Joe DiPietro (born 1961) is an American playwright,

lyricist A lyricist is a songwriter who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's incom ...

and

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

. He is best known for the Tony Award-winning musical ''

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

'', for which he won the Tony Awards for Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score as well as for writing the book and lyrics for the long-running off-Broadway show ''

I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change ''I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change'' is a musical comedy with book and lyrics by Joe DiPietro and music by Jimmy Roberts. It is the second-longest running Off-Broadway musical.Gans, Andrew"I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change Ends NYC R ...

''.

Biography

Born in

Teaneck, New Jersey Teaneck () is a township in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a bedroom community in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the township's population was 39,776, reflecting an increase of 516 (+1.3%) f ...

, DiPietro grew up in nearby Oradell, the son of Lou and Jean DiPietro. He attended Oradell Public School and River Dell Regional High School, before graduating

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...

from

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

in 1984 with a bachelor's degree in English. DiPietro is openly

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

Work

Following a run of '' Love Lemmings'' at the Top of the Village Gate in 1991, DiPietro's first produced work was ''

'', written with composer Jimmy Roberts, which ran for twelve years (5,003 performances) off-Broadway at the

Westside Theatre The Westside Theatre is an off-Broadway performance space at 407 West 43rd Street between Ninth and Tenth Avenues in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. The building houses two auditoriums: the Upstairs Theatre, which s ...

. He followed that up with 1998's comedy '' Over the River and Through the Woods'', which played the John Houseman Theatre for 800 performances over two years. DiPietro's work made its

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

debut in 2005 with the

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

jukebox musical '' All Shook Up''. '' The Toxic Avenger'', written with Bon Jovi's

David Bryan David Bryan Rashbaum (born February 7, 1962) is an American musician and songwriter, best known as the keyboard player for the rock band Bon Jovi, with which he also co-wrote songs and performed backing vocals. In 2018, Bryan was inducted int ...

, debuted off-Broadway on April 6, 2009, and won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical. DiPietro and Bryan's ''

'' won the 2010 Tony Award for Best Musical. It ran at the Shubert Theatre for three years (1,165 performances) and continues in touring production all over the country. DiPietro won Tony Awards for Best Book and Best Score, and the show also received the Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Best Musical. '' Nice Work If You Can Get It'', a re-imagining of a Gershwin musical, starring

Matthew Broderick Matthew Broderick (born March 21, 1962) is an American actor. His roles include the Golden Globe-nominated portrayal of the title character in '' Ferris Bueller's Day Off'' (1986), the voice of adult Simba in Disney's ''The Lion King'' (1994) ...

and

Kelli O'Hara Kelli Christine O'Hara (born April 16, 1976) is an American actress and singer, most known for her work on the Broadway and opera stages. A seven-time Tony Award nominee, O'Hara won the 2015 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her pe ...

, opened at Broadway's

Imperial Theatre The Imperial Theatre is a Broadway theater at 249 West 45th Street ( George Abbott Way) in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1923, the Imperial Theatre was designed by Herbert J. Krapp and was constructed ...

in 2012. The show, and DiPietro's book, were nominated for Tony Awards in 2012, and DiPietro won the Drama Desk Award for Best Book of a Musical. ''Clever Little Lies'' ran in late 2013 at George Street Playhouse and debuted in New York's Westside Theatre in 2015 with

Marlo Thomas Margaret Julia "Marlo" Thomas (born November 21, 1937) is an American actress, producer, author, and social activist. She is best known for starring on the sitcom ''That Girl'' (1966–1971) and her children's franchise '' Free to Be... You and ...

and

Greg Mullavey Greg Mullavey (born Gregory Thomas Mulleavy Jr., September 10, 1939) is an American film and television actor who has had roles as Tom Hartman in the television series '' Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'' and Carly's grandfather in ''iCarly''. He has ...

. The musical ''Chasing the Song,'' which reunited DiPietro with Bryan, was workshopped at

La Jolla Playhouse La Jolla Playhouse is a not-for-profit, professional theatre on the campus of the University of California, San Diego. History La Jolla Playhouse was founded in 1947 by Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, and Mel Ferrer. In 1983, it was revived under ...

in the summer of 2014. 2014 also saw DiPietro reworking the

Garson Kanin Garson Kanin (November 24, 1912 – March 13, 1999) was an American writer and director of plays and films. Early life Garson Kanin was born in Rochester, New York; his family later relocated to Detroit then to New York City. He attended ...

play ''Peccadillo'' into ''Living on Love,'' which starred the opera star

Renée Fleming Renée Lynn Fleming (born February 14, 1959) is an American soprano, known for performances in opera, concerts, recordings, theater, film, and at major public occasions. A recipient of the National Medal of Arts, Fleming has been nominated for ...

and was a highlight of the 2014

Williamstown Theatre Festival The Williamstown Theatre Festival is a resident summer theater on the campus of Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1954 by Williams College news director Ralph Renzi and drama program chairman David C. Bryant. I ...

