Welcome back to great day Washington,
Grammy and Emmy Award winner and Tony
Award nominee Christopher Jackson is
set to guest star in the critically
acclaimed hip hop show Freestyle
Love Supreme at the Kennedy Center.
I asked him what audiences can expect.
Having freestyle love Supreme,
we have seen that group perform
been around for a while.
We're getting more and more
introduced to it over the years.
But you are doing special
performances here in DC.
For somebody that hasn't
seen freestyle love Supreme,
how does it all work?
It works because you there's a gang
of folks that show up on a stage.
In this case, it's the the amazing
stage of the Kennedy Center and we
take suggestions from the audience
and we musicalized everything
through hip-hop and jazz and pop.
We we tell stories and play short form games,
rapping and singing everything on the spot.
We never know what what show is
going to show is going to be.
We never know what we're going to talk about.
We don't have a plan,
we just kind of go up there and.
And let loose lunasin it's lunacy,
it's it's.
It's a high wire act you just
never know what's gonna happen
but it's always entertaining.
Well you never know what's gonna happen
and now you're coming to DC so you
really never know what's going to happen.
Do you have to be care specifically for
Washington DC? Oh no no no no. I mean
in this day and age, DC is everywhere, right?
I mean, we're we're reading the
news we're paying attention.
It's it's very much front and center.
Perhaps you know, freestyle of
supreme can give a bit of a break to
the crazy that's happening in DC.
I think we're all.
Every audience is in need of
a little bit of that.
No, I mean, DC has such a rich cultural and
historical legacy when it comes to the arts.
So anytime you get to step on
the stage at the Kennedy Center,
it feels as if you're getting to add to that.
In some small way, and that is,
you know, fantastic.
I hope that you don't.
You know we were.
We were sitting around working
on on developing in the heights
and was still writing it.
Tommy was directing it.
Anthony Veneziale was a part of the
production company that was helping you know,
put the readings together.
But we all would just find a corner
on our on our five minute breaks and
we just Cypher we would, you know,
talk about the records that we love.
We talk about this or that.
And and finally things started.
Sort of.
You know, mingling enough where
Tommy and Anthony and Lynn were like,
you know what we should put this
on a we should put this on a stage
and do this in front of people.
See if we can find something.
And then Chris Sullivan comes through.
And then Arthur Lewis comes through.
And then Bill Sherman comes through
and and then they finally like,
you know, wrestle me on stage.
Completely terrified.
And I never left it just was it?
It's just a creatively.
There's just nothing better than you know.
Being able to like take a story that
you hear from someone in the audience,
and then musicalized and turn
into the turn it into,
you know,
choose your own adventure sort of thing.
Speaking of performing career Bull sadly,
coming to an end, but maybe we'll find
out what's gonna happen with tax.
What's gonna happen with chunk?
But what has it been like on this show?
And what can we expect for
these last three episodes?
Well, it's been amazing
on the show, you know.
Obviously Michael Weatherly at the helm.
He has some he has shot over 20 years of,
you know, 20 episodes a year and
that's that's a lot of television.
But more importantly,
you know the last six years have been
just an amazing experience working,
getting up every day and working
with the same people as pretty.
You know, in our business it's pretty rare,
and so the writers that are really,
really good job.
I think of allowing us to
kind of love on each other.
But the last three episodes.
There are fast paced and tents and
seeing you know we'll do some things
that you never imagined that he would do.
You see chunk making all of the
all of giving all of the side eye.
Making the best you know argument
that he can of course.
But and and of course the lady he's you know,
brilliant as they are.
Yeah,
it's just such an amazing ensemble and
I don't think any of us expected that
it would be on the air for six years.
And yet through COVID it has.
We've we've maintained our our
our enthusiasm and and I think
we we finished really strong.
We are looking forward to it.
Said it's going to be gone but
it's been fun to see chunks
evolution through all of this too.
Kind of being a little bit more of the
man up there taking control of things.
No doubt, although Christopher,
we look forward to seeing you in DC.
So glad you're going to be
here and we'll see you soon.
Thanks for being here.
Alright, look forward to it thanks, bye.
You can see freestyle love supreme at
the Kennedy Center May 10th through 15th,
so this week.