Ryan Cunningham and Joshua Salzman were classmates at New York University’s Tisch musical theater writing program a couple of years ago when they assessed their respective romantic situations: Cunningham had just exited a relationship and Salzman had just gotten engaged.

This seemed like fertile theatrical material for their complementary talents — Cunningham is a lyricist and librettist, Salzman a composer — and then a friend provided some additional literary direction. “He said we had to check out Pride and Prejudice, and reverse the genders,” said Cunningham.

Thus was born I Love You Because, a sweet, funny, off-kilter Off-Broadway musical comedy set in Manhattan about the adventures of two brothers (one a stiff greeting card writer, the other free-spirited pedi-cab driver) and the women (a flaky photographer and an actuary) they date. The show, at the Village Theatre, is directed by Daniel Kutner and choreographed by Christopher Gattelli.

In the not-very-wild dating wilderness of I Love You Because, one brother (Jeff) advises the other (Austin) that the best strategy to win back his old girlfriend is complete indifference. On the female side, Diana concludes, through rigorous, absurdist math calculations (helped by the calculus provided by a med school friend of Cunningham’s), that the best way for Marcy to find Mr. Right is to hook up with Mr. Wrong.

Recognizing Diana’s bizarre logic, Marcy, the photographer, sings, “So in order to find my perfect man, I need to find someone who’s perfectly wrong. I’m in New York, that shouldn’t take too long.” After they meet, Marcy helps Austin write a poem to woo back his old flame. Then come sparks that neither expected but prompt Austin to embrace their differences.

Marcy, look at you
You make decisions
Without thinking twice.
In fact, barely once.

Where, it is reasonable to ask, is the Jane Austen connection? Well, Pride and Prejudice is, says Cunningham, “about dating and the outside forces that keep you from meeting the person you were meant to be with.” In the Austen-to-Cunningham/Salzman retelling, Elizabeth Bennet has become Austin Bennet, Fitzwilliam Darcy has turned into Marcy Fitzwilliams, Jane Bennet has morphed into Jeff Bennet, and Charles Bingley has gender-shifted into Diana Bingley. David A. Austin, who plays Jeff, says, “You forget it’s Pride and Prejudice as soon as it starts. It is an incredibly loose adaptation.”

Cunningham cheerfully admitted to the slight connection to the novel of manners. “We checked it out,” he says. “It’s a long book.” He adds, “The A&E mini-series was helpful.” He continues, “I was reading it when my backpack was stolen.” He smiles. “Then it was hard to find a copy.”

Regardless of the literary provenance, Cunningham and Salzman traveled a not-very-long route from writing I Love You Because as their graduate thesis to an Off-Broadway production in less than three years.

It moved from its first reading at NYU to an hour-long presentation at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Penn., Salzman’s alma mater, to songs being performed at the Donnell Library and the Triad Theatre in Manhattan, to a full reading staged by producers Jennifer Maloney and Fred Caruso.

Maloney, whose credits include Chita Rivera: The Dancer’s Life, was enraptured by a demo tape of Cunningham and Salzman’s songs. “I couldn’t walk away from it,” she says. “I listened to the demo 20 times. It’s one of the most consistently romantic comedies I’ve seen. It’s unusual because it’s a love story from the male perspective. It’s like When Harry Met Sally.”

Much like Harry and Sally, who at first disliked each other, then became friends, and, finally, got married, the couples in I Love You Because come together in spite of their dating philosophies. Even as they draw closer to each other, Austin calls Marcy a “flighty, flaky, liberal, artsy, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants, tofu-loving floozy,” and Marcy scorns Austin as a “stuffed-shirt, pencil-pushing, pathetic Republican.” It’s the start of love.

Stephanie D’Abruzzo, an original Avenue Q cast member who plays Diana, says, “Who hasn’t gone through this? Who hasn’t been surprised with who they end up with? What eventually happens can be dramatically different from what you expect.”

I Love You Because is playing at the Village Theatre, 158 Bleecker St. at Thompson St. For reservations call 212-307-4100.