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Whatever you want to say, Meredith.
We'll sing about it.
Wow, Meredith's pretty lucky.
Absolutely.
Mm.
âª Tiny little purple coat âª
âª Meredith checking what we wrote âª
âª But not really, we're singing it on the spot âª
âª Oh, no, she got afraid âª
âª It's okay, Chris, sing something that you made âª
â âª We'll sing a lullaby or two âª
âª Want to sing to you âª
âª Hope you're not shy, just sitting around âª
âª Waiting on five nice guys âª
â Who's that guy?
Taking it to the streets.
Don't do it.
Frogger, Frogger, Frogger!
â What?
All right, let's bring it in, then.
Mic check on three, mic check on three, ready?
One, two, three.
Mic check!
LINâMANUEL: âª This is mic two, this isââthis is mic two âª
âª What, this is mic two, this is microphone two âª
âª This is mic two, and let's get this turning... âª
âª I'm too pretty, whoo! âª
Well, I think the story we're telling is that, like,
things aren't linear. I don't know.
I mean...
Real life's not a linear narrative.
It's not this and this and this, like, ascent.
It's all these side journeys, and people move away,
and they come back, and life gets complicated.
And you...
you keep going.
There's no end point.
What's that quote? It's Orson Welles's quote
that was, "If you want to tell a story with a happy ending,
it depends on where you end the story."
âª âª
LINâMANUEL: How are you?
Nice to meet you. LINâMANUEL: Nice to meet you.
- Onto the stage? - I would prefer
not to be last 'cause I have to getââ
LINâMANUEL: Good morning, good night.
I can't be your clown.
Great. Cody, you ready?
Yep, take it away.
Shall we move into pet peeves?
Great.
And our freestylingââ how manyââlet's go from this.
Thank you so very much. Freestyle Love Supreme.
How many of you seen us before?
Yes. - Single.
Well, for those of you just joining us,
our freestyling is slightly different.
It's not the skiing or the dancing or the swimming.
Our freestyling starts with a beat.
What? That's cool.
Great. Let's hold there.
So, Shock, when they're ready for us,
just back up to, like, just finishing the rewind,
and then smashing the record. We can go from there, okay?
So it's rewind throughââ this is all rewind.
â Yep, start with the rewind cue.
Yep. Great, great, great. Let them work.
One sec.
Oh, that switch.
Yeah, okay.
â Great, and continuing on, continuing on.
I think we decided to get back together
because it's probably the purest expression of joy
that any of us have ever felt in doing a show.
â Shall we put LinâMan Wiz Gal into it?
- Okay. - Great.
We hadn't done a run in New York really since 2004.
We'd been doing oneâoffs and consistent shows
for the last 13, 14 years.
And the last couple years have been tougher
to wrangle everybody, and it just felt like
there's an opportunity for us to get together
for one more ride.
We are Freestyle Love Supreme,
but we don't love everything.
Sometimes we downright just don't like stuff.
So what are some things that you don't like?
- Cold. - Cold!
Yes. - Camouflage.
Camouflage!
LINâMANUEL: I'm gonna take camouflage.
Camouflage.
So over here, U. T. K., we haveââ
'cause you're gonna be going first, yep.
Over here, we have U. T. K.
â Crowds. â Crowds.
In the middle, we have taxes.
And over here, we haveââ
â Camouflage! Who needs it?
These are a few of your pet peeves.
There's an energy around the show that's unlike
any of the other things that we've done.
And you see a lot of elements of this energetic field
in our other work.
But I feel like it was cultivated and shaped here,
so the chance to get back together as grownâups,
this thing that we started as
these younger versions of ourselves...
LINâMANUEL: âª You can run that shit if you want to âª
âª I'll be in Sodi's restaurant, too âª
âª With my picture all up in the frame âª
âª 'Cause yes, I want the fortune âª
âª And yes, I want the fame âª
It felt like there is a window because
apparently, you can be 40 and rapping.
Here we are, most of us on this side of 40,
or just on the other side of 40.
And it isn't something you can do always,
but it did feel like it's something we could do now.
â âª Oh I'm sorry, was your name Rambo? âª
âª Were you in the Army? âª
âª Why the fuck you wearing camo? âª
âª I can't believe you wear it as a choice âª
âª I wear it on my underwear âª
âª Now listen to my voice âª
Whoo! - âª Oh, my God âª
âª That's his balls âª
âª Wish I could camouflage myself, all of y'all âª
â âª I can see his middle parts âª
âª His balls have gone missing âª
âª And let me just fill out all the forms that I'm missing âª
â âª Ah, fill the forms out, there eat some mutton âª
âª It's the second time I used my underwear as a button âª
That's twice the subject has been on my underwear
in FLS history.
I'll take camouflage.
That's just the craziest thing ever.
Oh!
You're welcome.
Um, this is the squad tonight.
Lin is gonna jump in for Day in the Life.
Just at the end, so we're not gonna tease that he's here.
â When Lin does stuff, the audience is gonna, like,
applaud for a long time,
so musically and whatever, let's leave room for it,
and be prepared for it.
You know, the one thing about the show
that I found to be true over the years,
you know, whether we're doing the show
for 50 people ten years ago
or whether we're doing the show now,
which is that the way that you all listen to each other
and engage with each other up there
is the real magic trick.
Everyone thinks it's the other stuff and the rhyming,
but that's actually what it is.
You know, the show has a very simple premise,
which is we are going to entertain
the hell out of you for 78 minutes,
and then, like, two minutes are not gonna be great.
Something is happening that should be acknowledged.
We're all together doing this thing again.
It'sââI mean, it shouldn't be. It is.
Just, like, you guys, instead of playing pingâpong,
the beat isââis Shockwave.
So it's a mind ball?
So there's no ball, okay?
But you're sort of doing freestyle
and going back and forth
and it looks like you're playing.
â And IââI'll keep doing this.
But all we're gonna seeââ
â Yes. - Yes, exactly, Sherm.
â âª All day, back and forth âª
âª From south to north âª
âª Pow to north âª
âª All day âª
We had no idea what we were getting into.
I don't think any of us would've said,
"Oh, yeah, this is the beginning
of this crazy journey,"
where a lot of the people in Freestyle Love Supreme
are shaping what the American theater looks like now.
Oh, look at Lin's boxers. That's not what I expected.
You know, there's a reason why "love"
is in the middle of the title of the show.
And it's in the middle of what makes the show...
everything that it is.
â âª Excuse me, what did you get in your groceries? âª
âª Anything interesting, you could maybe talk to me âª
âª Okay, oh, we freestyle âª
âª You got the orange juice âª
âª Most pulp, so nice âª
âª Your word is pretzel âª
â âª I'm from Philadelph âª
âª We call it soft, pretzel âª
âª Damn, don't you understand âª
âª I need to give you a headbuttâzel âª
â âª They give you words, then you play a little while âª
âª Flip a word or syllable around âª
âª That is freestyle âª
â âª We taking up too much of the sidewalk streets âª
âª Sorry, Miss âª
âª Damnââ âª LINâMANUEL: âª Eek âª
The origin story of Freestyle Love Supreme,
I went to Wesleyan with Tommy Kail.
He was one of my coâconspirators
in making things.
I was this kid who used to play sports,
and Anthony was someone who also played sports,
who had this performing instinct.
And Anthony was someone who, my junior year of college,
really pulled me into the theater.
And in college, I did an improv show.
And this was the first time that Tommy
really became a part
of the theater community at Wesleyan.
Prior to that, he was very into American history,
and he was, like, a sports dude.
And he loved hipâhop,
so we were always, like, at every house party
rapping together.
â I think it was that next year, '99,
Anthony and I drove to go help a friend out with his
senior film in Iowa, and it was supposed to be,
like, a 10â or 12âhour drive.
We were gonna drive from Brooklyn.
Then we ran into a hail storm.
And the only way we could stay awake
was to put on the Bâside
of Daft Punk's "Around the World."
That beat is so pulsing
that you can't take time to think.
â And Anthony and I freestyled for four straight hours.
That, in some way, was a seed for Freestyle Love Supreme.
âª âª
When we got to New York
and started this little theater company
and decided to work on In the Heights,
Anthony would grab Lin at every break
and just start freestyling.
And I'd be sort of wrangling them back.
I was like, "Okay, let's go.
We gotta get back into the thing."
