Syncing Ink NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (23)
See it if You wanna see one of the best ensembles acting right now.
Don't see it if You're afraid of participation. Read more
See it if you want to see one of the strongest and most hardworking ensembles, you want a personal story told in a unique way
Don't see it if you don't want to be bombarded with a lot of words, you aren't familiar or at least have a working exposure of rap or black culture
See it if Enjoy hip-hop music and high energy. Setting is in a high school with teenage rivalries. Audience participation and enthusiasm.
Don't see it if You dislike loud hip-hop music. The show is 2 1/2 h w/15 min intermission. Foul language and sexual connotations. Read more
See it if you enjoy rap, great performances, fun and clever insight into hip hop culture.
Don't see it if you dislike loud music and stories that are more fable and formulaic than realistic.
See it if Lots of upbeat rap music and dancing. Talented, energetic cast. Impressive finale.
Don't see it if Story progresses in obvious ways and bogs down in the middle. Boring dialog.
See it if You love a good coming of age story told in a one-of-a-kind way that mixes hip-hop, dance, and the hero's journey to create total theater.
Don't see it if You don't like having a good time.
See it if you like rap, spoken word, hip-hop and incredible high-frequency performances.
Don't see it if you don't like audience participation or loud music.
See it if You like rap, like shows with modern commentary
Don't see it if You don't like strobe light, or smoke
Critic Reviews (15)
"Unfortunately, Mr. Njikam’s lyrics don’t have the wit or verbal dexterity of their old-school influences, and the story bogs down, despite flashes of satirical inspiration...What matters here is not the predictable destination, but how we get there...The show has an infectious energy and benefits from a superb cast that rises to the athletic hip-hop choreography by Gabriel Dionisio, a.k.a. Kwikstep."
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"Blends hip-hop and West African performance traditions into a new and exciting theatrical form...'Syncing Ink' seamlessly incorporates music and dance into a cohesive structure that feels all its own. Hip-hop here is spiritual, elemental, and integral to the play’s world: It’s in the language, the physicality, the architecture. Every movement seems like part of a larger whole, as though the characters were navigating a shared rhythm. And when they rap, it has the urgency of life and death."
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"The story 'Syncing Ink' tells is rather thin and the characters never progress beyond the one-dimensional...As sheer spectacle, 'Syncing Ink' is often exhilarating...Above all, Njikam's show offers a brilliant display of the physical and vocal prowess of its performers, all of whom make memorable impressions with their distinctive characters. 'Syncing Ink' is the equivalent of a less-than-great album with just enough great singles to make the experience still worthwhile."
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"A rush of invention and youthful high spirits...It's a messy, ambitious piece, with no shortage of flaws, but they pale in comparison with the wit and originality on display, not to mention its celebratory, wide-angle vision of African American culture...Under Niegel Smith's direction, too much is barely enough, and just about everybody goes over the top from time to time, sometimes undercutting the fun with excess energy...Then again, Smith has elicited strong performances from everyone."
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"Dynamically presented and euphorically performed...It’s simultaneously exhilarating and wearying...Njikam offers a witty take on the classic mythology of a hero’s episodic journey with a lively African-American slant...Director Niegel Smith and choreographer Gabriel 'Kwikstep' Dionisio’s collaboration results in a thrilling unison of movement and dance. The cast is all over the four-sided, relatively bare playing area, magnificently dancing and perfectly placed throughout."
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"Even more impressive than the written script is the fact that much is unscripted. The actors freestyle rap many significant parts, creating something new and different each night, pushing the boundaries of what musical theatre can be. It is through this combination of oral and written verse that Njikam honors both the African and the American styles of storytelling...What NSangou Njikam has created runs far deeper than a hip hop musical—Njikam has created a masterpiece."
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“The show…is nearly two hours and 40 minutes long and stuffed with crude banalities. That doesn't stop if from dancing through the night with such ebullience and talent that nothing could be easier than to forgive its various faults…Technically, the show couldn't be better…Smith's staging…is a master class in theatrical creativity; each move and gesture is rhythmically calibrated…There are few Off-Broadway ensembles as remarkably multitalented and charismatic as this one.”
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"The outcome won’t be revealed, because the resolution is too obvious to waste time on...The cast members spout abundant challenge hip-hop, often melting into Gabriel 'Kwikstep' Dionisio’s tough choreographic patterns that show off their movement prowess—prowess that’s extensive and impressive...It’s so spirited that it rouses audience to various responses...I admired many of the 'Syncing Ink' elements."
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