On November 17th, Freestyle Love Supreme, a group created by Lin Manuel Miranda and Anthony Veneziale came to Las Vegas Academy of the Arts. “Our teachers had been telling us all week about them coming to LVA and it was rumored that Lin Manuel Miranda would come,” said theater major Abigail Dionisio. “They were here to talk to us about how their show works and how they got to [where they are now],” said theater major Rose Gewanter.

The students were let into the Lowden theater and waited for about 30 minutes for the event to start. Mr. Acosta had brought out all of the chairs for the members and then Ms. McCoy finally introduced everyone. “They were super cool, super talented, super hype. [Then, Ms. McCoy] was like, ‘Oh my gosh, there’s another chair. And then Lin Manuel Miranda came out, and everyone went crazy,” said Sara Weber, theater major. “We all cheered for minutes and then it turned into a chant of ‘Lin, Lin, Lin, Lin,’” said Dionisio.

They started by introducing themselves. “They kept talking about how [most of them] started in our shoes and where they are now. It made it seem like an attainable goal,” Gewanter said, “[It left me with] more self-confidence, because they also talked about [how] some of them hadn’t ever freestyled before auditioning for the show.” “It was kind of like a chat between friends even though it was Lin Manuel Miranda,” said Dionisio. The students watching got to ask questions and Ms. McCoy also asked the group questions and then everyone was dismissed back to class. 

A few students had hoped that the group would perform, which didn’t happen but overall it was a positive and inspirational experience.