And this is 2002, 2003,
and they kept on doing it and they kept on doing it.
And they had an idea to maybe make a show out of it.
â Some people decided that
we seemed like we knew what we were doing,
and so they gave us the keys to the Drama Book Shop.
Allen Hubby, who was the owner
of the Drama Book Shop at the time, said,
"Hey, would you create theater here?"
We were so young and dumb.
We were like, "Of course.
We know how to create theater."
â We spent a lot of time in that basement,
and Anthony was kind of running the Arthur Seelen Theater.
That was sort of the job.
â We just started making stuff in...
a small room, much like this, that was painted black
where nobody was paying attention to us.
And that was our lab.
We did know, though, that we could, like,
paint walls and buy curtains and I did some electrical work
down in the basement of the Drama Book Shop,
which was totally illegal.
It was, like, a disaster in the early days.
It was, like, I played the saxophone during it,
and, like, that was kind of a disaster.
I didn't really know how to play the piano.
I still don't really know how to play the piano,
and so, like, I don't know.
Just seemed like a bunch of friends
who have been really lucky and really talented
and really motivated.
â We have all had our little
bumps and bruises along the way,
but those things are not anything
that would even threaten the course of the group.
â It's the joy of falling on your face,
the power of being
unresââunfettered with your friends
and with people you care about.
â None of us know what's happening,
so it'sââwe're experiencing it with the audience.
It's a different kind of communion
than you normally get in theater.
â I feel like if I'm creating a moment,
I want to be able to pull from stuff I felt when I was 16,
from when I was five, from when I was ten.
You gotta be able to pull from all of it
and stay in touch with all of it.
Now, what I need from you all tonight
is a verb, an action word.
To cry, to scream, to laugh, to love.
Give me verbs, as many as you can shout.
We were doing shows in New York,
and this producer came and saw us.
And he said, "This would be fantastic
at the Fringe Festival."
â Yes.
What does NED stand for, again?
â A NED is like a little smart aleck kid thatââ
â But it stands for Nonâeducatedââ
â Not Educatedââ â Deviant, or something?
Edinburgh Fringe Festival
is the longestârunning theater festival in the world.
It was a huge opportunity for us.
â We could really, like, trace the trail to our house.
This is the longest stoplight in all of Scotland,
and it terrifies me to cross it.
Lin, go! â No, it's not green yet.
Lin, go.
â I will not cross until it's green,
and they all cross ahead and it's fine
and I just stand here like an idiot.
I think about that summer
when you had cameras on us in 2005.
And it was a great summer.
Everything was happening, and nothing was happening.
Okay, hallaracket.
Someone who is a hallaracket
is wild, rowdy, and irresponsible.
Go. â Oh.
âª I'm a hallaracket âª
âª I make hella racket âª
âª I don't know what to say âª
âª I take it and pack it up like lunch âª
âª And then I bunch and I munch and I funch âª
âª Like a fucking Captain Crunch âª
â Nickitoms are straps or strings
secured around trouser legs below the knee.
â âª Nickitoms are straps for legs âª
âª Nickitoms, I'm making millions âª
âª With my resilience âª
âª So trust me there'll be billions âª
âª Like we were back at Wesleyan âª
âª And rapping about equestrians and lesbians âª
âª With my nickitoms keep my knackers on right âª
âª Wear my long pants, then I do it all night âª
â All night.
I got to say something.
There was always a sense that
what we were trying to put together
was something that we could make accessible to...
the masses.
âª Freestyle in the evening time âª
âª Freestyle Love Supreme âª
âª Your word is Scottish âª
â âª The word is Scottish âª
âª I'm feeling kind of maybe lukewarm, hottish âª
âª This is Freestyle Love Supreme âª
âª We make up rap songs while you eat your ice creams âª
âª Yes, wolf it down, I like Newcastle Crown âª
âª He's got the little bits of beer in it âª
âª But less than one percent alcohol âª
âª So all please check out our show âª
âª 6:50, it's nifty if you're tipsy âª
âª Don't you know âª
â We're Freestyle Love Supreme. Please, come see our show.
â We're gonna go get a deepâfried Mars bar,
which is the height of Scottish cuisine.
That washed down with some fish and chips.
Fish and chips. - If they have it.
â And vinegar. - Where?
â Deepâfried Mars bars, they only have them here.
We went to Edinburgh the summer of 2005.
I remember a lot about being there.
I remember watching the show find an audience.
I remember the first show having X amount of people,
the next show having X plus something,
and then it was 2X.
â We had a show that worked,
like Freestyle worked.
We thought we'd have audiences as soon as we got out there,
and that wasn't true.
We had to work very hard for them,
but our show worked.
And it's essentially the show we're still doing.
âª âª
Shit.
Did you zoom in that I was listening
to "Wanted Dead or alive" by Bon Jovi?
Which is the perfect soundtrack for where we are right now.
A little more of the beatbox
in the front monitors.
Do you guys need it more? And also the piano monitor.
â Yeah, I think, Bill, you can takeââ
you can still take the time you do,
but it's just that Shockwave kind of has the last word.
Tommy's the architect.
Tommy Kail is somebody who can make sense out of chaos,
which is, at any given time,
the best way to describe Freestyle Love Supreme.
â Without him, this group wouldn't be what it is,
and we wouldn't have gotten here this far.
LINâMANUEL: âª So don't think, push me to the brink âª
âª So I get another drink, and I go into the brink âª
âª Of disaster, I asked you âª
âª I passed it, I'm master âª
âª Of the universe, oh, no the universe... âª
We didn't necessarily know what we were
aiming at longâterm,
other than can we make this one thing better?
Oh, Christ.
I hope that's a fishâeye lens
and my face looks like fucking Marky Wahlberg.
âª âª
It just doesn't feel that long ago.
âª âª
We're code blue.
I couldn't care less about them.
Broââ
And who is that manââ oh, Lord.
â We call that a deep dive.
âª âª
'Cause I've gotta go in there before you.
âª âª
Can somebody get a tallboy for Bill?
Bill's fine, thank you very much.
Tall Pabst Blue Ribbon.
â The Pabst Blue. - You see this?
â Yeah, look, we're the real thing.
â It's officially a show.
We have an assistant director.
Uh, associate.
Oh, I'm sorry.
My bad, we have an associate director.
And there are some posters that the rest of the guys
have gotten to, but you haven't,
so I'll put those on top for you.
LINâMANUEL: Okay.
This is not something you normally do.
â Never signed anything.
â Oh, wait. I'm on these.
Oh, you are on those? LINâMANUEL: Yep.
Now this one's been signed twice.
Okay, great.
Let me count out what you need. - Ooh, a rookie mistake.
â Should've been signed twice.
I was working on this other project,
In the Heights,
which is a musical I wrote in college.
And Tommy and some ofââ
his friends had seen it.
Tommy had only heard the soundtrack,
and so the first time I met Tommy
was at a fundraiser for their production company.
And Tommy introduced himself.
He was like, "Hi, I'm Tommy Kail.
"Oh, you wrote In the Heights?
"It's great. Listen, I really think
"the third number in your show should go first
'cause it really sets up the world."
Barely met him, and he's already got ideas
for how to do it, and so I was very taken aback
the first time I met Tommy Kail.
But then I realized that
it's not coming from any kind of bad place.
It's that Tommy has so many ideas
that they justââ they're justââ
they just come out.
First time we sat down and talked about the show,
we realized we were on the same page.
My first job was at the Mickey D's up the street.
âª âª
â What I love is the people that, like, look
and then they see how unfamous we are
and they're just so disappointed.
â Yeah, they're like...
â They peek around. They're, like, ugh.
â Oh, for fuck's sake. â I think he's Jewish.
Looks like a Latin guy and a Jew.
That's the guy from American Idol.
â That's the guy from American Idol
and a Mexican Bud Bundy.
â A Mexican Bud Bundy!
â Does anybody ever say you look like anybody?
â It's always, like, their brother
or their friend or their cousin.
There's a good chance no one will ever know who you are.
LINâMANUEL: Right.
We just walk by and so we're not, like,
staring at ourselves.
And by ourselves, I mean you.
LINâMANUEL: Yeah, I don't know.
I don't have a problem with it.
It's gonna be a full month before we move in here.
LINâMANUEL: Yeah.
I am a dork
when it comes to rhyme.
