Carly Rae Jepsen is writing a Broadway musical based on 10 Things I Hate About You

Carly Rae Jepsen and Lena Dunham are teaming up to create a Broadway musical based on the beloved 1999 teen film 10 Things I Hate About You. Variety reported that the first try out performances are set to begin on August 17, 2027. The exact theater, opening night, and cast have not yet been announced.

The film, directed by Gil Junger and starring Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger, and Joseph Gordon Levitt, was itself already a loose adaptation of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. The new musical describes itself as a story about growing up, finding yourself, and refusing to live by other people's expectations, following two sisters navigating crushes, friend groups, and the general chaos of teenage life as they try to forge their own paths.

Jepsen is writing the music and lyrics alongside Ethan Gruska, best known as a go to collaborator of Phoebe Bridgers. The book is being written by Dunham and Jessica Huang. Direction and choreography are in the hands of Christopher Wheeldon, who won a Tony Award for his work on MJ The Musical. Tom Kitt, also a Tony winner, will handle musical supervision, arrangements, and orchestrations.

For Jepsen, this marks her first musical as a composer, though she is no stranger to Broadway. In 2014 she played the title role in Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella, at the time fresh off the massive success of Call Me Maybe and in the middle of working on her later widely acclaimed album E·MO·TION. Now she returns to the other side of the stage.

Meanwhile, Jepsen has plenty keeping her busy outside of Broadway. On September 18, 2025, she releases her new double album Day and Night, with the singles On Wires, After All, and Don't Leave Me On The Dance Floor already out. She is also scheduled to perform next month at the All Things Go festival in New York City. For Dutch fans following her work, it is good news that Jepsen shows no signs of slowing down creatively, though the Broadway premiere itself will for now remain a reason to make the trip to New York.