Joe DiPietro
Joe DiPietro (born 1961) is an American playwright, lyricist and author. He is best known for the Tony Award-winning musical Memphis, 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.
Also recorded as Joe Di Pietro
Joe DiPietro
- Name
- Joe DiPietro
- Born
- 1961
- Birthplace
- Teaneck, New Jersey, U.S.
- Occupation
- * Playwright
- Education
- Rutgers University
- Nationality
- United States
- Fields
- musical play · theatre
- Honours
- Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical · Tony Award for Best Original Score
- Languages
- English
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Joe DiPietro (born 1961) is an American playwright, lyricist and author. He is best known for the Tony Award-winning musical Memphis, 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.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Note VALÉORINE
Joe DiPietro (born 1961) is a composer, librettist and playwright, among other activities, of American nationality. The composer was born in Teaneck.
Joe DiPietro was educated at River Dell Regional High School, Rutgers University and Suffolk University Law School. The composer is a member of Phi Beta Kappa Society. Activity centred on musical play and theatre.
Languages used include English. Honours include Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical and Tony Award for Best Original Score.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 27 September 2026
VALÉORINE
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Joe DiPietro. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q1691381 · wikipedia · Joe DiPietro
In this article
Biography
Biography
Joe DiPietro studied at Rutgers University, River Dell Regional High School and Suffolk University Law School. The recorded working language is English. The field of work recorded is musical play and theatre. Distinctions recorded are Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical and Tony Award for Best Original Score.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Joe DiPietro • Born — 1961 • Birthplace — Teaneck, New Jersey, U.S. • Occupation — * Playwright • lyricist • Years Active — 1991–present • Education — Rutgers University
Biography
Biography
Born in Teaneck, New Jersey, DiPietro grew up in nearby Oradell, the son of Lou and Jean DiPietro. He attended Oradell Public School and River Dell High School, before graduating Phi Beta Kappa from Rutgers University in 1984 with a bachelor's degree in English. DiPietro is openly gay.
Work
Work
Following a run of Love Lemmings at the Top of the Village Gate in 1991, DiPietro's first produced work was I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change, written with composer Jimmy Roberts, which ran for twelve years (5,003 performances) off-Broadway at the Westside Theatre. 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 debut in 2005 with the Elvis Presley jukebox musical All Shook Up. The Toxic Avenger, written with Bon Jovi's David Bryan, debuted off-Broadway on April 6, 2009, and won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical. DiPietro and Bryan's Memphis 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 and Kelli O'Hara, opened at Broadway's Imperial Theatre 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 and Greg Mullavey. The musical Chasing the Song, which reunited DiPietro with Bryan, was workshopped at La Jolla Playhouse in the summer of 2014. 2014 also saw DiPietro reworking the Garson Kanin play Peccadillo into Living on Love, which starred the opera star Renée Fleming and was a highlight of the 2014 Williamstown Theatre Festival. 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 production was filmed for Netflix and opened subsequently on Broadway in November 2021.
Plays
Plays
• 2025 3 Summers of Lincoln (musical) (book and lyrics) • 2023 Babbit, an adaptation of the novel • 2021 What's New Pussycat? (book) featuring the songs of Tom Jones based on Henry Fielding's 1749 novel The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling • 2020 Conscience (author) based on Sen. Margaret Chase Smith of Maine's early declaration in the 1950s McCarthy era • 2019 Diana (book and lyrics) with music by David Bryan • 2017 Ernest Shackleton Loves Me with score by Val Vigoda and Brendan Milburn of GrooveLily • 2014 Chasing The Song (still in workshop) (book and lyrics) with music by David Bryan 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 David Bryan, based on the movie • 2008 Fucking Men, an adaptation of Schnitzler's La Ronde (1897) • 2008 The Last Romance (author) • 2005 All Shook Up (Broadway) (book) • 2004 Allegro (adaptation, writer) • 2003 The Thing About Men (Off-Broadway) (book, lyrics) (musical version of the German comedy film by Doris Dörrie, Männer... (Men...), from 1985) with music by Jimmy Roberts • 2002 Memphis (book and lyrics) with music by David Bryan of Bon Jovi • 2002 Babes in Arms (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 I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change (Off-Broadway) (book and lyrics) with music by Jimmy Roberts • 1994 The Virgin Weeps (author) • 1991 Love Lemmings (author, lyricist)
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Joe DiPietro”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q1691381: Joe DiPietro
General reference · Wikidata
Awards and nominations
• Year — Award — Category — Work — Result • 2009 — Drama Desk Award — Outstanding Book of a Musical — The Toxic Avenger • 2010 — Tony Award — Best Book of a Musical — Memphis • Best Original Score • Drama Desk Award — Outstanding Book of a Musical • 2012 — Tony Award — Best Book of a Musical — Nice Work If You Can Get It • Drama Desk Award — Outstanding Book of a Musical • Outer Critics Circle Award — Outstanding Book of a Musical • 2015 — Laurence Olivier Award — Outstanding Musical Contribution — Memphis • 2022 — Golden Raspberry Awards — Worst Picture — Diana • Worst Screenplay
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Tallmer, Jerry. Eleven years running, just perfect, why change?. The Villager. July 4–10, 1998.
