Broadway Luminaries Sing "What The World Needs Now" For Orlando

Dozens of Broadway luminaries, along with a 22 member orchestra, have recorded a benefit single for the LGBT Center of Central Florida as a tribute to the victims of last week’s shooting in Orlando, which took the lives of 49 people and hospitalized 53 more.

The single, a cover of Burt Bacharach’s classic “What the World Needs Now is Love” was produced in conjunction with Playbill.

Among those taking part:

Sara Bareilles, 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, Kimiko Glenn, Whoopi Goldberg, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Joel Grey, Sean Hayes, Heather Headley, Nina Hennessy, Megan Hilty, James Monroe Iglehart, Bill Irwin, Carole King, Judy Kuhn, Nathan Lane, Anika Larsen, Jennifer Lewis, Zachary Levi, Jose Llana, Rebecca Luker, Andrea Martin, Audra McDonald, Idina Menzel, Janet Metz, 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, Jennifer Simard, Will Swenson, Rachel Tucker, Tommy Tune, Jonah Verdon, Lillias White, Marissa Jaret Winokur, B.D. Wong and Tony Yazbeck.

Just a rough guess, but it looks like around 55 Tony Awards among them all. Wow.

The single is currently available at BroadwayRecords.com and soon on iTunes. All proceeds will go to benefit the LGBT Center for Central Florida.

Broadway Records President Van Dean, musical director/SiriusXM Radio personality Seth Rudetsky and producer James Wesley headed up the Broadway for Orlando project, according to Playbill.

Said Rudetsky:

“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!”