(No) Pressure Creatives, a Georgetown University Asian American musical production group, brings its third production, “Off The Record,” to the stage in Gaston Hall on March 14.

The musical is a comedic mystery following aspiring singers Ariel and Ben, who are signed to the recording company Maneki Neko Records (MNR) with dreams of stardom and become entangled in a conspiracy linked to MNR’s mysterious past. Mara Goldstein (CAS ’27) and Caroline Chou (MSB ’27) co-wrote the entirely original script for the show, which assembles a cast and crew of around 60 students.

Goldstein said the production emphasizes the impact of friendships through various lenses. 

“Something that Caroline and I were very strongly trying to promote through this was the power of friendship and making sure that platonic relationships are valued just as much as any other relationship,” Goldstein told The Hoya. “And it’s these platonic relationships that help us rise up but also the things that make us fall sometimes because they’re so powerful.”

Goldstein added that the production amplified the theme of friendship to emphasize its potential for personal impact.

“Friendship is something that’s incredibly powerful and that we can find in each other, and being able to relate to another person, to joke around with another person in times when they are crashing out, is something that is so special and can really uplift a person and enable them to do anything that they can,” Goldstein said.

(No) Pressure Creatives was established in 2022 to provide a space on campus for Asian American students passionate about arts to explore their interests and shed light on their underrepresentation in the musical industry. 

Minato Shinoda (MSB ’26), the production’s executive producer, said the group formed in response to a lack of Asian American representation in theater at Georgetown and beyond.

“We didn’t see a lot of representation off-campus or on-campus of Asian American narratives in theater, so we wanted to create that space for ourselves,” Shinoda told The Hoya.

Film and television critics have pointed out the lack of Asian American representation in theater, and a report from researchers at the University of Southern California found that two-thirds of films studied failed to represent Asian American characters proportional to the demographic population in the United States. 

Goldstein said her and Chou’s writing process involved constant collaboration to capture different aspects of the Asian American community in the script.

“A lot of the plot and character details came from us just riffing off of each other and being like, ‘Hey, wouldn’t it be funny if this character was like this? We need to make this character more suspicious, so in order to do that maybe we should have this as a detail, and then this can also reflect this part of the Asian American community,’” Goldstein said.

Ashwath Tirunellayi (SOH ’27), the director of “Off The Record,” said that despite growing up active in different theater groups, he did not have a cast he could find common ground with about the Asian American experience before joining (No) Pressure Creatives.

“We’re able to express cultural things that normally you’re not really able to in any sort of other theater setting,” Tirunellayi told The Hoya. “For me, it’s been very impactful being able to find this group of people that have had shared experiences.”

Shinoda said (No) Pressure Creatives works to include all people in their activities regardless of previous experience.

“I feel like a lot of other clubs on campus can be a little bit competitive or not as welcoming, but this is a very welcoming, comforting, inclusive space for everyone,” Shinoda said. “We accept everyone regardless of how much musical experience they’ve had.” 

Shinoda said she hopes the musical will resonate with everyone who attends the show, not just Asian American students.

“I hope that our passion and hard work really shine through the stage,” Shinoda said.

Tirunellayi said the production brings to life the experiences of their community.

“Not only are we having Asian Americans tell Asian American stories, we’re reflecting on our own experiences and our community’s experiences to create a new story that we can then bring to life,” Tirunellayi said.