Broadway’s biggest stars are rallying together to support the LGBT community in wake of the Orlando gay nightclub shooting. A slew of theater and Hollywood stars – dubbed Broadway for Orlando – will record a cover of Jackie DeShannon’s 1965 hit “What the World Needs Now Is Love”. People and Playbill will exclusively release the music video of the A-list chorus on Friday; and the track will be available Monday. 100 percent of the proceeds from sales of the song – available to download for $1.99 on BroadwayRecords.com – will go to benefit the LGBT Center of Central Florida.
Sara Bareilles, Roger Bart, Kristen Bell, Wayne Brady, Matthew Broderick, Michael Cerveris, Gloria Estefan, Sutton Foster, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Joel Grey, Sean Hayes, Heather Headley, Megan Hilty, Bill Irwin, Carole King, Jane Krakowski, Nathan Lane, Zachary Levi, Andrea Martin, Audra McDonald, Idina Menzel, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Jessie Mueller, Rosie O’Donnell, Kelli O’Hara, Sarah Jessica Parker, Rosie Perez, Bernadette Peters, Billy Porter, Chita Rivera, Lillias White, Marissa Jaret Winokur, BD Wong and more stars will join together their voices in New York, Los Angeles and Miami on Wednesday to record the benefit single.
SiriusXM Radio host Seth Rudetsky and his husband, producer James Wesley, decided to organize the musical tribute and fundraiser – which was inspired by the 1985 charity track “We Are the World” – on Monday morning and moved quickly.