I mean, ever since I was a little kid,
like, I've been putting words together.
I neverââ really actively freestyled
until pretty late in life,
but I remember singing the theme song
for the "Darkwing Duck" cartoon.
And there's a little line in it that goes,
âª When there's trouble, you call DW âª
LINâMANUEL: And being like, "That's amazing.
"How do you think of, 'When there's trouble,
you call DW'?"
And thinking, "What if they made up the whole show
just to make those two couplets rhyme?"
'Cause that's something I would do.
I would build a whole show just to make the couplet
"when there's trouble, you call DW" make sense.
âª âª
The first freestyle was here.
It was on the day after the blackout.
And they were supposed to do it downtown.
LINâMANUEL: We were supposed to do it at the PIT Theater,
but the power hadn't come back on there yet,
so we got our audience, put a sign up,
and brought them all here.
It was very "Cradle Will Rock."
LINâMANUEL: Yeah, it was very "Cradle Will Rock."
We're bringing the rap!
And there were 14 people.
LINâMANUEL: Nah, 16. - Damn it.
LINâMANUEL:
And we walked into this room in July of 2001.
But we thought, "Let's make a place where our friends
can come and, like, spend time."
LINâMANUEL: Right. - And was really
the only person who did it to that amount.
â I did. I took them up on that.
I might sure they were as good as their word.
It was like, "Lin, honestly, come whenever you want."
And he did.
âª âª
LINâMANUEL: I was wary coming out of college.
I didn't know these guys very well,
but as soon as Tommy and I met
and I realized we agreed on what needed to happen,
I felt very lucky, and then we kind of just got to work.
â I think that what this room reminds me of,
and one of the reasons I'm probably as proud
of this room as I am of anything
that I've ever done, is that in theater,
you make something and it goes away.
But that's the booth that we built.
LINâMANUEL: Yeah. The faders.
â These are the walls that we painted.
Like, these are the curtains that we hung,
and you don't get do to that.
You put something up, and it goes away.
This was a launching pad. LINâMANUEL: Yeah.
You know, this was...
it was a birthing place.
â Our nexus is a basement in a book shop
where we used to play the piano and make up raps.
And here we are, 15 fucking years later.
I have this problem that I don't believe things
until they actually happen.
I didn't believe we were in Scotland
until, you know, yesterday, and to me...
that's what makes me stay on my toes.
'Cause you literallyââwe never know what's gonna happen.
LINâMANUEL: Bill isââBill's the man.
Bill's Samwise the Brave.
I met him junior year of college,
and Iââhe was musical directing someone else's show,
and I stole him.
I saw how good he was, and I said,
"You're working on my show."
Lin came up to me. He said, "I don't know you,
"and you don't know me, but we're gonna work together
for a really long time," and I thought,
"Great, that's very optimistic of you, Yoda, sir."
Hey, photo guy.
Truth to him, we became really close friends.
We worked on his stuff in college.
We lived together for way too long after college.
We're very close still to this day.
He was there at the birth of my children.
I was there at the birth of his children.
It's me.
LINâMANUEL: It's literally you with a wig on.
Why isn't she wearing a Rangers jersey?
She's just grumpy.
I want to see her at a hockey game.
LINâMANUEL: She's like, "We having White Russians?"
â What's with White Russians?
LINâMANUEL: 'Cause your first freestyle show,
you drank three White Russians with your dad,
and then played saxophone for an hour.
You made that up.
He had a bottle of vodka as a set piece.
I had a bottle of vodka with Russians.
â But consider this, isn't that better?
â We're all out there making each other laugh
and enjoying each other and having good times,
so it just feels like,
best way to hang out with your friends,
why not, like, do it in front of 100 people
and make everybody laugh?
âª âª
Freestyle Love Supreme
has been around now for, like, 16 years,
which is insane.
It doesn't seem like a possibility
that this fun idea to play with dear friends
would continue to be
this longâlasting show.
LINâMANUEL: âª My name is Parallelogram âª
âª Combined with an elogram âª
âª Yeah, I'm the writer of Hamilton âª
âª What is up, my son? âª
âª My father, my brother, what happening, my mother âª
â Polyglot. â âª All right âª
âª I'm just feeling like it's punishment âª
âª Because I got so much polyglot in this âª
âª I'm gluttonous, yes âª
âª I'm putting this cake in mouth âª
âª It's funfetti, everyone, shout âª
At its core, it's a group of friends
expressing themselves and in some small way,
saying, "I can't wait to hear what you're gonna say next."
What we do is totally joy,
and it's also special.
âª And that's okay, kid âª
âª And thatââand thatââ and thatââand thatââ
âª And thatââ and that's okay, kid âª
Yep.
"That's okay, kid" on three.
LINâMANUEL: One, two, three.
That's okay, kid.
Let's pick a random word.
Yeah, love.
And this afternoon, that's a good one.
Ready? One, two, three. - Love!
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.
And one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.
One, two, repeat. One, two, one, two, one, two.
One, two, one, two, one, two, one, two,
one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one.
Thank you, Cleveland.
Stand by, guys.
Stand by.
All right, guess we better...
We better start the show, then.
I got your back, I got your back.
I got your back.
âª âª
Let's bring it in.
Let's do a mic check on three.
- Oh, yeah. - Mic check on three.
Everybody in. One, two, three.
Mic check.
This is my own. This is my own.
âª Hello, this is my seat âª
âª Oh, oh âª
â Microphone team check. Microphone. Microphone.
âª âª
â Ladies and gentlemen.
Yes.
And those who identify outside and inâbetween on the spectrum.
LINâMANUEL: Mic check was a fully practical,
"We can't hear each other."
And if we can't hear each other, we can't do this
because it's so dependent on, "Oh, that's the idea let's go."
And so it was all about getting our monitor right,
and hearing everybody in the monitor.
â We are Freestyle Love Supreme.
âª 'Preme, 'preme, 'preme âª
â And we are in the middle of a mic check.
Check, check, check...
â And we're gonna need your help to complete our mic check.
â Cool.
â Because our show is totally made up.
â Nuhâuh! â Yeah.
This is an improv show.
It's one of the unique art forms
that can be both cathartic for the audience
and for the performers at the same time.
You see because everything we do in this show
is completely and 100 % new every night.
â Hoy estamos inventando.
â It's spontaneous.
â That's right.
This is all happening right now.
Nobody knows what to expect.
We have the structure of our games,
We know who's leading, we know who's supporting,
We know who's playing, but that's it.
â Every sound you're about to hear...
â Every key that is about to be struck...
Ooh!
Every word that is about to be spoken...
â Hi, Mom.
You look good.
LINâMANUEL: No matter how many times you've done this,
the way your stomach feels before you go on stage
before a freestyle show is exactly the same.
The worst part of this month
was that we only had one bathroom backstage.
Our stomach doesn't know that we're good at this.
It goes, "What the fuck you guys doing?
There's no script!"
You know, your reptile brain understands
that we're going into
an adrenalized, unsafe situation
even if you can'tââ you can't tell itââ
you can't tell your stomach,
"Hey, we've done this a million times.
Something will happen and it'll be fine."
â It's happening for the first and last time right now.
â Now, now, now, now.
â So, why don't we get a word from you guys,
and we're gonna use that word
to complete our mic check, okay?
We kept getting these invitations.
We did the Aspen Comedy Festival.
We got invited up to Montreal,
but we needed someone to replace Lin and Chris Jackson
because they were in In the Heights
and it was opening at 37 Arts.
Turn, stumble, P.
What is it?
Swelling. â Swelling?
Is that what I heard? Swelling?
Yes! â Swelling. Great.
Ladies and gentlemen, the word is swelling.
So, we had sort of our first round of auditions,
and we'd gotten a recommendation that this guy,
U.T.K., is a great rapper.
He was an amazing battle rapper.
â I was doing improv comedy, and then I was doing music,
and there was a huge separation between the two, right?
So, you can either rap or you can be funny,
and you can't do both.
And then I walk into this room,
and you know, whatever Freestyle Love Supreme
was doing at that time fit me like a wellâworn hoodie.
â Like the very first second that Utkarsh started rapping,
we were like, "Oh, this is the guy."
