Broadway for Orlando

Broadway Records founded Broadway for Orlando, an ensemble of theater performers convened on June 15, 2016, to cut the Burt Bacharach-Hal David standard “What the World Needs Now Is Love” for the benefit of the GLBT Community Center of Central Florida. The project was assembled in response to the mass shooting that had taken place three days prior at Orlando’s Pulse nightclub, where 50 individuals—including the gunman—lost their lives and dozens more sustained injuries. More than 60 vocalists and an orchestra exceeding 20 pieces performed on the resulting single, which rotated verses among numerous prominent Broadway veterans such as Sara Bareilles, Kristen Bell, Matthew Broderick, Audra McDonald, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Bernadette Peters. Seth Rudetsky, Steve Marzullo, and Marc Shaiman supplied the all-star music direction. Serving simultaneously as a memorial to the victims and a charitable vehicle, the track entered the Billboard Hot 100 three weeks after its release.