Piece of My Heart, a Musical about Hitmaker Bert Berns, Set for Off-Broadway

The New York stage can’t get enough stories about songwriters (think Beautiful, Motown, and Jersey Boys), and now there’s a new one on its way. Piece of My Heart, which explores the life and songs of hitmaker Bert Berns will play The Irene Diamond Stage at The Pershing Square Signature Center this summer. The bio-musical, directed and choreographed by Denis Jones, will begin performances on June 25 and open on July 21.

Berns, who died of a heart attack at age 38, wrote 51 pop chart singles in seven years and became one of the most successful songwriters of the 1960s. His hits which were recorded by such artists The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, David Bowie and Otis Redding, include "Twist and Shout," "Tell Him," "I Want Candy," “Hang On Sloopy,” "Cry, Baby" and many more. The musical features these songs and more along with a book by Daniel Goldfarb.

Piece of My Heart features scenic design by Alexander Dodge, costumes by David Woolard, lighting design by Ben Stanton, sound design by Carl Casell, music supervision and orchestrations by Garry Sherman and music direction by Lon Hoyt.