'We Are Freestyle Love Supreme': Hulu docufilm makes happy fans say it made them 'feel every emotion possible'
Andrew Fried's new documentary 'We Are Freestyle Love Supreme' is now available for streaming on Hulu. The famous freestylers themselves recently tweeted, "Nobody freak out. #WeAreFreestyleLoveSupreme is now streaming on @hulu. We’re totally chill, nothing to see here. Watch party tomorrow at 7PM ET/4PM PT." If you don't want to wait for the watch party, you can head over to Hulu right now, and get a glimpse of the legendary improv hip-hop group Freestyle Love Supreme in a never-before-seen light, before the glory days of 'Hamilton' and 'In The Heights'.
Using a mixture of 15-year-old footage and more recent talking head interviews from last year, the 85-minute feature explores the origin story of the talented freestyle crew when they first got together back in 2003, as they rap about everything from pet peeves to vibrators in front of gobsmacked viewers, with lightning-fast wit and spontaneity. You can check out the trailer here below.
The incredible ensemble, who are now all in their 40s, are rightly considered Broadway royalty, with members that include Lin-Manuel Miranda, Anthony Veneziale, Thomas Kail, Christopher Jackson, Bill Sherman, Utkarsh Ambudkar, James Monroe Iglehart, Andrew Bancroft, Chris Sullivan, Arthur Lewis and more. Besides their celebrated Freestyle Love Supreme Broadway show, many of these stars have been a part of prestigious projects together in the past, such as the multiple Tony award-winning musicals 'In The Heights' and 'Hamilton'. You can read all about the documentary and the group by clicking here.
Fans have been waiting for this documentary to drop for over a month now, since it was first slated to release on June 5. However, due to last month's Black Lives Matter protests, the group wisely decided to push the release date to July 17, and now invested fans can finally see what all the buzz is about. Right from their Wesleyan University days all the way up to their reunion in 2019 for a limited run of off-Broadway shows, one can clearly see that this is a close-knit group of friends who consider each other brothers, which each star's personality shining through in various stages.
Besides their evident comedic chops and incendiary wit, we are struck by Christoper Jackson's openness, James Monroe Iglehart's breathtaking voice, Andrew Bancroft's jaw-dropping talent, Bill Sherman's craft, Arthur Lewis's prowess, Chris Sullivan's beatboxing, Utkarsh Ambudkar's incredible bars, Anthony Veneziale's MC skills, Thomas Kail's leadership, and of course, Lin-Manuel Miranda's lyrical dexterity.
Clearly fans have been enjoying the ride too, going by the reactions on social media. One excited fan tweeted, "Omg I just finished #FreestyleLoveSupreme and I literally laughed so much, and cried like 3 times, and kept on saying. NOW THAT'S FRIENDSHIP. You guys NEED to check it out!!" A fan also posted an emotional take, saying "Y'all ever have the urge to hug someone because of how talented they are, not like in a 'I'm a huge fan' kinda way, but like in an emotional 'I can quantify my life as a before and after I saw your performance' way or is that just me... 'cause that how it be with #FreestyleLoveSupreme."
Plenty of other fans were chiming in with their reviews, with one saying "If you’re a fan of Hamilton please please watch the Freestyle Love Supreme documentary on Hulu. Made me feel every emotion possible. I’m so appreciative of @Lin_Manuel & Thomas Kail and their team(s) for bringing together so much talent on so many platforms."
Another admirer stated "Watching #WeAreFreestyleLoveSupreme is so cool, to see how much this group that started over 15 years ago is truly breathtaking... Learning so much making me wished that I saw when it was on Broadway this year." As yet another fan concluded, "There’s a reason this is my most-seen broadway show. Go watch the @freestylelove documentary and learn why they’re magic ❤"