholaw, intimacy director Claire Warden and choreographer Sergio Trujillo. Of Pacheco, Rebeck said, "I felt like I was being interviewed by someone who knows me better than I know myself." Go to THEATER: All the Moving Parts to see these and other episodes.
Anthony Veneziale, also known by his stage name "Two-Touch", is the conceiver and co-creator of the improvisational hip-hop comedy musical group Freestyle Love Supreme, as well as the FLS Academy. He has been performing and teaching improv for more than 20 years and is a leader in the field of musical improvisation. Anthony has used these techniques for endeavors with names such as Tommy Kail, Lin Manuel Miranda, Daveed Diggs, and numerous others. He co-founded Speechless Inc, an "an improv thinking company that helps humans create, collaborate, and find their authentic voice". Anthony was most recently seen on Broadway in the limited run of Freestyle Love Supreme, and has appeared on TV in Sex and the City, All My Children, Looking, Bartlett, and the Hulu documentary We Are Freestlye Love Supreme, which documents the groups 15 year history.
Photo Credit: Joan Marcus
Videos