âª Next we got a whole freestyle team âª
âª U. T. K., tell 'em what I mean âª
â âª Ladies and gentlemen, Caucasian and melanin âª
âª Now I'm up on stage âª
âª And yo, I'm coming from Maryland âª
âª Got the beat and the microphone âª
âª To keep them all swelling âª
âª What the hell is going on, man? âª
âª I'm rocking this song âª
âª And right now, what you see is the freestyle flow âª
âª I know this dude right here up in a music video âª
âª Yeah, I see ya, I need to drop it free bro âª
âª You better be spending this right on a Wednesday night âª
âª But if you didn't, all right âª
âª Now I gotta story to tell âª
âª I'm about to introduce Mr. LinâManuel âª
LINâMANUEL: âª Excuse me, excuse me âª
âª I'm sorry, I've got to come on stage âª
âª Before my head is swelling âª
âª I like my melon, and yo, I keep from yelling âª
It was extremely comfortable
to play those games with those people,
and to bring sort of the Indian South Asian experience
to that group, and to have it be embraced was awesome.
âª Listen to me here on microphone three âª
âª Some of you might recognize me âª
âª Know from the Team Supreme âª
âª And let me rock right now while we chase the dream âª
âª We got the keys and the flow and the beat, you know? âª
âª We do it all day long, kick it with my bros âª
âª My name is U. T. K and I'm fly, you see âª
âª But recognize with ease and I'ma rock this beat âª
â U. T. K, his verbal dexterity
was always at the highest level.
He was the person thatââ from when I met him
when he was 21 or 22 years old,
I knew something was going on that I had not seen.
â Yeah!
âª âª
â âª Oh, hey âª
âª My name is Maddie âª
âª Ooh âª
âª And your girl is a baddy âª
âª Yeah, my name is Maddie âª
âª Yes, and I am oh so frugal âª
âª I save my money and I save of all of my rubles âª
âª Okay, I'm here âª
âª That's right, and I'll be freaky âª
âª And I'm getting ready for me and my lady's girls' âª
âª Weekend âª â âª We're gonna have fun âª
âª Gonna practice all our twerking âª
âª Gonna eat lots of dessert âª
âª And it's gonna be so dang absurd âª
âª And we are going... âª
Tommy broke it down to me when I started rapping
'cause my background was to talk about how good I was.
"Look how great I am. Look how cool I am."
And Tommy said to me, he was like,
"That's great, you have the skill set.
That's not what we do here."
He said, "It's infinitely more interesting
"if you can rap about the Incredible Hulk
"or a box of Wheat Thins
"or your parents with the same amount of dexterity
as you rap about yourself."
âª What y'all know about milking a cow? âª
âª Milking a cow, milking a cow âª
âª I'm about to tell y'all about a little dream of mine âª
âª I just wanna milk a big, bad, beautiful bovine âª
âª Trying to farm and get my hands on the udders âª
âª 'Cause I got to make sure that she's a bad old mother âª
âª Can't be a man cow, that's called a bull âª
âª 'Cause when you pull something else comes out âª
âª That's not cool âª
âª But anyway, I get it going on the teets âª
âª And I give a squeeze and it tastes so, so sweet, yeah âª
â U. T. K. Is, I would say,
the best nutsâtoâbolts rapper in the group.
â Chris Jackson had a friend named James Monroe Iglehart
that he had just gotten done doing a show with,
and they used to, like, freestyle rap backstage.
â Don't get me wrong. It was not given to me.
I had to audition. So, walked in, did my thing.
â Tommy closed the door to the audition room
and then we turned it into a rehearsal,
and we started rehearsing.
â âª Clap your hands, snap your fingers âª
âª Move your hands to this âª
âª I will show you how I do it as I jettison âª
âª I love the little place and I put it in my rhyme âª
âª I can pick a rhyme from you and I then blow your mind âª
â He's too good for half of this shit that we do.
James sings and it's like, "You broke the game."
â âª So, from the time I'm in the bathroom âª
âª And put the water on my elbows âª
âª Walk out to school âª
âª We're ready to see all the other bros âª
âª And the sun hits, bam, ash âª
âª Right all over my body âª
âª And those boys will have a wonderful time âª
âª Tapping on me was like an ashy party âª
â Going forward, like,
if we had stopped at our initial group,
we'd never have met Daveed, U. T. K., or Jelly Donut.
â âª So I'll just take a squeegee âª
âª We'll make you come, yeah, 'cause I'm the boss âª
âª It's gonna get poetic, like we Robert Frost âª
The other night, Jelly was on stage,
and my head goes, "We have to introduce Jelly Donut.
How are we gonna do that?"
You have "Go Buck," and then my brain goesâ
"Donut rhymes with go Buck!"
âª Mic one and mic two showed up âª
âª We need mic three, he about to throw up âª
âª That's right, and go nuts, that's right and go Buck âª
âª Everybody give it up for Jelly Donut âª
â âª Oh, my God, thank you for your incredible words âª
âª I will chew them up and regurgitate them âª
âª Like you the baby birds, open your mouth âª
I came in a littleââ a little bit later thanââ
yeah, I think Utkarsh and James
came around the same time.
But I've had such a good experience with these guys.
It's sick, right?
It really is becoming a little bit, you know,
more of who I am.
â Because we... â We...
We. Are. Freestyle. Supreme.
â Now ladies and gentlemen,
we're gonna take you back to the beginning.
We're going to the foundations of freestyle.
You see, first, there was the beat.
âª âª
Chris Sullivan, AKA Shockwave,
He's someone whose ability to express and tell story
without using words is on full display here.
He's someone who is the actual musical heartbeat.
I'm not just the beatboxer.
I am the percussionist.
You know, the drummer that let's them shine.
â Uhâhuh! Uhâhuh! Uhâhuh! Yeah, uhâhuh!
To go up there and be able to have a human being
be able to do that for an entire show,
A, is a feat of athleticism and vocal capabilities,
but also sheer giving.
Oh, my God!
â Yeah, and you used our words.
Oh yeah? Which ones? â Unicorn and flabbergast.
â Oh, you got two in?
Does anyone else know that?
â I think each guy loves freestyle.
I think each guy lives freestyle.
But Shock is the foundation of freestyle.
â Oh!
â And next, we add in an emcee.
â âª Oh, is everybody here? âª
âª Because if everybody's here... âª
LINâMANUEL:
â LinâManuel is the verbal gymnast.
He is our poet.
He's unstoppable.
Now on your way in this evening as you were standing in line,
I think one of our wonderful stage managers
walked along and said, "Give us a word."
Now we took those words and put them in that bucket over there.
See, ladies and gentlemen,
the emcee is gonna use your words over a beat.
â Foundations of freestyle is in its rawest form
what freestyling is.
From the moment that we've gotten here,
we have asked you as an audience member
to actively participate.
When you write the word down and you fold it
and you put it in the bucket, you're making an offering.
And we're collecting it, accepting it,
and this is what we want to do with it.
Jazz!
â âª Yeah, this is like that free Jazz âª
âª Like that Coltrane âª
âª Like that Love Supreme, this is a fucking dream âª
âª I can't believe this is the fucking team âª
âª I can't believe I'mââ âª â Last word is harmony!
â âª Oh, the word is harmony âª
âª Because there is dissonance âª
âª 'Cause lots of us are really quite different âª
âª But oh, my gosh, I think even when I am bored âª
âª We'll make a lot of noise âª
âª Until we make a perfect fucking chord âª
â Oh!
â There's this great footage
of Questlove and Black Thought.
And Questlove's just, like, tree.
He's like, "Tree, as I flow free to the baâbaâbaâbaâba."
â âª Peach, peach âª
âª Yo, I am the kid that got the speech âª
âª That you can't impeach âª
âª Because I am not a leech, I won't lie âª
â War! âª War, yes, yes, y'all âª
âª Everybody's got a car, yo, you's gots to kick the ball âª
â Feet. â âª Oh, feet âª
âª So I will not accept defeat âª
âª The only triumph I'll just keep on doing it âª
âª Like Triumph the Comic Insult Dog âª
âª High on the hog âª
âª We cannot kick us off our lawn with tables âª
âª We got our lightsabers âª
âª So fuck you and your Padawan âª
âª We keep going on till the break of dawn âª
âª Yeah, rocking all night long âª
â Uh, ladies and gentlemen, that is LinâManâveryâuel.
â How'd you get into doing this style?
â Just jumped in, you know, like him.
Anthony was one of the producers.
Tommy was the director.
