WE ARE FREESTYLE LOVE SUPREME
Hulu, 3:00 a.m. ET
DOCUMENTARY PREMIERE: For those who saw last year’s reunion performances of the improv hip-hop group Freestyle Love Supreme, and are expecting this new Hulu special to be a TV account of that limited-run celebration at the Greenwich House Theatre, We Are Freestyle Love Supreme is that, but less – and also more. It contains snippets from that reunion show, but it’s not a complete account. It does, however, take you backstage as well, showing the buildup to the 2019 performances. But Andrew Fried’s special takes you not only backstage, but way, way back – to the formation of Freestyle Love Supreme more than 15 years ago. Back then, he was there to witness, and film, the group as it rose from local New York notoriety to a performance at the 2005 Edinburgh Festival. By taking such a patient approach to chronicling the ins and outs, and ups and downs, of Freestyle, Fried manages to create a documentary that is as much about enduring friendship, and the sheer joy of creativity, as it is about a small group of young men with a shared passion to make music, think on their feet, and sing to entertain and surprise one another. And what makes We Are Freestyle Love Supreme a treasure is that these young men, in particular, contain some astounding talents. Chief among them, and the reason this documentary exists, is Lin-Manuel Miranda, who took what he learned from his early Freestyle days to write In the Heights and Hamilton. Also part of this troupe: Christopher Jackson, who is shown hanging out and improv-rapping with Miranda long before Jackson reteamed with him on stage in those two musicals, and Thomas Kail, who ended up directing both the stage and film versions of Hamilton. Watch this documentary, and you’ll see how he not only got those jobs, but earned Miranda’s trust. And for Hamilton fans, this is a must.