x
Breaking News
More () »

Award-winning hip-hop improv show begins three-week run in Portland

The cast of "Freestyle Love Supreme" got ready for opening night with a beat boxing lesson on KGW News at Sunrise.

PORTLAND, Ore — Before “Hamilton” and "In the Heights," Broadway theater superstar Lin-Manuel Miranda co-founded "Freestyle Love Supreme."

Now, after two successful runs on Broadway, the improvisational hip-hop group is on a national tour. The next stop is the Armory Theater in Portland’s Pearl District.

Opening night is set for this Friday, April 8, and performances will run through Sunday, May 1. 

“It’s freestyle because the show is completely improvised,” explained Chris Sullivan, a long-time cast member, "and ‘love supreme’ like John Coltrane because we take a lot of the cues from jazz in its improvisational format.”

In other words, no two performances are ever the same. That’s because the cast members take suggestions from the audience and spin them into humorous riffs and full-length musical numbers.

Credit: Freestyle Love Supreme

RELATED: Oregon filmmaker celebrates national film release on Amazon Prime after pandemic challenges

Sullivan, who also goes by the nickname “Shockwave," is one of the beat box artists in the “Freestyle Love Supreme” cast. 

Thursday morning, he provided a beat boxing lesson on KGW News at Sunrise. You can watch that interview here.

For more information on “Freestyle Love Supreme” and to purchase tickets to an upcoming performance, click here. 

RELATED: Beaverton's Reser Center for the Arts celebrates grand opening

Before You Leave, Check This Out