â So do you, like, write the show, like...
â No, when they first asked me, I thought it was...
I thought they were crazy.
I was like, "I write music. I don'tââI don't freestyle."
â You never freestyled... â But it's scary, yeah.
â You're a hipâhopper or you're a singer?
â Yeah, I mean, I love hipâhop, but I justâyou know?
I wasn'tâI wasn't used to, like, trying toââtrying to...
â See, I write music and I tried to freestyle it, but...
â If you think about it, you can't do it.
You just have to try and go. Yeah.
Sometimes youââsometimes youââyou jump and you land,
and sometimes you fall.
â Yeah, sometimes you fall, mate.
â But it's worth it though. Yeah.
â It's a good show, man. â Thanks.
Yeah, I'm glad you guys enjoyed it.
I've always been taught that the stage is sacred.
No matter what stage you're on,
no matter where you doing it.
That's the sacred part.
That's the part that...
if you're true to what you're doing, it doesn't matter.
You know I'm saying?
Like itââitââpeople areââ
you want people to feel what you're doing.
You wanna be able to say, "This is my guts.
"These areââyou know, this is my heart and my guts
and my soul."
And for whatever reason, you know,
the universe has spun around,
and here you are and here I am,
and I've got a story to tell.
âª âª
Can you bring me just a little bit more in the monitors?
Chris Jackson is the person
that when he opens his mouth
you're gonna get this honesty.
He's gonna take you back somewhere
and he's gonna share.
He's so incredibly open.
â CâJack brings a soul presence to our group.
He's also the oldest person in our group
who brings some sort of maturity.
â I don't know if he'll tell you this,
but he was very hesitant initially to do freestyle.
It was something he was not familiar with.
He'sââhe worked in studios a long time,
and so smart and so, like, bright.
Like he's just got it.
â âª Got back together âª
âª 'Cause money always makes things a little bit better âª
âª But I'm not mad and I'm not sad âª
You're not doing anything else but performing.
And ever since I was a kid, man,
that's all I've ever wanted to do.
I've never wanted to do anything else.
And freestyle, even more, because it's me.
It'sââit's what's coming out of my brain.
It's what's on my mind
that I'm able to share, and that's pure.
That's theââI think in this business, man,
it's the only pure thing left.
âª All right, it's CâJack âª
âª And your turn is next, I will slow it down âª
âª So you won't get too stressed âª
â âª I'm not stressed, I'm looking at you vexed âª
âª 'Cause you said denouement, that shit is so complex âª
âª I haven't even got my mind around it âª
âª Even as I vex this vector âª
âª I find my words are coming from the floor âª
âª Like the drum, like the African kid âª
âª I have to be half of me âª
âª Oh, I'm representing those spectacularly âª
â âª Yeah âª
âª Oh âª
âª Freestyle Love Supreme, here we go âª
âª Want to thank you all for coming out to the show âª
âª Hope that you had a real good, good time âª
âª Take a second now, relax and rewind âª
LINâMANUEL: My happy place is watching Chris
'cause he can really kind of let it rip.
Both the lyrical content,
and let his voice sort of fly in this very real way.
â âª Well, in this country that we live âª
âª We all come from some other kind of place âª
âª No, no âª
âª And our history's replete with âª
âª The streets filled with anger and tears âª
âª And hopeful years that we'll make it someday âª
âª 241, going on 242 âª
âª And we know we still got a lot of work to do âª
â Also, he was the first of us to have kids.
He was the first of us to get married.
And so he's had those responsibilities
for a long time.
He's always been, like, the dad.
â He's five. He's a fiveâyearâold.
And that's why I love him so much.
But he's a fiveâyearâold.
It feels like we've been a theater troupe for 15 years.
It's like breathing, it's just part of what we do.
It's part of our relationships.
It's part of our experiences.
â Oh, I hope I get to be in the show tonight.
Clean the floor, yeah. You get to go to the ball.
Keep cleaning the floor, Linâderella.
No, is it Linâderella?
â Linâderella!
â Animals dress me for the show!
Okay, I'm ready.
â Man, you just don'tââ
people don't have an opportunity to be around
and love people,
you know, guys that you absolutely love,
who are not related to you, you know what I mean?
Like it's just uncommon.
I think if more people had this kind of experience,
truly the world would be happier place.
âª âª
Rejoicing reunion!
LINâMANUEL: That was an original musical
we wrote in the 6th grade.
â I basically wrote a rap. A nerd rap that went, uh...
âª Computers, they are a pastime âª
âª Calculators, we used it last time âª
âª To find the square root of a rhyme âª
âª That was where we find the time âª
âª Someone paid us just in time âª
â Yeah, that was the one about the cool kids.
It was all about the clicks. â Cool kids andââyeah.
â âª 'Cause we are cool âª
âª We get good grades âª
I've known Arthur since third grade.
We went to the same elementary school.
And the first time I met him,
I knew because there was this rumor that this kid could spell
supercalifragilistic expialidocious.
I went over to my said, "I hear you can spell
supercalifragilistic expialidocious."
And he said, "Backwards or forwards?"
âª âª
Arthur the Geniuses is the mystery element
of Freestyle Love Supreme.
He's sitting there creating these beautiful sounds
with this fingers,
and then he just blows your mind and opens his mouth,
and then goes back without even acknowledging the crowd.
Just sort of floats on and floats off.
He's the ethereal one.
â I think it might be a good time for us right now
to unplug then and reâplug.
â SÃ­, es una buena hora para desenchufar y enchufar.
â We're gonna get another word from you.
â Vamos a conseguir otra palabra de ustedes.
â How about we get something you couldn't live without?
â Â¿Por quÃ© no conseguimos algo que sin ella no podrÃ­as sobrevivir?
â Something you couldn't live without.
â Algo que necesitas.
â Instant noodles. Good for you.
Nail clippers!
â Nail clippers.
What else? Keep 'em coming.
â Mascara.
â Baskara? â Mascara.
It's funny because True was originally created
'cause I've been playing piano in the show,
and they were like, "This is stupid."
Like, "Arthur, you need to be singing."
âª Mascara âª
â Ladies and gentlemen, the word is mascara.
â The things that I learned in the first couple years
of the group, like, really, like, created
an understanding of, like, performing
and even, like, interacting with other people.
âª Some people can't even stand âª
âª To look at themselves in the mirror âª
âª If it's still too early in the morning âª
âª And they haven't put on their mascara âª
âª Mascara âª
True is a moment where we pull
an important word from the audience,
and that word is then seen through the lens
of each emcee who's involved in the song,
and something that personally happened to them.
âª When I hear the word mascara âª
âª Sometimes I know I think about it âª
âª And I'm mad scared too âª
âª Oh, I was a little brother to a big sister âª
âª Who clearly didn't have enough to do âª
âª So, she was always experimenting on me âª
âª Let me have the kind of childhood I wanted âª
âª But, oh, I didn't want it âª
âª No, I didn't want it âª
âª But that morning, my mom, well, she was gone and... âª
â How much it's about all of us, like,
digging into ourselves
and, like, just finding the joy
in the things we know how to do,
and turning them into a show.
âª I'm getting up in the morning âª
âª And I need to go somewhere âª
âª And relax my day brain âª
âª Just waking up âª
âª So the things I say don't make so much sense âª
âª But I know I gotta get out of the house âª
âª Get on the A train âª
âª A train âª
â This shit is a hit.
â âª A train âª
âª A train âª
â True came about because it just like there's
a lot of skill that's being demonstrated,
but who are we and how can we make that part of the show?
'Cause if you can have a comedy show that makes you cry,
now we're talking about something.
â All right, I think we've got it.
â Dime. â Yeah.
The word is vibrator.
â âª Like my grandmom who's speaking through my soul âª
âª And I would let that let me walk âª
âª Through a lot of different doors âª
âª Don't you know âª
âª And one day I'd sit up with my best friends âª
âª And vibrator âª
âª Yes, I would âª
âª Vi âª
Anthony does this thing,
and he's taught me how to do it now,
to take the word and flip it.
