What did Lin Manuel Miranda do before "Hamilton"? Watch "We Are Freestyle Love Supreme" online now to see the award-winning musical creator as a young man Yes, before Miranda rose to fame and won a Tony Award and a MacArthur Genius Grant, he was performing in a hip-hop improv group called Freestyle Love Supreme with future "Hamilton" collaborators Thomas Cale and Christopher Jackson

Freestyle

Freestyle Love Supreme began as a game Miranda and her friends from Wesleyan University, Cale and Anthony Veneziale, played in the basement of the Drama Bookshop They beatboxed on the streets, performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and eventually reunited on Broadway; in 2005, director Andrew Freed began documenting the group

Freestyle Love Supreme also includes Jama Monroe Iglehart, Bill Sherman, Chris Sullivan, Utkarsh Ambudkar, and Arthur Lewis The documentary traces the group's transition, with founding members Cale and Veneziale at odds over their performance of the early "Hamilton"

Poignant and inspirational, We Are Freestyle Love Supreme recalls the creative dreams of youth and shows why the show still means so much to accomplished performers And it offers a glimpse into the early days of Miranda and Cale, who would later create the hit musical Hamilton

Here's everything you need to know about how to watch We Are Freestyle Love Supreme online

If you're in the US, you can watch "We Are Freestyle Love Supreme" on Hulu, where it was released today (Friday, July 17)

Unfortunately, Hulu is only available in the US

The trailer for "We Are Freestyle Love Supreme" begins with Lin-Manuel Miranda quoting Orson Welles: "If you want to tell a story with a happy ending, it depends on where you end the story" Then flashes of the early group rapping on the streets and in small venues are shown It was a disaster," says one member" Miranda recalls being thrown a tennis ball at her

But of course there is a very happy ending as the trailer moves on to the sold-out reunion show on Broadway The once unknown group has become a household name over the years thanks to Miranda's side project You may have heard of them

"We Are Freestyle Love Supreme" has been well received almost universally Here are some of the comments from film critics:

IndieWire: "It's fun to see kids creating something out of nothing and sharing their joy with each other

AV Club Like Miranda herself, We Are Freestyle Love Supreme can be either endearing or grating, depending on how you feel about the backstage warm-up games and spontaneous performances on the sidewalk I guess

Hollywood Reporter: "For fans of 'In the Heights' and 'Hamilton,' there is a brief but satisfying detour into the incubation of these shows"

Decider: "It's all the more endearing to know that many of them are trying to make significant contributions to the theater world