Saroyan's first play,[1] it is a comedy about a young boy and his Armenian family.

The play was adapted into a chamber opera by U.S. composer Jack Beeson in 1969 and had its world debut on U.S. network National Educational Television, the predecessor of the U.S. Public Broadcasting Service, March 17, 1970.

[3] The TV broadcast also included, for the first time, simulcast high-fidelity stereo audio.

“NET organized links with FM stations throughout the country to broadcast the stereo soundtrack of My Heart’s in the Highlands simultaneously with the telecast,” writes Brian G. Rose, professor of communication and media studies at New York’s Fordham University.

The technique would become an important adjunct of non-commercial television’s music programming from that point onward.”[4]