(No) Pressure Creatives (NPC), an Asian-American musical theater group that produces original productions annually, delivers with its fourth production. This year’s original musical, “Out of Sync,” directed by Shlok Pathak (CAS, McCourt ’27), who co-wrote it with Hans Yang (SFS ’28), is a beautiful and heart-wrenching story of love, loss and misunderstood expectations. Family ties and conflict are explored through the story of Kat (Jessica Cao, SFS ’28) and her best friend Carlos (Justin Liu, SFS ’28), as they substitute a Kat lookalike robot named Suki (Hailey Ahn, CAS ’27) into Kat’s life. NPC’s vision for an impactful musical culminated in catchy original songs and beautiful acting performances from the entire cast.
The musical is set in the present day and explores the life and struggles of Kat, a high school senior hoping to be accepted into Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business (MSB). Kat’s overprotective mother, Sandra (Sophia Jacome, CAS ’26), would prefer to keep both her and her brother, Peter (Arjun Singh, MSB ’26), close to home. Kat’s tech-savvy best friend, Carlos, creates a robot, Suki, that looks like and imitates Kat perfectly to beguile her mother. Kat replaces herself with Suki at home to find freedom in her life, but things begin to unravel when Suki decides to take matters into her own hands, turning on Kat and her friends.
The script felt natural, and the dazzling performances enraptured me. Kat and Sandra’s difficult and dynamic relationship was explored with nuance and tact, while the comedic deliveries of Carlos and another student, Steven (Leon Zhang, CAS ’28), kept the musical tonally balanced. Almost every scene was complemented by an original song that developed the plot and matched the mood perfectly. It’s very difficult to create songs for musicals that don’t take away from the story or distract audiences. However, through a mix of fun ensemble pieces and deeply personal duets, the musical artists of NPC created catchy, memorable songs that truly felt ready to be performed (alongside the musical) in larger venues.
Capturing events and feelings that people experience but don’t often discuss is a challenge never easily met. In fact, many productions — whether they be musicals, movies or other media — are often too obvious and brash in forefronting these complex emotions, leaving audiences feeling like they watched an exaggerated caricature of an emotional experience. “Out of Sync” conveys very personal and relatable experiences naturally and genuinely on stage. Nothing seemed overdramatized or unnecessary.
The songs and performances were beautifully put together, and the technical aspects of the show were equally impressive. The lighting changed with every scene, providing a matching tone and atmosphere. The set design, though simple, had everything necessary to support the actors without being distracting. A live instrumental ensemble provided the music for each song, a choice that I often find preferable to prerecorded tracks, as it lends an organic quality to stage productions. At times, it was difficult to hear the actors’ voices over the music, but it did not detract from the overall understanding and impression of the musical. Sound mixing is often one of the most difficult parts of a show, and the crew and performers were able to work through any difficulties with practiced ease, which was thoroughly impressive.
“Out of Sync” is a true testament to the abilities of its creators and performers. I, as well as everyone around me, was extremely touched by the story we witnessed. Difficult subjects were explored with nuanced emotion, while every performer and musician truly gave their all to create a poignant musical. I truly hope everyone with an interest in compelling stories and phenomenal performances will attend (No) Pressure Creative’s productions in the future. I have great expectations of what they will be able to create and perform in the years to come.
