Lin-Manuel Miranda performs in the Las Vegas production of ‘Freestyle Love Supreme,’ alongside cast members Kaila Mullady and Jay C. Ellis, at The Venentian on Nov. 16, 2022. (Image: reviewjournal.com)
Freestyle Love Supreme, the hip-hop musical from Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, announced its closure just short of two months after opening in Las Vegas. Its last show at The Venetian’s Summit Showroom will be Jan. 29. Its engagement at the Venetian, which premiered Nov. 10, was slated to run at least through the end of April.
“The cast of Freestyle Love Supreme has delighted audiences since November with its witty and light-hearted improv comedy,” read a statement issued by The Venetian on Thursday. “In the last few months, they’ve quickly stolen our hearts and become part of The Venetian family.”
No official reason for the closure was provided. However, an official reason is rarely, if ever, provided for production closures. And that’s because there is only ever one reason and it’s as heartbreaking as it is humiliating for everyone involved: disappointing ticket sales.
At the time this is posted, fewer than 50 tickets were unavailable for the show’s Jan. 29 finale, according to the venue’s Ticketmaster seating chart.
Directed by Thomas Kail, Freestyle Love Supreme is an improvised hip-hop and dance show conceived by Miranda with improv guru Anthony Veneziale in 2004, during rehearsal breaks for Miranda’s first Broadway musical, In the Heights. It performed a similarly short Broadway run from Oct. 2021 to Jan. 2022.
To The Venetian, the good bet in Freestyle Love Supreme was Miranda and the iconic status conferred upon him by the remarkable triumph of Hamilton. His Broadway musical, which has run on Broadway since 2015, won 11 Tony Awards in 2016, the most ever for a musical. The awards included Best Musical, Best Original Score, and Best Direction of a Musical, among others. Miranda also was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the work.
The promise of having Miranda himself occasionally perform in the Vegas production – making headlines for the show every time – was no doubt was part of its successful pitch. Miranda performed in the show for two months last November, is scheduled to return to it from Jan. 12-14.
Misery Loves Company
Freestyle Love Supreme is the fourth Las Vegas Strip show to meet a similar fate as Las Vegas crosses the threshold into 2023. It joins Bat Out of Hell — The Musical at Paris Las Vegas, Extravaganza at Horseshoe (formerly Bally’s), Legends in Concert at the Tropicana, and Xavier Mortimer’s magic show at The Strat in taking an involuntary curtain call.
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