Chicago-area native Robert Pieranunzi will dance his way into the Nederlander Theatre as Frankie Coffeecake in the first Broadway national tour of the musical version of “A Bronx Tale.” After leaving the biz for nearly 10 years to build a corporate career, Pieranunzi was whisked back to his passion when he was cast as Busby Berkeley in a world premiere musical titled “I Only Have Eyes” for You in Hollywood, California.

After that, he played two roles originated by one of his idols, Dick Van Dyke: Albert Peterson in “Bye, Bye Birdie” and Bert in “Mary Poppins.” And then luck struck when he got cast in the first National Broadway touring production of Steve Martin and Edie Brickell’s Tony-nominated “Bright Star!”