‘Crazy Rich Asians’ Set to Become Stage Musical, With Direction by Jon M. Chu

A musical stage adaptation of Crazy Rich Asians is under development, with Jon M. Chu set to direct. 

The musical, which is being developed by Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures and Kevin Kwan, features a book by Leah Nanako Winkler, music by Helen Park and lyrics by Amanda Green and Tat Tong. The production is aiming for Broadway, with a pre-Broadway engagement to be announced shortly.

This would mark the Great White Way debut for Chu, who directed the film version of Crazy Rich Asians and In the Heights, as well as the upcoming two-part film adaptation of Wicked.

Both the film and the original book trilogy by Kwan provide the basis for the stage adaptation. The plot follows an American named Rachel Chu who travels to Singapore with her boyfriend, Nick Young, for a wedding and finds out that he comes from a very wealthy family, which does not necessarily approve of her.

Nanako Winkler is a playwright known for works such as God Said This, Two Mile Hollow, Kentucky and Hot Asian Doctor Husband. She is currently a co-executive producer and writer on Elsbeth and has written on several other shows including A24’s Ramy. 

Park returns to theater after writing the score, music producing and orchestrating KPOP on Broadway in 2022. She is currently the executive music producer and songwriter for the British animated television series Isadora Moon.

Green has worked on several Broadway projects, including as the co-composer and lyricist for Hands on a Hardbody, the co-lyricist for Bring It On, alongside Lin-Manuel Miranda, Tom Kitt and Jeff Whitty. She also provides additional lyrics for On the Twentieth Century. 

Tong is a Singaporean record producer and songwriter, whose discography has gone 80 times platinum, as well as a member of production-writing duo The Swaggernautz.