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Janet Krupin, an original cast member of Broadway’s Bring It On: The Musical, is developing her queer musical thriller Chemical Drive into a film, BroadwayWorld has learned.
Shooting for the film’s trailer is slated to begin in August and will feature Ari Groover, who was part of the cast of a 2017 developmental concert performance at 54 Below.
Chemical Drive, which is written by Krupin, is inspired by the true history of the Hanford Nuclear Site, “which is the weirder-than-fiction true story of how my hometown exists,” she exclusively tells BroadwayWorld.
Set in a retro-futurist American West, Chemical Drive examines what happens when humanity creates technology powerful enough to change the world – and must live with the consequences.
“It’s set in tomorrow, inspired by yesterday,” Krupin explains. “It’s a fable, and it’s about love and loyalty and power, all told through the lens of a band the government hired to keep everybody chill, which is a true story.”
The project has been in development since 2017, when it had a reading followed by a 54 Below concert later that year featuring Krupin, Groover, Lilli Cooper and more.
“The easiest path forward to make Chemical Drive live is a film,” says Krupin, who explains that she has been back to work on the piece since relocating to Washington state during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. “I’m really, really proud of what it is, and I’m ready to share.”
Because the pandemic temporarily shut down Broadway, Krupin says she learned a lot about what she wanted Chemical Drive to be as she – like many others – was forced into changing course.
“The perspective of losing something that you love or it breaking, that was really the catalyst for the crystallization of the plot,” she says.
Chemical Drive follows the release of Krupin’s first film, Sunset Road, which is currently available on Amazon.
Krupin says she’s currently looking for producers and investors in the project, and a one-night-only concert featuring excerpts from Chemical Drive will be held Monday, August 3, at The Academy of Children’s Theatre in Richland, Washington.
Krupin is developing Chemical Drive alongside cinematographer and editor Tyler Milliron.
Photo Credit: Andrew Parsons
