Actor and singer-songwriter Val Emmich has adapted the Tony-winning musical Dear Evan Hansen—about a high school student caught in the center of a story that spirals out of control—into a young adult novel, according to The New York Times.
Titled Dear Evan Hansen: The Novel, the new book will be released by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers in October.
Emmich collaborated with the musical's Tony-winning creators, composers Benj Pasek and Justin Paul and book writer Steven Levenson, who sent him unpublished songs and cut scenes so that he could flesh out the story.
Emmich, who also wrote The Reminders, told the Times, “At first, I was incredibly faithful to the play, and then they urged me to take more chances, which I was happy to do. Then they had to reel me back in.”
Hello, Dolly! alum Taylor Trensch officially took his first bow as Evan Hansen February 6 at the Music Box Theatre. The actor succeeded Noah Galvin in the role created by Tony winner Ben Platt.
Multiple Tony nominee Michael Greif (Rent, Next to Normal, If/Then) directs a cast that also currently includes Phoenix Best, Laura Dreyfuss, Tony winner Rachel Bay Jones, Jennifer Laura Thompson, Tony nominee Mike Faist, Michael Park, and Will Roland.
Read: DEAR EVAN HANSEN TO LAUNCH NATIONAL TOUR IN 2018