âª But here's the thing âª
âª At that time, 2005 âª
âª I had never ever seen him perform live âª
âª And then I went to Ars Nova âª
âª This is actually a space âª
âª Owned by the same theater company âª
âª And I placed myself like in the back row âª
âª 'Cause I was real cool then âª
âª Smoking and drinking and thinking âª
âª I was the sickest, my friends âª
âª But then, they came out on stage âª
âª Holy shit, the audience was amazed âª
âª If I had a vibe rater âª
âª That vibe would be higher than anything âª
âª It would be hotter than the equator âª
âª If that vibe rater really existed âª
âª That vibe would be tippy top âª
âª It got my whole mind twisted âª
âª So we can say âª
âª I love you every single day âª
âª The band is back toâfuckingâgether âª
âª And we're here and we can play, yeah âª
â Do you get any levels of stress when you go out there?
â I did today.
I had a slow show in the beginning.
It was like, no, the words aren't coming out,
and it's the first time that happened in this run.
â It's almost like speaking another language, right?
Like if you do it enough where you're immersed in it
and you, like, start dreaming in itââ
and I've already started.
I don't know if you have.
But when we get into a run of this,
usually by the second or third week,
I have dreams that are all in freestyle.
â I justââthe thought ofââ
the thought of having to go out there...
'cause the thought of going out there and improvising is, like,
appealing but stressful.
But the idea of going out there and having to do it
and make it rhyme just seems mental.
It's like such a perverse bar to have set for yourselves.
â In terms of the lessons that freestyle teaches you,
there's plenty in here for any artist, right?
Collaboration, listening,
fearlessness, even when you're terrified.
Just sticking to it,
and you're gonna get better at it
just by getting up on stage.
There's no substitute for getting up on stage
and doing this.
We were having tennis balls thrown at us
at those late night shows in Edinburgh.
And then you just keep rapping
and you fucking throw the tennis ball back.
This is our first bad press, um, here in Edinburgh.
â Yeah? â Yeah.
â Luckily, it's really bad, and...
â Really? â Is it really?
â Yeah, it really is. It really is.
I remembered you arrived the day
that a bunch of reviews came out.
And you said, "Tommy, I don't wanna do anything
"that's gonna feel like I'm intruding or invading.
This is going to be veritÃ©. I'm a fly on the wall."
Is there any world where you would read these
in front of the guys and I could roll on it.
No, it'sââ I would never do that.
I'm justââI'm not even here.
What if you leave them on the coffee table
and the guys discover them and you have to talk about it?
â "Do you hoop and holler when a man in a baseball cap
"asks, 'Can you dig it?'
"Do you scream like a banshee
"when someone asks you to say, 'Yo'?
"If you're so enthralled to American hipâhop culture,
"you might just enjoy Freestyle Love Supreme,
"an allâmale hipâhop improvised comedy group
"from New York who make it their business
to get funky with words."
- Believe it. - Funky!
â We're just getting funky with words.
"It's worth remembering that great rap,
"like a great symphony or opera, doesn't come easy.
"And so improvised rap is generally a matter
"of the most simple and obvious choices,
making it instantly disposable."
â That's our first bad review.
âª Easily forgettable âª
â What? What'd you say?
âª Easily forgettable âª
âª âª
â Oh, my God. Speaking of fatty tuna.
Fucking Anthony with his just walked in.
Anthony throws his heart into everything he does,
and it's incredible.
I mean, his enthusiasm is just infectious
and empowers a group, I think.
â Because we are Freestyle Love Supreme,
ladies and gentlemen,
and my name is TwoâTouch.
I will be your host for this evening.
Thank you very much.
â I'd say TwoâTouch is like the daredevil
of Freestyle Love Supreme
because he's out in front.
He has to read the crowd.
He has to read us.
He's that middle man, you know?
The kid's got such a wealth of knowledge
that heââhe readily taps into.
â I don't know why, but they're justââ
I just remember things about certain countries,
like geography and bridges and rivers
and mountain ranges,
and it's weird.
I just noticed your button right now.
â Yeah.
â I know, but I love it.
Proud immigrant. Human. From Canada.
Where in Canada?
â London, Ontario. â London, Ontario.
That is a tragic sight
of a giant elephant dying in the late 1800s.
That was the main attraction to Barnum and Bailey
that created the story of Dumbo.
â I didn't know that. â London, Ontario.
That's the only reason why I know London, Ontario.
It's because of this major train accident
that happenedââ that killedââ
Jumbo was the name of the dog, or the elephant.
â Oh, that's sad.
â I know why you left now.
â 'Cause of Jumbo. â Tragic.
TwoâTouch is the heart and soul.
Quite simply he isââ he's the engine.
He'sââhe's the guts and the blood
of Freestyle Love Supreme.
LINâMANUEL: Anthony launches into the first thing
that comes out of his mouth, and he finds that
and that connects to this, and that connects to this.
And it's reallyââit'sââ it's reallyââ
we're going like this, but we meet sort of in the middle.
â So who would like to come up here
and share their day with us? Nowââ
It's my 40th birthday!
â Thank you so much! That's awesome!
Who would like to come up here
and share their day with us?
I love it so much.
Day in the Life,
it's one of the things that I have the most fun doing,
which is bringing up a stranger and sitting them down
and helping them, A, to feel safe and comfortable
and like they're a star,
and then also find ways to sort of weave our show,
and the ethos of our show,
in throughout their lens of the day.
Anthony is as facile and nimble a brain and a host
as you could ever hope to imagine.
Watching him do the interview,
watching him take words from an audience,
decide where we're gonna go, navigate the group,
lead from up there.
He's so much the onâfield captain.
â As you make your way up hereââ
Oh, yes, smart. Goodââgood.
â Whoa, whoa, whoa! â Unseen.
â We all saw that coming.
â Standard operating procedure.
He chose walking up the stairs
as the time to take his sweater off.
â Oh, my God.
You're notââ â Not great at walking.
No worries. I'm gonna ask you to sit down.
So, let's do that.
The way that he kneels down
next to an audience member when he does that interview,
and he's perched there with his arm around them
and it's just like, you are so taken care of.
â Just to walk us through your day.
So, do you have breakfast together at some point?
â That's right. â What'd you have?
â Banana smoothies.
â Awesome.
And that'sââ do you use a Vitamix?
I use a Vitamix?
â We can't afford that, but, like, a Ninja.
â Check your privilege, Anthony!
â Check your privilege.
Oh, my God.
I am so white right now.
I have a Vitamix.
I totally have a Vitamix. Wakanda forever.
Okay.
I'm a terrible person. I'm a part of the problem.
â I want it. It's on my Christmas list.
â I know what I'm getting you. I know what I'm getting you.
Okay, so you guys use a Ninja.
You make subpar banana smoothies.
Whatever. And then is there...
â I think that there's something
so pleasing about that for an audience
just to give over.
"Okay, they got me."
And I think that's what he does in that moment
that is transcendent.
â Now, I didn't bring it up here
because I wanted to look better,
but I have a cane so I walk on a cane.
â Oh, a cane doesn't make you look any less appealing
than you are.
You're an amazing human being. â Thank you.
Okay, but anyway, at that point...
You hear the word love,
but then to see it put into practice by the guys on stage.
Anthony, specifically,
with the way that he carries the tone as the host,
and you know, that comes from Tommy in the way
that him and Lin and Anthony put the show together.
Like, it's like truly about, like, embracing
and celebrating the human experience.
â Well, then I thought I'd stay up
and do a crossword puzzle.
â Yup.
So what crossword puzzle did you do?
â The Sunday Times, of course.
â Of course!
Becauseââit is Thursday, thank you.
Good call. Good catch. Good catch.
So, talk to me about the Thursday crossword puzzle.
Is it that you were starting it on Thursday
out of just some old habit
or is it because you've been working on it since Sunday?
â I've been working on it for months now.
â Okay, is that what you wanted to hear?
Is that why you wereââ you feel better now?
Nancy, can we hang out after this?
LINâMANUEL: I come home and my wife asks me
what happened at the freestyle show the night before.
On Hamilton, she didn't do that.
The show was the show.
But I would tell her
"You've got to hear this Day in the Life we got.
"Nancy Hillman. And Anthony said,
"'How long you been working on the New York times crossword?'
'For months,'" you know, and Vanessa dies laughing.
âª âª
She first saw me in a Freestyle Love Supreme show.
I mean, she knew of me in high school.
I was a theater nerd, and she was being cool.
Hi, I'm LinâManuel Miranda,
and this is my final competition piece.
It's called Sound Laser.
But I invited her on Facebook
to a Freestyle show in Ars Nova.