- 2."Giving Allegro a heart transplant", The Washington Times
- 3.Ouzounian, Richard. "Toxic Avenger found his bard in Bon Jovi: Band's David Bryan just wants people to sing the songs he writes", Toronto Star, December 6, 2009. Accessed December 6, 2009. "He got a crash course in how to do it when he met up with Joe DiPietro, another Jersey boy (this one from Teaneck)."
- 4.Theater; New Musical Headed For American Stage, The New York Times
- 5.Playbill News: A Perfect Love.
- 6.Klein, Alvin. In Person; Family, Faith, Food and Fun. The New York Times. October 11, 1998.
- 7.Doubling Down With Joe DiPietro; 2 of his shows open in area , Daily News
- 8."Memphis belle" . Dallas Voice, May 10, 2012.
- 9.Gans, Andrew. I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change Ends NYC Run After More Than a Decade. Playbill. July 27, 2008.
- 10.Archived copy.
- 11.All Shook up – Broadway Musical – Original | IBDB.
- 12.Archived copy.
- 13.Memphis – Broadway Musical – Original | IBDB.
- 14.Nice Work if You Can Get It – Broadway Musical – Original | IBDB.
- 15."Marlo Thomas Stars in Off-Broadway Marriage Comedy Clever Little Lies by Harry Haun, The New York Observer, October 1, 2015
- 16.Soloski, Alexis. Out of Tune, and Seeking New Muses. The New York Times. July 20, 2014.
- 17.Gates, Anita. Old Battle, New Play: Religion vs. Science. New York Times. May 28, 2010.
- 18.Propst, Andy. Review Roundup: Joe DiPietro's The Last Romance, With Marion Ross, Paul Michael, Opens at the Old Globe. TheaterMania. August 11, 2010.
- 19.Koehler, Marieann. The New Theatre Restaurant: Last Romance Review. Entertainment Spectrum. September 23, 2008.
- 20.Franklin, Marc J. A Look Inside Opening Night of Diana: the Musical on Broadway. Playbill. 2021-11-18.
- 21.McNulty, Charles, ‘This isn’t a history lesson’: Inside the new musical about Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, The Los Angeles Times, December 5, 2023. 'Privacy Policy'+/cookie-acquiescence block to access.
- 22.Matthew Broderick portrays a pre-MAGA everyman in ‘Babbitt’ at La Jolla Playhouse, The Los Angeles Times
- 23.Hughes, Laura Collins, "‘Conscience’ Review: The Woman Who Stared Down the Red Scare", New York Times, March 11, 2020. Retrieved 2025/11/23.
- 24.Dalton, Joseph, ""Preview:‘Conscience’ brings McCarthy-era debate to Capital Region stage", Times-Union, October 29, 2025. Retrieved 2025/11/23.
- 25.Brantley, Ben, "Theater Listings for May 1-7", New York Times, April 30, 2015. Starring Renée Fleming. Retrieved 2025/11/23.
- 26.Joe DiPietro To Open Newest Play In UK 5/16, Broadwayworld, May 15, 2008
- 27.Klein, Alvin, Theater; A Not-So-New Gershwin Musical, The New York Times, August 12, 2001. Retrieved 2026-05-05.
- 28.doollee.com The Playwrights Database.
- 29.Playbill Biography: JOE DiPIETRO
- 30.Lortel Archives, provides a catalogue of shows produced Off-Broadway.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 18 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Music memorabilia
42,438 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Joe DassinPerson
- Joe DeliaPerson
- Joe DerranePerson
- Joe DiffiePerson
- Joe DodgePerson
- Joe DolanPerson
- Joe DolcePerson
- Joe EganPerson
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Joe DiPietro?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.