Tony Award Winner, Joe DiPietro, Visits Florida Rep

Florida Repertory Theatre is pleased to announce that multiple Tony Award winning author of "Over the River and Through the Woods", Joe DiPietro, will visit Florida Rep on Nov. 16th. DiPietro will see the closing performance of his play and participate in an invitation-only pre-show reception and Q&A with the cast, the theatre's top donors and board members.

"Joe DiPietro is an incredibly well-respected voice in the American Theatre, and we are honored that he is coming to see our production and spend some of his valuable time with our artists and patrons," said Producing Artistic Director, Robert Cacioppo. "We are no stranger to Joe's work here at the Rep, and this production of 'Over the River and Through the Woods' is our fifth production of one of his plays. We were proud to produce two of his new works in 2009, 'Art of Murder' and 'The Last Romance', and before that 'I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change' in 2001, and 'Over the River and Through the Woods' in 2000 - when the show was hot off its Off Broadway premiere! His plays are always audience favorites, and we are so pleased he'll be able to see this critically acclaimed production of his play."

Joe DiPietro's first produced work was the acclaimed musical revue, "I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change", which ran for twelve years Off Broadway beginning in 1996, and quickly became one of the most popular musicals in regional theatres in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Soon after the success of "I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change", DiPietro's autobiographical play about leaving his grandparents in Hoboken for a job in Seattle, "Over the River and Through the Woods", opened Off Broadway to critical acclaim and ran for 800 performances.

DiPietro made his Broadway debut in 2005 with "All Shook Up", a jukebox musical of Elvis Presley's songbook. In 2009 DiPietro teamed up with Bon Jovi's David Bryan to create the Off Broadway sensation "The Toxic Avenger", which won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Off Broadway Musical.

DiPietro's Broadway career blossomed in 2010 with the musical sensation, 'Memphis', which tells the story of how rock and roll was born in the segregated south. The musical snared eight Tony Award nominations and four wins, including Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical by DiPietro, an Best Original Score, for which DiPietro wrote Lyrics. In 2012, DiPietro wrote the book for a re-imagined Gershwin musical, "Nice Work if You Can Get It", and received another set of Best Book and Best Musical Tony nominations.

Called "funny, beautiful, and heartwarming in the best possible way" by The News-Press, and "comedic gold" by Florida Weekly, "Over the River and Through the Woods" plays in the Historic Arcade Theatre through Nov. 16th. Regular performances Tuesday-Saturday at 8pm and matinees on Wednesdays and Sundays.

Priced at $52 and $45, single tickets are on sale through the box office at 239-332-4488 and online at www.floridarep.org. Tickets are going fast for the remaining week-and-a-half run. Subscriptions for the 2016-2017 season offer the best seats and the biggest savings, and packages start as low as $125 for 5 plays and offer up to 57% off single ticket prices.

Florida Repertory Theatre performs in the Historic Arcade Theatre and the ArtStage Studio Theatre on Bay St. between Jackson & Hendry with limited free parking in the Fort Myers River District. Visit Florida Rep online at FloridaRep.org, and by following the company on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Youtube.

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