There have been rumours swirling about this for a while now, but Billboard has officially confirmed that the beloved, Shakespeare-inspired 1999 romantic comedy, 10 Things I Hate About You, is being adapted into a Broadway musical — with singer-songwriter Carly Rae Jepsen and Girls co-creator Lena Dunham at the helm.
Jepsen is co-writing the score alongside producer Ethan Gruska (the Bon Iver and Phoebe Bridgers collaborator with whom she worked on songs from The Loneliest Time B-sides collection, The Loveliest Time), while Dunham is co-writing the book with award-winning playwright Jessica Huang (Mother of Exiles, The Paper Dreams of Harry Chin). It feels shocking that Jack Antonoff is not involved in this, but I guess he's busy?
This isn't Jepsen's first foray into theatre: she took over the title role in the 2014 production of Rodgers & Hammstein's Cinderella, as well as playing Frenchy in Fox's Emmy-winning Grease: Live. However, this will be the artist's first time taking on a behind-the-scenes role, lending her buoyant pop songwriting chops to help bring the cherished enemies-to-lovers story to life.
The Broadway adaptation of 10 Things is set to be directed and choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon (An American in Paris, MJ: The Musical), with Tom Kitt (Next to Normal) serving as music supervisor, arranger and orchestrator. Mike Bosner is on board to produce the project, for which a theatre and opening date have yet to be announced.