Broadway Stars To Record ‘What The World Needs Now Is Love’ For Orlando Fundraiser
As the Nation continues to cope with the tragedy that occurred on Sunday morning in Orlando, FL, celebrities across the globe have shown an outpouring of support. In the wake of the tragedy, some of Broadway’s brightest stars are joining together in an effort to do what they do best to help those impacted by these horrendous events.
Named Broadway for Orlando, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Carole King, Sara Bareilles and a group of over 60 stars will be raising their voices in solidarity and support of the victims and those impacted by the worst mass shooting in United States history. The group will be recording a single of Burt Bacharach’s What The World Needs Now Is Love which will be available for purchase through BroadwayRecords.com on June 20th and, shortly after, on iTunes.
100% of all proceeds from the sale of the song recording will benefit the LGBT Center of Central Florida.
Broadway Records President Van Dean, musical director/media personality Seth Rudetsky and producer James Wesley are spearheading the charitable initiative. Rudetsky told Playbill.com:
“The Broadway community was so terribly shaken and devastated by the horrific tragedy in Orlando. Everyone wanted to do something as quickly as possible that would truly make a difference. On Monday, my husband James woke me up at 7:30 AM and suggested we rally our friends and colleagues to do a ‘We Are the World’ type recording and raise money for the victims and their families. We started making calls and suddenly we had tons of theatre actors along with an orchestra and the services of a fully-staffed recording studio, all willing to donating their time and talent. Our community of artists has banded together as we always do to show we can end this cycle of violence and intolerance. Love WILL prevail!”
The overwhelming display of love emitting from this project is apparent as the full group of star performers include all of the following: Sara Bareilles, Roger Bart, Kristen Bell, Wayne Brady, Matthew Broderick, Andréa Burns, Ann Hampton Callaway, Liz Callaway, Len Cariou, Paul Castree, Michael Cerveris, Joshua Colley, Lilla Crawford, Carmen Cusack, Darius de Haas, Fran Drescher, Gloria Estefan, Christopher Fitzgerald, Sutton Foster, Kimiko Glenn, Whoopi Goldberg, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Joel Grey, Sean Hayes, Heather Headley, Nina Hennessy, Megan Hilty, James Monroe Iglehart, Bill Irwin, Carole King, Jane Krakowski, Judy Kuhn, Nathan Lane, Anika Larsen, Jennifer Lewis, Zachary Levi, Jose Llana, Rebecca Luker, Andrea Martin, Audra McDonald, Idina Menzel, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Jessie Mueller, Donna Murphy, Rosie O’Donnell, Kelli O’Hara, Rory O’Malley, Orfeh, Sarah Jessica Parker, Rosie Perez, Bernadette Peters, Billy Porter, Alice Ripley, Chita Rivera, Keala Settle, Kate Shindle, Christopher Sieber, Jennifer Simard, Will Swenson, Rachel Tucker, Tommy Tune, Jonah Verdon, Lillias White, Marissa Jaret Winokur, B.D. Wong and Tony Yazbeck.
Playbill has also announced they will be releasing a music video of the recording sessions at a later date.
The song choice is quite fitting as it comes on the heels of the Tony Awards’ emotional acceptance speech made by Lin-Manuel Miranda where he declared, “Love is love is love is love…”
To receive an email notification when the song recording becomes available for purchase, you can sign up at BroadwayRecords.com.
Source: Playbill/Entertainment Tonight
A karaoke obsessed, craft beer enthusiast and lover of all things pop culture, Denise enjoys all facets of entertainment from Broadway to box office blockbusters. In her spare time, she enjoys photography, concerts (lots and lots of concerts), volunteering, reading and playing with her rescue kitten, Samantha (who rescued who, right?).
