Broadway-Bound Piece of My Heart Adds Big Name Producers to Lineup

Inching closer to a Broadway bow, the musical Piece of My Heart: The Bert Berns Story has added a few a-listers to its above-the-title producing roster.

Paul Shaffer, the longtime musical director of The Late Show with David Letterman, as well as E Street Band and The Sopranos icon Steven Van Zandt and his wife, Maureen Van Zandt, have joined the production as producers. Joe Grano, a producer on Jersey Boys and CEO of the cybersecurity firm root9B Technologies Inc., will will also take part in the show, which is expected to open on Broadway in 2016.

Piece of My Heart, which ran at a space in the Pershing Square Signature Center in 2014, tells the story of songwriter and record producer Bert Berns, whose songs include "Twist and Shout," "Tell Him," "I Want Candy," "Hang On Sloopy," and "Cry Baby," among others. Daniel Goldstein pens the book.

The off-Broadway cast included Zak Resnick as songwriter Bert Berns, Leslie Kritzer as Jessie, Linda Hart as Mom, Joseph Siravo as Wazzel, de'Adre Aziza as Candace, Derrick Baskin as Hoagy, Teal Wicks as Ilene, Carleigh Bettiol, Teresa Gattison, Shonica Gooden, Sydney James Harcourt, Jessica McRoberts, Harris Milgrim, Michael Millan, Heather Parcells, Gabrielle Ruiz, Amos Wolff, and Mark Zeisler. Denis Jones served as director and choreographer.

Piece of My Heart has a book by Daniel Goldfarb.with direction and choreography by Denis Jones. The musical's creative team also includes Alexander Dodge (scenic design), David C. Woolard (costume design), Ben Stanton (lighting design), Carl Casella (sound design), Garry Sherman (music supervision, orchestrations, and arrangements), and Lon Hoyt (music direction).