Piece of My Heart: The Bert Berns Story
1650 Broadway is on its way to overtaking 42nd Street as the most overexposed bit of Manhattan real estate. This unassuming office building (also the location of Beautiful — The Carole King Musical) was the address of some of the most important pop songwriters of the 1950s and '60s, many of whom are now seeing their songs reimagined for the stage. The latest such dramatized song catalog hoping to capitalize on the nostalgia and disposable income of baby boomers is Piece of My Heart: The Bert Berns Story, now making its off-Broadway premiere at the Pershing Square Signature Center. As far as these things go, it's not bad. That doesn't mean, however, that you don't get the sinking feeling that a lot of the story you're seeing onstage is baloney (to put it lightly).
Berns, the songwriter behind such hits as "Twist and Shout" and "I Want Candy," died at the shockingly young age of 38. Like many of the songwriters of his day, his songs are mostly remembered in association with their original recording artists, while Berns languishes in obscurity.