. Other recent plays include ''Creating Claire'', which debuted at George Street Playhouse in 2010, and ''The Last Romance'', which played the Old Globe in 2010 after debuting at Kansas City's New Theatre in 2008. and ''Ernest Shackleton Loves Me'' (with the score written by Val Vigoda and Brendan Milburn of '' GrooveLily'' fame.)
Shackleton
' was shown as part of the PBS series ''Broadway on HD,'' on November 26, 2018. ''Diana'', a musical treatment of the life of Diana, Princess of Wales with lyrics and book by DiPietro, was scheduled to open on Broadway in March 2020, but was postponed due the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. The production was filmed for

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

and opened subsequently on Broadway in November 2021.

Plays

*2021 '' What's New Pussycat?'' (book) featuring the songs of Tom Jones based on

Henry Fielding Henry Fielding (22 April 1707 – 8 October 1754) was an English novelist, irony writer, and dramatist known for earthy humour and satire. His comic novel ''Tom Jones'' is still widely appreciated. He and Samuel Richardson are seen as founders ...

's 1749 novel '' The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'' *2019 ''Diana'' (book and lyrics) with music by

*2017 ''

Ernest Shackleton Loves Me Ernest is a given name derived from Germanic word ''ernst'', meaning "serious". Notable people and fictional characters with the name include: People *Archduke Ernest of Austria (1553–1595), son of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor *Ernest, M ...

'' with score by Val Vigoda and Brendan Milburn of GrooveLily *2014 ''Chasing The Song'' (still in workshop) (book and lyrics) with music by

of Bon Jovi *2014 ''Living On Love'' (author) *2013 ''Clever Little Lies'' (author) *2012 '' Nice Work If You Can Get It'' (Broadway) (book) *2010 ''Creating Claire'' (author) *2010 ''Falling For Eve'' (book) *2008 '' The Toxic Avenger'' book and lyrics with music by

, based on the movie *2008 ''

Fucking Men ''Fucking Men'' is a play by Joe DiPietro. It premiered at the King's Head Theatre in the London Borough of Islington, directed by Phil Willmott. It opened on 9 January 2009 and was extended three times due to strong sales, and later ran in rep ...

'', an adaptation of Schnitzler's ''

La Ronde La Ronde may refer to: Geography * La Ronde, Charente-Maritime, a commune in the Charente-Maritime ''département'', France * La Ronde River, on the Caribbean island of Dominica *La Ronde (amusement park), Montreal, Quebec, Canada * A La Ronde, an ...

'' (1897) *2008 ''The Last Romance'' (author) *2005 '' All Shook Up'' (Broadway) (book) *2004 '' Allegro'' (adaptation, writer) *2003 ''

The Thing About Men ''The Thing About Men'' is a musical with music by Jimmy Roberts and lyrics and book by Joe DiPietro. It is based on the 1985 German film ''Men'' by Doris Dörrie. The plot revolves around a love triangle and shows what men will do to keep their p ...

'' (Off-Broadway) (book, lyrics) (musical version of the German comedy film by Doris Dörrie, ''Männer...'' (''Men...''), from 1985) with music by Jimmy Roberts *2002 ''

'' (book and lyrics) with music by

of Bon Jovi *2002 ''

Babes in Arms ''Babes in Arms'' is a 1937 coming-of-age musical comedy with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Lorenz Hart and book by Rodgers and Hart. It concerns a group of small-town Long Island teenagers who put on a show to avoid being sent to a wor ...

'' (adaptation, writer) *2001 ''They All Laughed'' (book) (a very loose adaptation of '' Oh, Kay!'') *2000 ''Art Of Murder'' (author) *1998 '' Over the River and Through the Woods'' (Off-Broadway) (author) *1998 ''Kiss At City Hall'' (author) *1996 ''

'' (Off-Broadway) (book and lyrics) with music by Jimmy Roberts *1994 ''The Virgin Weeps'' (author) *1991 ''Love Lemmings'' (author, lyricist)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dipietro, Joe 1961 births 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American dramatists and playwrights 21st-century American male writers American male dramatists and playwrights Broadway composers and lyricists American gay writers LGBT dramatists and playwrights LGBT people from New Jersey Living people People from Oradell, New Jersey People from Teaneck, New Jersey River Dell Regional High School alumni Rutgers University alumni Tony Award winners