Joe & Jimmy..a PERFECT team!
Joe DiPietro & Jimmy Roberts, Writer & Composer of I LOVE YOU, YOU’RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE!
In 1989 Joe DiPietro, then in his early 30’s began writing sketches about how he and friends dated in their 20s. In 1990, he says, “they were presented in a basement theatre over a weekend. As fate would have it, a producer saw it and said, “This is a musical revue.” To me, a musical revue was something like Ain’t Misbehavin’. I was still unsure when a friend introduced me to composer, Jimmy Roberts. He saw a video of the sketches and said. “Don’t change it, it’s funny, you don’t need music.” Impressed with his honesty, DiPietro said, "I want you." Roberts, in his early 40’s was unsure “I was tired of revues with five actors on stools wearing cutesy sweaters.” However, He liked the material, “It was funny and sharp. It rang true-to-life. With music, however, I worried it would soften it. It turned out just the opposite.” Roberts had written other things (including A..My Name is Still Alice) and took DiPietro under his wing. "Any collaboration is a marriage," says DiPietro. The show evolved, says Roberts, “with the message that, dating or married, it’s worth connecting.” They were warned that the title was too long and it wouldn’t fit on a marquee and it wasn’t marketable. “We didn’t listen,” says DiPietro, and the title went on to become a catch phrase everywhere from religion to politics. “I hoped for a modest run. Never did I imagine we’d have thousands of productions in the
The team also collaborated on the Off Broadway musical, The Thing About Men. and a children’s musical based on "The Velveteen Rabbit." Di Pietro also wrote Off broadway’s current musical hit, The Toxic Avenger, based on the ’80’s cult sci-fi film. His other show, Memphis will hit Broadway in the Fall.
