Subtitled “The Bert Berns Story,� Piece of My Heart has a book by that traces the career of the 1960s composer of songs including the Beatles� “Twist and Shout,� plus “Brown Eyed Girl,� “Cry Baby,� “Under the Boardwalk," "Hang on Sloopy� and the Janis Joplin hit that gives the show its title. Berns died in 1967 at 38 of heart failure.
The initial Off-Broadway production ran July through September 2014 at the Irene Diamond Stage at The Pershing Square Signature Center.
This week’s readings, open to invited theatre industry audiences only, will be performed by (as Berns), Drama Desk Award nominee , Tony Award nominee de’Adre Aziza, Theatre World Award winner , plus , , , Joseph Siravo and Mark Zeisler, with an ensemble that includes Teresa Gattison, , , Harris Milgrim, Michael Millan, and .
Directed and choreographed by , the reading is being produced by Merged Work Productions and . A production release said the show is “headed for Broadway,� but contained no Broadway dates or theatre.
Also on the creative team: Garry Sherman (music supervision, orchestrations & arrangements) and (music direction and additional vocal arrangements).
Click for details on the 2014 Off-Broadway run, and the initial announcement of the planned Broadway transfer.
