On Wednesday night, Broadway stars including Idina Menzel and Darren Criss, took to the Wells Fargo Center stage in Philadelphia to belt out “What the World Needs Now Is Love,” the Burt Bacharach classic.
The crowd rose to its feet, swayed, and sang along energetically as the performers swapped microphones throughout the song and harmonized.
The performance came after harrowing speeches from survivors of gun violence,and relatives of shooting victims, including Christine Leinonen, the mother of 32-year-old Christopher “Drew” Leinonen, who was shot and killed at Pulse, an Orlando nightclub, in June.
“The weapon that murdered my son fires 30 rounds in one minute,” Leinonen said. “An Orlando city commissioner pointed out the terrible math. One minute per gun to fire so many shots, five minutes per bell to honor so many lives.”