We started talking then,
and then she went,
"That guy's smart. That's hard to do."
And that's how I got my wife.
âª âª
Hi, I'm Lin Miranda.
I'm the composer, lyricist,
and star of In the Heights and...
Hi, Amerââ
âª âª
For In the Heights,
that was everything we had.
We just went like this. That's what we got.
â Yeah.
âª âª
â And when that goes back...
LINâMANUEL: Heights, in a very real way,
was me trying to integrate the hipâhop
I'd listened to all my life
and grew up listening to and loving,
and matching that lyrical content
and lyrical form to musical theater storytelling.
A five, six, seven, andââ
â âª Well, check the technique âª
âª Honk your horns âª
I mean, In the Heights was the first time
I was ever able to make a living as a director.
Lin, I was just trying to talk about you.
It's a maturity thing. I feel like when he gets there,
he's going to be a phenomenal talent.
One day. â Yeah.
LINâMANUEL: We were realizing,
"Oh, this In the Heights journey
is gonna take a long time.
â I think the dynamic changed when In the Heights
started getting really rolling,
that Tommy, Lin, and Chris became unavailable
and started going to a whole other level
of the theater world.
â âª And I'm there âª
âª I'm home âª - âª Home âª
LINâMANUEL: It was also complicated
because Anthony was a part of In the Heights,
but also not a part of In the Heights.
Freestyle was a thing we all still shared,
and then he moved to San Francisco.
â When Anthony felt compelled to, you know,
go to San Francisco because his partner
was pursuing her studies
and doing something really important,
like, it's life, it's achievement.
It'sââit's the pursuit of the achievement.
Whoa!
We did it! We're on your new bed!
What do you think, pickle?
Whoa!
â Daddy! Daddy!
â It's awesome!
â You know, we still did freestyle shows.
I can't think of a year we haven't done a freestyle.
At least one or two freestyle shows.
But it's different when your founder
is on the other side of the country.
â The show is over.
â That's unusual.
Usually Chris would come out and sing.
For someone who's, like,
a big In the Heights fan,
why is it important that they sort of get what this is?
â Well, because they kind of happened
at the same time, right? LINâMANUEL: Yeah.
And theyââthey fed each other. - Yeah.
â They fed each other. I meanââ
Yeah, it's funny, like, when we wereââ
when we were doing the run offâBroadway,
and weââanytime we had a chance,
and you guys were doing a show,
we would run over after our show and just come and do this.
â And now we're running from the theater and hopââ
â Yeah, we'd hop in a cab 'cause it's just likeââ
it's the most freeing thing you can do.
You know, Chris is a part of Heights.
Bill is a part of Heights.
Hi.
â And you're seeing us on the other side
of a lot of ups and downs
and ups and downs and ups and downs.
And then we climb back up on the diving board,
and we do more freestyle shows.
âª Yes, twice as nice âª
I think that Freestyle Love Supreme
is sort of, like, the sum of its parts
in that we all have our own careers and all our notoriety.
But it's not about the awards you've won
or the movies you've been in or whatever.
It's about these six guys with very specific talents,
like making everybody enjoy themselves.
âª âª
âª You don't got to be fit, y'all, come on âª
âª I'ma tickle you, have a ball now âª
âª You might find yourself in a pickle boy âª
âª But I'll pickle you out so you can have a bone âª
That core of what Freestyle Love Supreme is
is always gonna seep its way
into whatever project each guy is doing.
It justââitââ there's no way it can't
'cause it's just soââ so much a part of us.
â Give it up for Chris Jackson.
Whoo!
We were always doing this.
This was it. This was before Hamilton.
Heights doesn't happen if it reallyââ
really, if it isn't for this.
Yeah, just that one I guess on the top.
â Yeah.
âª âª
â Nervous? No.
I guess we gotta do it now, but...
â Yeah, we have to finish the show.
â All right, if you put the sign up.
You just burst into tears.
Come on. Let's go.
âª âª
â Nobody knew that Hamilton was going to be what it was.
Nobody could have known.
But as far as, like, the inside track goes,
it felt like the most brilliant thing
I've ever witnessed or been a part of.
It certainly felt like it was everything that was in Lin
that just couldn't fit the narrative of In the Heights.
â âª I'll write to Congress and tell 'em you need supplies âª
âª You rally the guys, master the element of surprise âª
âª Chickaâboom âª
âª I'll rise above my station, organize your information âª
âª Till we rise to the occasion of our new nation, sir âª
Okay, you'll see it on Twitter. Tag yourself.
âª Rise up âª
âª What? âª
â And is rightâhand man.
âª Ooh âª
â Writing Hamilton was the most frustrating
and the most cathartic thing in my life.
Because I knew it was my best work,
and I knew it would be ages before it was right.
You know, never at any point
when we were doing Hamilton
did I ever look at Tommy and be like,
"Well, Freestyle's dead. We're never going to do that."
A very difficult time for all of us
in the freestyle, you know,
in the collective if you will,
a distant time.
We were over here, like,
we jumped on another rocket ship.
âª âª
I'm not a part of the Hamilton journey.
Part of it was I was gone.
I'd moved away, you know, I was living in San Francisco.
â You know, Anthony and I have, in some way,
you know, the furthest reach back
and then the most divergent path
'cause when he left, he was the person that
I was with all the time and then I was with not at all.
I didn't have a regular interaction with him.
And then something had kind of...
just ceased to exist between us anymore.
â In a way, it's like the furthest I felt from Anthony.
You know, I justââIââ
it had been the most time I spent away from him.
I'd really been spending so much time
working this other thing with a couple people
he's enormously close to also with Lin and Chris.
And I just felt a lot of that distance.
So, I saw Hamilton at the Public.
And I sent Tommy an email the next day,
and I mentioned one or two thoughts that I had.
â He gave me his thoughts on my show
the day before the show was freezing.
It doesn't mean I don't value his opinion,
but if I want his opinion, I'll just say,
"Hey, can you tell me what you think about this?"
That's not what I needed then.
I needed him to say, "This is fantastic.
I'm so proud of you guys."
Tommy and I had a pretty big falling out.
We had a major difference around how we wanted
each other toââto be inside of a friendship.
And we couldn'tââwe couldn't find the common ground.
â And I remember talking to him after that
and acknowledging that our relationship changed.
That he was someone who was incredibly close to me,
who was a mentor for me, who pulled me into this.
And I didn't need mentors in that same way anymore.
I needed to be peers with. I needed to be equals to.
And whenââyou know, the way you identify a relationship
is often how it can stay,
and our relationship had evolved.
Nothing would ever erase the things that are true
about who he is to me,
who he will be, who he was,
what his impact was in the trajectory of my life.
And my love for him has never diminished
and would never diminish and I wanted to tell him that,
but I also need to say, "But this is who I am now."
There's been a major change.
Whether it's on his end or my end,
I'm not sure, but my heart center is my family.
And all the choices that I've made were to support them.
LINâMANUEL: Are we in the Rose Garden right now?
We are.
Yeah, it must be a little nerveâwracking.
I hope I don't drop these cards.
You ready? We're getting the cue?
â During that very heated 2015, 2016,
when Hamilton went from the thing
that everyone was whispering about
to the thing that everyone was shouting about.
â But Hamilton is a unicorn, and it justââjustââ
there's no way to quantify or qualify the effect
that it's still having.
LINâMANUEL: I was sort of cocooned from it
'cause I'm still doing seven shows a week,
and so I can't go out to the parties I'm being invited to.
I got two shows tomorrow.
I already knew who I was by the time Hamilton came out.
I think it's hard when you get hit with that wave
and you don't have your shit figured out yet.
It's a hoodie. Zip it up.
âª I met a gypsy and she hipped me âª
âª To some life game âª
âª To stimulate then activate the left and right brain âª
LINâMANUEL: You know, U. T. K. Was our Burr
in many incarnations
because he's got the singing and the rapping
and the ability to really act
that we needed, which is a high bar.
â Lin came to me,
and maybe this wouldn't have panned out in the long run,
but Lin sort of came to me with the role of Aaron Burr.
And we did it at Lincoln Center.
And then we did it New York Stage and Film.
But the most important things for me at the time
were the party.
I was fully and utterly
a husk of a person.
âª âª
Don't film these guys.
At that point, my alcohol use was like,
I couldn't deal and I couldn't execute the way
that they needed me to, and I had to step away.
