92nd Street Y Celebrates Burt Bacharach With What The World Needs Now Gala 5/18

On Monday, May 18 at 8:00 pm, the 92nd Street Y celebrates the music of Burt Bacharach in the cultural center's annual Gala Benefit, "What the World Needs Now." The 92nd Street Y pays tribute to the award-winning, chart-topping composer with pop music royalty:

Elvis Costello's 1998 collaboration with Bacharach, Painted From Memory, won the duo a Grammy Award® for "Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals."
Jill O'Hara was nominated for a Tony Award® for Best Actress in a Musical for her role in the 1968 Neil Simon, Burt Bacharach, Hal David Broadway musical Promises, Promises, which itself won the Tony Award® for Best Musical. The year before, she starred in the original Public Theater production of Hair.

Dionne Warwick recorded 22 Top-40 hits co-written or produced by Bacharach over a twenty-year period beginning in the early 1960s, including the classics "Walk on By," "Alfie," "I Say a Little Prayer," "Do You Know the Way to San Jose?" and "I'll Never Fall in Love Again."
John Pagano has recorded and performed with Bacharach, and included three Bacharach songs on his recent CD Pure Imagination.

Sarah Dash was an original member of Patti LaBelle and the Bluebells and recorded many solo albums throughout the 1970s and 1980s. She was a backup singer on the Rolling Stones' Steel Wheels album, and toured with Keith Richards and the X-Pensive Winos in the 1990s.
Cheyenne Jackson has appeared on and off Broadway in Xanadu, Damn Yankees, Finian's Rainbow, All Shook Up and Altar Boyz. His film and TV credits include United 93, Life on Mars and Ugly Betty.
Young People's Chorus is one of the finest youth choruses in the world and is currently in residence at the 92nd Street Y.

Steven Weber is currently appearing on Broadway in a revival of The Philanthropist. His theater credits also include The Producers and The Real Thing; he also starred for seven years in the TV sitcom Wings.

The 92nd Street Y's Gala Benefit raises more than $2 million each year to support programs at the 92nd Street Y. This year's resounding fundraising success is due to the leadership of Gala co-chairs Helen & Bob Appel, Dana & Michael Goldstein, Lori & Marc Kasowitz and Tami & Fredric Mack; vice-chairs Jill & Darius Bikoff, Stacey & Matthew Bronfman, Nancy & Paul Levy, Cheryl & Michael Minikes and Jenny & John Paulson; and journal chairs Lisa & Orin Wilf; and sponsor the Wilf Family.

"What the World Needs Now...," the Gala performance, is produced and directed by Jeffrey Martin and John Kroner and written by Russell Reich; Helaine Geismar Katz is executive producer. Lanny Meyers is music director. This is the same creative team that has put together several of the 92nd Street Y's popular gala shows.

Founded in 1874 by a group of visionary Jewish leaders, the 92nd Street Y has grown into a wide-ranging cultural, educational and community center serving people of all ages, races, faiths and backgrounds. The 92nd Street Y's mission is to enrich the lives of the over 300,000 people who visit in person each year as well as those who visit virtually, through the Y's satellite, television, radio and Internet broadcasts. The organization offers comprehensive performing arts, film and spoken word events; courses in the humanities, the arts, personal development and Jewish culture; activities and workshops for children, teenagers and parents; and health and fitness programs for people of every age. Committed to making its programs available to everyone, the 92nd Street Y awards nearly $1 million in scholarships annually and reaches out to thousands of public school children through subsidized arts and science education programs. For more information, please visit www.92Y.org.