Opening Tuesday night, April 22nd, at the James Earl Jones Theatre on Broadway in New York is The Heart of Rock and Roll, the jukebox musical based on songs by Huey Lewis & the News. The show was first staged during 2018 in San Diego and has been revised a bit for Broadway; it feature more than two dozen songs from the group’s catalog plus one new piece, “Be Somebody,” written by Lewis, News bandmate Johnny Colla and music director Brian Usifer. “The Heart of Rock and Roll” has been in previews since March 29th, and Lewis and the rest of the News attended a special showing last Friday, April 19th.
Information about the show can be found at heartofrocknrollbway.com. A cast album, including “Be Somebody,” has been recorded already.
Lewis is still battling Meniere’s disease, an inner ear disorder that’s rendered him unable to sing since 2018. He tells us the condition has only been getting worse, which has made “The Heart of Rock and Roll” even more important for him: