Musical: Chemicals in the Water by David Quang Pham

After their train derails in a river, a couple chemicals must survive Mother Nature’s fury, only to fall in love and form a toxic relationship. Adapting the 2023 Ohio train derailment into a musical romantic comedy, David Quang Pham interrogates the lack of environmental regulations, city air quality, local/state government redlining, and even Mother Nature with his musical, Chemicals in the Water.

The Tank Pridefest 2025 production of Chemicals in the Water is directed by Aliyah Curry, produced by Caitlin Mayernik, music directed by Grace Shih, stage managed by Matthew Ramirez, choreography by Fang Tseng, lighting design by My Le, sound design by Melinda Faylor, costume direction by Gianna Nepola, intimacy direction by Kimi Handa Brown, and shadowing by mentee Abi Sultan. The musical stars Erick Carter as Benzene and Mother Nature, Kammy Wong as Vinyl Chloride and the Conductor, and Mx Hasberry as Governor Hydroxyl. The pit orchestra comprises of Joshua Erickson on piano, Emerson Cyrus Olson on violin, and Timmy Ong on cello and guitar.

Dates
Friday, June 27, 2025 at 9:30pm
Saturday, June 28, 2025 at 3:00pm

Cost
$25 Tickets

About David Quang Pham
David Quang Pham is an award-winning composer-playwright, science communicator, and aspiring animation screenwriter in Washington Heights. His musicals include Chemicals in the Water (2025 The Tank), Ellipses (2023 Theatre About Science International Conference, 2022 O’Neill semifinalist) and Turnover: A New Leaf (2025 Queer Theatre Kalamazoo world premiere; 2024 The Tank; Best Book Award, Best Director Award: Aliyah Curry, Best Musical nomination – 2024 Theatre on the Verge New Musicals Festival), one acts Life After with Marie Incontrera and Stephanie Carlin and Check Out with Eric Grunin and Valerie Work. David’s plays have been produced or developed by Queer Theatre Kalamazoo, Musical Theatre Factory, The Tank, Milky Way Theatre Company, Theatre 71 at Blessed Sacrament, Signature Theatre’s Sigspace, New York Public Library, and The Workshop Theater (The Living Fossils). His musicals have been staged in Colorado, Georgia, Michigan, New York, and Portugal. He is also an aspiring animation screenwriter, having studied under David N Weiss and Kimberly Barrante at Sundance Collab. They readapted Ellipses and Turnover into the animated features, The Galaxy Family and Photosynthesis. He is the 2024 Great Performances Artist Fellowship Award recipient, 2022 Harriet Tubman Effect Institute composer, 2021 Playwrights Foundation fellow, and 2020 Working Title Playwrights apprentice. David’s storytelling combines science and fantasy. Common themes in his work include human nature, coming-of-age, parent-child relationships, environmentalism, queerness, and immigration. His pentatonic music composition blends pop, punk, and Vietnamese folk elements to create melodies that reflect his Eastern influences. When not writing songs full of science puns, David plays trombone for Queer Big Apple Corps, Marching Band Casting, and Vietnamese zither with Mekong NYC. They hold a B.S. in Astrophysics with honors and a minor in theatre from Michigan State University. Be up to lightspeed at @sciencetheatre or www.sciencetheatre.us