More than 25 years after becoming a teen movie classic, “10 Things I Hate About You” is bound for Broadway with an ambitious creative team that includes Lena Dunham and Carly Rae Jepsen.
The production will begin on August 17, 2027, bringing the beloved 1999 romantic comedy starring Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt to the stage.
It adapts the story of the Stratford sisters and their misadventures in love at Padua High School. Like the original film, it draws inspiration from William Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew.”
From teen comedy to musical
The play will feature a book by Dunham and playwright Jessica Huang, while Jepsen and Grammy-winning musician Ethan Gruska are writing the music and lyrics
Acclaimed Broadway director and choreographer Christopher Wheeldon will helm the production, with Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Tom Kitt handling music supervision, arrangements, and orchestrations.
The musical is being described as a story about “growing up, discovering yourself, and refusing to live by others’ expectations,” while retaining the crushes, cliques, and teenage angst that made the original film a cult favorite.
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Why this movie still matters
Few teen films from the late 1990s have enjoyed the lasting popularity of “10 Things I Hate About You.”
The film helped launch the careers of its young cast and remains especially remembered for Heath Ledger’s charismatic performance as Patrick Verona, including his now-iconic rendition of “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You.”
Over the years, the movie has evolved from a box-office hit into a cultural touchstone, frequently appearing on lists of the best high school films ever made.
Broadway loves a throwback
The adaptation continues a broader trend of popular films making their way to Broadway.
Recent years have seen stage adaptations of movies such as “Mean Girls,” “Back to the Future,” “The Devil Wears Prada,” and “Clueless,” as producers increasingly look to familiar titles with built-in fan bases.
More details to come
Casting, opening-night details, and the Broadway theater have not yet been announced.
Almost three decades after Kat Stratford read her famous poem, Broadway is ready to add a few new songs to it.
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