And then Hamilton drops and it's like, it's everywhere.
It's ubiquitous, and it's a phenomenon.
And it's such an interesting feeling to love people so much
and to be so happy for their success,
and to beââfeel apart of, really.
Because like Lin and Tommy, Chris, Daveed,
I felt taken care of every step of the way by them.
âª But here's something that I found was true âª
âª I couldn't stop drinking whiskey every single day âª
âª Deep down, I knew I had to stop it âª
âª I was falling they saw me dropping âª
âª Out of the cot âª
âª They saw me falling with no parachute âª
âª Pair of dudes saw me falling âª
âª And apparently, I couldn't carry the weight âª
âª Upon my shoulders and probably... âª
â And it really was a moment that changed his life.
What happened and what didn't happen with that show.
â And the positive thing isââis like,
"Hey man, like, how come you don't pick up a drink?"
"Well, let me tell you about
this little thing called Hamilton."
It's a wonderful, beautiful gift that God gave me
or the universe that's like,
"Hey man, if you ever need a reason to like stay on a path,
"that is one of integrity and selfâcare
"and of being connected to the people around you, it's there.
It'll be there for all of time."
âª But now I'm making a new way and that pain is over âª
âª I'm four years sober and living wonderfully âª
They're family. They've been there for me.
I mean, it's an exceptional connection.
âª But anyway, these days when I'm in pain âª
âª No drinking, no smoking âª
âª Just some water and two ibuprofen âª
â âª Ibuprofen âª
Now, seeing him with that skill
as much life as he's lived
in what he's chasing now on stage is really elevated.
And so I feel like in some way he might have the largest arc
in this group of where he started and where he is now.
True!
âª âª
Step up there, man.
I moved it to the trash area, because...
âª âª
It's just, likeââ I could go through
every person in this group and just be like, "Oh my God."
It's just like, "I get to rap with heroes."
LINâMANUEL: I feel like everyone knew how rare it was
that we were even getting to do it.
And I always want it to feel like that.
It felt like "pinch me" for the whole month.
That's the circumstances under which I wanna keep doing,
'cause none of us has to do it.
Everyone's got very full lives.
But life's a little better when we do it.
Good. How are you? â Good.
Happy last one. â Happy last one.
âª It's everything we've worked for now âª
Wanna see the fastest signature?
Watch. Ready?
Swoop. U. T. K.
And then I'm gonna just do...
Tommy Kail. Done.
I hope that the energy from all of us
and this whole movement is enough to inspire other people
to start similar movements.
That if it's not Freestyle Love Supreme,
it's letting the world know
that something like this is possible.
â "Shockwave is important" on three.
â No, like a finalââ
Let's do a final, this is our last show, something else.
"This is the last show.
Shockwave, you are so important."
One, two, three. - This is the last show.
Shockwave, you are so important.
â On three!
This is different for us, too.
It's our last show of the entire run.
So, thank you so very much for being the last audience.
â What?
I think we all love it.
We love it so much and we need it.
You have to let yourself be in the moment.
Well, we could take a story someplace
and it doesn't have to have a punchline.
We just took it someplace that takes the audience
on a journey and they are satisfied with that journey
and so are we.
It just feels good.
â This is already amazing.
You had an epileptic German Shepherd named Ramona.
â Yup, obviously.
You accidentally opened the front door.
I was ten, and she got hit by a car.
â You were ten, and she got hit by a car.
â Oh, my God. â She didn't die.
â And she lived to be 19.
Well, that story has a little bit
of a happy ending to it, doesn't it?
â âª Yeah, right now I am âª
âª Home alone and doing it my own thing âª
âª With my Ramona, yeah âª
âª Oh, Ramona âª
âª She's so great, you see âª
âª The only problem is she suffers from epilepsy âª
âª Which means she gets to wiggling from now and again âª
âª And then she gets to shaking âª
âª Oh, what a pain âª
âª And I don't have any other siblings âª
âª So she's kinda my sister... âª
When I'm watching the show and I see, you know,
MacArthur Genius Award winner on all fours
playing an epileptic dog in Arizona,
I feel like we've done exactly the right thing.
â It's really, really good to be back home, you know,
with all of it, 'cause this is
kinda like the nucleus of all of that creative energy.
âª Ladies and gents, we want to thank you all âª
âª For coming out this evening âª
âª Coming out this evening, this evening âª
âª 'Cause we are Freestyle Love Supreme âª
âª âª
LINâMANUEL: All we've got on stage is...
our lives and each other.
âª âª
The feeling of freestyling and trading too
backstage before we go on,
that all feels exactly the same.
The only thing that's changed
is we just have that much more history.
We have that much more life to draw from.
âª âª
I have this weird memory of, like,
standing in my hallway mirror
when I was ten years old.
Like looking at myself, I am three feet all.
I have a bowl haircut.
And just being, like,
"Never forget this moment."
âª âª
More than 15 years later,
the hipâhop improv group
has taken over Broadway's famous Booth Theater.
The show is called Freestyle Love Supreme.
LinâManuel Miranda is here. Christopher Jackson is here.
âª âª
Now here are our performers,
Broadway's Freestyle Love Supreme...
â Ahh.
Let's hear it for our performers,
Broadway's Freestyle Love Supreme.
Oh, my goodness!
Wow!
You can catch Freestyle Love Supreme
now at the Booth Theater.
Yeah, get a standing O. Why not?
âª âª
â Right there? â Yes.
â Thank you.
Broadway has been a dream
for a longâass time for me.
For this to be my debut,
I could have never imagined.
But this is true, it's real life,
and I am playing on stage with these people
that I've looked up to for the longest time.
That means so much to me,
and it's been a beautiful experience.
â Have fun out there.
âª âª
â Michael, how have you been?
âª I met a gypsy and she hipped me âª
âª To some life game âª
âª To stimulate then activate the left and âª
âª Right brain âª
âª Said baby boy you only funky as your âª
âª Last cut âª
âª You focus on the past your ass'll be a âª
âª Has what âª
âª I try to just throw it at you âª
âª Determine your own adventure Andre âª
âª Got to her station here's my destination âª
â Oh, wow.
â Broadway, guys. What the fuck?
I got your back. I got your back.
â I got your back too.
Let's do this.
Look at you.
â Look at you. â Back where you started.
â Got me going. â I'm as God made me, sir.
â As God made me. â Is your mic on?
â Monday night, seven p. M.
â Ooh, yeah.
â All right, I thinkââ I think they can hear us.
The mics are on, so let's do this.
â Let's go. â Mic check on three.
Y'all ready? â Uhâhuh.
â One, two, threeââ
âª Ladies and gentlemen âª
âª âª
âª Ladies and gentlemen âª
â All right, so let's take Freestyle Love Supreme.
â Okay.
âª It's like 10 or 11 years ago âª
âª These four met at Wesleyan University âª
âª Though I wasn't there, I was at NYU âª
âª Doing just what I do, spitting rhymes here for you âª
âª But then they moved to New York âª
âª And then they started going, wouldn't stop âª
âª They did a show at the Drama Book Workshop âª
âª Yeah, Tommy and Anthony had a production company âª
âª Called Back House âª
âª What the heck is that about? âª
âª Anyway, at the same time âª
âª Lin was writing In the Heights âª
âª Where he met CâJack, and CâJack could flow too âª
âª So they decided to go too, and do a show or two âª
âª At this place called
âª They were spitting rhythms âª
âª That's where they met Shockwave, AKA Chris Sullivan âª
âª He was running it, rumbling, and struggling âª
âª At the time was an artist âª
âª But he could take the beat farther âª
âª So they got together and enter Arthur âª
âª Arthur and Lin went to school together, man âª
âª Went to third grade, high school, all of it âª
âª Then they met me âª
âª I was doing a show of my own âª
âª And then they heard I rocked upon the microphone âª
âª And Lin needed a replacement for doing this shit âª
âª And I could rap off the face, man, so I could spit âª
âª And then I joined the group in like '05 or '06 âª
âª And I've been doing this shit though ever since âª
âª These are my friends, we do the television âª
âª We spitting rhythms âª
âª I'm the one and only Indian revving his engine âª
âª Getting your attention âª
âª And I love you guys, gentlemen âª
âª Did I mention anything else? âª
âª I think that's it, love you âª
âª And Bill âª
âª âª
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