Freestyle Love Supreme - Talent You Need to See

Finally, a ticket everyone can enjoy.

 

As some "cousin" of Toxic Audio and Stomp, Freestyle Love Supreme (FLS) blends the vocal and percussive talents of six men who make up this fun-loving group along with keyboards and other various instruments to achieve their full tonal sound – and boy, do they have fun with it!

 

The actual setting and ambiance of FLS couldn't be better. In the relatively small Ars Nova Theater on West 54^th Street, space is used well to produce the ultimate combination of theater, club and lounge. In addition to the standard row seating, the actual theater housed a bar in the rear including bar back chairs and for those lucky enough to sit up front, lounge style cocktail table and chairs, each accompanied with its own lighted candle.  Not your typical Broadway show.

 

But then again, FLS isn't your typical Broadway show. It is instead, a hip-hop freestyle performance turned sometimes jazz, sometimes blues, sometimes imitation and always into humor. While waiting for the show to begin, the theater is pumped with tunes that secretly make every audience member groove and hum to themselves. The volume is loud enough to put everyone into a freestyle, grooving vibe, but low enough to easily carry on a conversation with the people around you. Prince's "Seven" is followed by a "teched" up version of "Hey Jude" and then Jennifer Lopez's with "Waiting for Tonight." The pre-show music was the perfect precursor to get the audience excited as to what they would see and hear next. 

 

Then the lights go down and we hear FLS for the first time performing a "microphone check" in repetitive hip-hop and lyric. They undeniably deliver to the hype and groove that the theater produced before the show started. The performers narrate the birth of FLS through a freestyle jam all produced from a spontaneous word donated by FLS member Arthur Lewis. The result is instant validation in the audience's eyes.

 

Act after act brings laughter and head shaking over the skills that each performer presents. The audience can literally see when one of the FLS members hits a hot streak and rhymes keep coming out one after another. Lin-Manuel Miranda has the most expressive face of the group as he freestyles. His eyes widen, a smile creeps across his face and his head bobs as he slams rhyme after rhyme; he is so into his freestyle rift that you swear he could even rhyme something with "month."

 

If live free styling isn't enough, the boys of FLS also incorporate non-embarrassing audience participation where they pick up on the slightest details of what the audience says and then turns it into the funniest thing you've ever heard. One skit is a re-enactment of an audience member who shares their day from the time the alarm clock goes off to the time they arrive at the theater. On this particular evening, a young woman who volunteered her day said in the course of conversation that she was half Jewish. After she finishes recounting her day, Anthony Veneziale, the funniest and probably the quickest member of the group, begins the re-enactment by blowing up this subtle fact into a hilarious rhyme saying "…without further ado, a day in the life of a half Jew." Variable skits like this, where the audience member changes nightly proves that this is truly a spontaneous act and skill. 

 

FLS also incorporates audience participation for the more timid spectator. Before entering the theater, everyone is asked to write down the first word that comes into their mind and place it in a coffee can to be used later in the performance. Although my word wasn't used to absolutely prove to me that the performance was completely off the cuff, I (and I think the audience as well) didn't need it. There were some phrases that most likely could be used from night to night to introduce skits, but the meat of the matter, FLS performs differently every night. An unforgettable number FLS performs is Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone debating each other in the future presidential election. Debate topics were randomly chosen from the coffee can, but the skit between these two Hollywood icons begins with the line " Ladies and Gentlemen – the first presidential debate of 2008." Lines like this are used sporadically throughout the performance that are guaranteed rhymes. However, any reservation that you might have over whether or not FLS is a rehearsed performance will melt away by the end of the night. No FLS performer hides their reaction to what the other is doing. If someone is making unbelievable rhymes, their face shows amazement. If someone says something incredibly funny, they laugh. On the same token, if someone says something that makes no sense, they give a confused yet friendly expression as they tease each other on stage. All members of FLS are relaxed, supportive, and amazing at what they do on stage. Nothing is too racy or political to cause any eyebrows to be raised, but instead FLS provides a show packed with 100% entertainment from start to finish. It's nice to know that this extraordinary group of performers found a venue where they can be appreciated. 

 

For more information on Freestyle Love Supreme, please call the box office at 212-868-4444. Tickets are $20. Performances run Thursday – Saturday at 8pm with an additional performance at 10:30pm on Fridays and runs through December 18.

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