A new Broadway musical is updating a classic ’90s rom-com with today’s gay pop. Carly Rae Jepsen has revealed that she will be making her Broadway composer debut in the upcoming musical adaptation of 10 Things I Hate About You.
According to Billboard, Jepsen will compose the score in collaboration with songwriter and composer Ethan Gruska. The pair’s last collaboration was on Jepsen’s most recent album, The Loveliest Time. Lena Dunham will co-write the book with playwright Jessica Huang.
“I can tell you 10 things I’m excited about right now or just skip to number one which is working on this dream project with this dream team!” Jepsen announced on an Instagram post, showcasing a page from the musical score.
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Released in 1999, 10 Things I Hate About You represented one of the last and greatest iterations of the Shakespeare-as-teen-comedy trend. In the ensuing years, the film has earned a massive following, spawning a TV series adaptation in the late 2000s.
10 Things I Hate About You follows high school transfer student Cameron (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who falls for Bianca Stratford (Larisa Oleynik). To overcome her father’s stern dating rules, Cameron convinces the brooding rebel Patrick Verona (Heath Ledger) to date her mature and skeptical sister Kat (Julia Stiles).
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“’10 Things I Hate About You,’ a retelling of William Shakespeare’s 1594 play ‘The Taming of the Shrew,’ launched the careers of Heath Ledger, Julia Stiles and Joseph Gordon-Levitt and showcased a breakout performance by Alison Janney,” a press release for the musical reads.
“The film was a box office hit and gained cult status thanks to its keen and witty examination of teenage life in a 1990s Seattle suburb and the nuanced portrayal of sisters Kat and Bianca Stratford.”
The upcoming musical represents both Jepsen and Dunham’s debut on a Broadway production team. But Jepsen is no stranger to performing on the Broadway stage, having donned her glass slippers for a 2014 production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella. In 2016, she appeared on the Emmy winning TV remake Grease: Live as Pink Lady Francesca “Frenchy” Facciano.
The premiere date for the 10 Things I Hate About You musical has not yet been announced, but it looks like Jepsen already has the score well underway.
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