Sarah Jessica Parker, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and More Broadway Stars Record Benefit Song for Orlando
Following the tragic shooting massacre at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando early Sunday, Sarah Jessica Parker, Lin-Manuel Miranda and 60 more Broadway stars are teaming up in song to raise money for victims and those wounded in the shooting.
The group will record a benefit single of Burt Bacharach's "What the World Needs Now Is Love," which will be available for download at Broadway Records on June 20 and on iTunes not long after, according to PlayBill, which will release an accompanying music video at a later date.
"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," musical director Seth Rudetsky, who is helping lead the initiative, said in a statement. Rudetsky, along with Broadway Records president Van Den and producer James Wesley decided to rally their friends and colleagues for a "We Are the World"-type recording and raise money for the victims and their families.
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As for which stars will join Parker and Miranda on the song, Sara Bareilles, Kristen Bell, Wayne Brady, Matthew Broderick, Andréa Burns, Liz Callaway, Fran Drescher, Gloria Estefan, Whoopi Goldberg, Sean Hayes, Heather Headley, Megan Hilty, Bill Irwin, Carole King, Jennifer Lewis, Zachary Levi, Andrea Martin, Audra McDonald, Idina Menzel, Rosie O'Donnell, Rory O'Malley, Sarah Jessica Parker, Rosie Perez, Bernadette Peters, Will Swenson, Rachel Tucker, Tommy Tune, Jonah Verdon, Marissa Jaret Winokur, Tony Yazbeck, and many more will lend their talents to the recording.
Following the announcement, Bareilles, along with many other Broadway stars, posted a video on Instagram Wednesday that showed her, McDonald and more singing the song together in a recording studio. "This is a teaser from a beautiful day built on intention ... asking for more love in the name of #BroadwayforOrlando with just about every huge heart on Broadway and Beyond," she captioned it. "@sethrudetsky and co have done wondrous things and I am honored to be among the voices lifted in love. I'm saving the sound so you hear the finished product. #yawelcome #love."