Listen: Joe DiPietro Discusses DIANA THE MUSICAL And Upcoming Only Make Believe Gala On WHY I'LL NEVER MAKE IT
Playwright and lyricist Joe DiPietro (Memphis, Nice Work If You Can Get It) sat down with Patrick Oliver Jones, for this week's episode of Why I'll Never Make It, to talk about his long history with theatrical children's charity Only Make Believe as well as a couple of his shows that struggled coming to and surviving on Broadway.
For 23 years Only Make Believe has been bringing interactive theater to children in hospitals, care facilities, and special education programs. DiPietro is an original board member and shares how it was founded in New York City by producer Dena Hammerstein (Superior Donuts, Honeymoon in Vegas) but has since opened an office Washington, DC with outreach in other cities as well. Every November they have an all-star gala on Broadway to raise funds and awareness for the incredible work they do for children across the country. This year's gala on November 14th, directed by DiPietro, will be hosted by John Oliver and feature performances by a bevy of Broadway performers, including former guests of the podcast Brad Oscar and Kathryn Allison. DiPietro also provides backstory on Montego Glover and Cheyenne Jackson, both of whom have performed at previous OMB galas, and how they were cast in two of his shows, Memphis and All Shook Up, respectively.
Then DiPietro shares the process of bringing Diana, the Musical to Broadway, and the decision to film its stage production for Netflix during the Covid shutdown. Despite positive audience responses to its initial live performances, that movie version notoriously went on to win Golden Raspberry Awards for Worst Screenplay and Worst Picture, among others. While DiPietro offers his own ideas for such poor reception, he nonetheless takes it all in stride, saying "I've had every sort of review you can imagine, and so experience helps. I think if I was a young writer and that was my first thing, I think I would've just walked into the river."
DiPietro and Jones end their conversation with a look at Living on Love, his lone Broadway play that met with mixed reviews back in 2015. It starred another former guest of the podcast, Douglas Sills, along with opera star Renée Fleming, who received general praise for her theatrical debut. It was a whirlwind experience for DiPietro as he was brought in to adapt and overhaul Garson Kanin's play Peccadillo just two months before it started its initial production at Williamstown Theatre Festival. Because of that, the play never got a proper vetting in front of an audience before its stage premiere. Once it was headed to Broadway, though, for a limited run, DiPietro continued to refine the script. "I gave everything I could of myself to the show," he says. "I'm gonna make this as funny as I can." And for DiPietro, it is that process and love of theater-making that has kept him going since his New York debut back in 1996 with I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change.