Joe DiPietro News

Though Ervin Drake's 'The Friendliest Thing (Two People Can Do),' from his 1964 hit What Makes Sammy Run?, has been called the first song from a Broadway musical to be directly about having sex, Suzanne Carrico employs no vampy winks or purring vocals as she observes with heightened intellectual interest the unnecessity of foreplaying drinks and dances when a couple in lust could simply get right to it.  (Yes, I just made up two words in that sentence.  Deal with it.)  Her new show at The Metropolitan Room, opening less than three weeks afters winning the MAC Award for Outstanding Debut, is named for this suggestive showtune but the self-described geek cleverly treats the song as a subtext to Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields' 'Welcome To Holiday Inn,' sandwiching the cerebral sexuality between slices of broader, comical pass-making.  This is either the smartest show about sex or the sexiest show about smarts in town.In outstanding company both offstage (Mary Cleere Haran is her director) and on (she's got music director/arranger Tedd Firth on piano and Steve Doyle on bass), Carrico has the kind of sunny, uncomplicated voice that can fill Harold Arlen and Leo Brown's 'Hooray For Love' with perky glee, matched with the kind of acting skill that can explore the dark dramatic longings of Arlen and Johnny Mercer's 'I Had Myself a True Love,' climaxing in an anguished belt that is far more about the woman she portrays than her ability to vocally shine.She calls this her hanky-panky show and most every number has something to do with sex.  There's the sweet simplicity with which she approaches Jimmy Roberts and Joe DiPietro's 'I Will Be Loved Tonight,' where a woman who has gone too long without a lover's touch anticipates how the evening's date will end, and the wry exasperation of 'Toothbrush Time,' William Bolcom and Arnold Weinstein's tense contemplation on why last night's lover is taking so long to get out of the apartment.  She savors the snazzy jazz jauntiness of Michael John La Chiusa's 'The Thief' and turns George Gershwin and B.G. DeSylva's 'Do It Again!' into a lopsided debate between the mind and the libido (guess who wins).The very funny sexpot character song, 'Femininity' (Jay Livingston/Ray Evans), is given an interesting personal twist as she introduces it with some of her own feelings as an adolescent girl surprised by the different way boys would look at her once she started developing.  Her admiration for the romantic passion expressed by Alan and Marilyn Bergman fuels her detailed story-telling in 'Like a Lover' and 'The Island.And for those who believe that hanky-panky is never complete without a bit of cuddling after, she finishes the evening with a very satisfied and satisfying 'Embraceable You' by the Gershwins.

The Joe Dipietro and Jimmy Roberts musical revue, 'I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change', is a smash hit Off Broadway show which in July 2008 ended a 12 year run of over 5,000 performances at New York's Westside Theatre. In August 2008 Edinburgh's Fringe fans have been flocking to Take Note Theatre's production at George Square. And it's not hard to see why. It's a great production of a great show.

The John W. Engeman Theater at Northport is proud to announce its next production of OVER THE RIVER AND THROUGH THE WOODS by Joe DiPietro, a perfect compliment to any Sunday dinner, running August 14 - September 14, 2008.

Tickets for I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change at the CLO Cabaret are on sale now at CLOcabaret.com, by calling (412) 456-6666 or at the Box Office at Theater Square. The show opens Oct. 9, 2008, and plays through Feb. 1, 2009.

The John W. Engeman Theater at Northport is proud to announce its next production of OVER THE RIVER AND THROUGH THE WOODS by Joe DiPietro, a perfect compliment to any Sunday dinner, running August 14 - September 14, 2008.

The John W. Engeman Theater at Northport is proud to announce its next production of OVER THE RIVER AND THROUGH THE WOODS by Joe DiPietro, a perfect compliment to any Sunday dinner, running August 14 - September 14, 2008.

After coming off the most successful season in the organization's history, New Brunswick's George Street Playhouse is pleased to announce their 2008-09 season. 'Last season was a blockbuster,' said Artistic Director David Saint, 'we began and ended it with smash hit comedies which became the top two best selling plays in our history. For 2008-09, we are pleased to welcome new and old friends to the Playhouse in what promises to be another exciting season.'

'It's a brand new day in New Jersey.' That's a lyric from the new musical The Toxic Avenger, which George Street Playhouse is pleased to announce will open the New Brunswick theatre's 2008-09 season.

With [title of show] completing the journey from Off-Broadway to Broadway this week, The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization is proud to announce that it has acquired the stock and amateur rights to this hit musical written by Jeff Bowen (music and lyrics), and Hunter Bell (book). In addition to licensing the musical through R&H Theatricals, the Organization will represent Bowen's score through its music publishing division, Williamson Music.

The area premiere of All Shook Up plays at Toby's Dinner Theatre of Columbia through August 24th!

La Jolla Playhouse announced today the initial lineup of cast and creatives for the upcoming musical 'Memphis - The Birth of Rock 'n' Roll' slated for August 19th through September 28th in the Mandell Weiss Theatre.

Kathleen Marshall and a team of producers have withdrawn from the Gershwin musical 'Nice Work If You Can Get It.'

Casting has been announced for VANITIES, A New Musical by Jack Heifner, with music and lyrics by David Kirshenbaum, directed by two-time Tony Award-winner Judith Ivey. Starring Lauren Kennedy (Spamalot, Side Show) as Mary, Sarah Stiles (Avenue Q, …Spelling Bee) as Joanne and Anneliese van der Pol (Beauty and the Beast, TV's 'That's So Raven') as Kathy, VANITIES will open on Broadway in the Fall of 2008 at a theatre to be announced.

I LOVE YOU, YOU'RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE is set to close on Sunday, July 27 at the Westside Theatre. The production will have played a total of 5,003 performances and 20 previews, making it the second longest-running musical in Off-Broadway history after 'The Fantasticks.'

The show originally opened in New York in 1996, but it now holds the record for Off-Broadway's longest-running musical. With original lyrics and book written by Joe DiPietro (Over the River and Through the Woods) and a musical score composed by Jimmy Roberts (A...My Name is Still Alice

After successfully examining the heterosexual mating game in the international hit show I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change, Joe DiPietro explores another type of mating dance with his newest play f**kING MEN.

After successfully examining the heterosexual mating game in the international hit show I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change, Joe DiPietro explores another type of mating dance with his newest play f**kING MEN.

Grammy Award and Emmy Award winner and two-time Tony Award nominee Harry Connick, Jr. will return to Broadway in Spring 2009 in Nice Work If You Can Get It, a new musical comedy with music and lyrics by George and Ira Gershwin, and book by Joe DiPietro ( I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change, All Shook Up). Two-time Tony Award winner Kathleen Marshall (The Pajama Game, Wonderful Town) will direct and choreograph.

Florida Repertory Theatre is located on Bay Street between Jackson and Hendry in the Historic Arcade Theatre in the Fort Myers River District.

The theatre's eleventh season features 8 plays that include 3 regional premieres, a Tony-winning Best Play and an American classic by one of the world's most beloved playwrights.