(ENGLEWOOD, NJ) -- WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW: The Burt Bacharach Songbook Live in Concert comes to Bergen Performing Arts Center (bergenPAC) on Friday, April 11, 2025 at 8:00pm. The show is dedicated to honoring the award-winning music of songwriting icon Burt Bacharach and features Todd Rundgren and Rob Shirakbari.
With a catalog that spans seventy-three U.S. and fifty-two UK Top 40 hits (six of which hit #1), six Grammy Awards, three Academy Awards and an Emmy, there is no shortage of songs known across the world. Just citing “The Look of Love,” “What The World Needs Now,” “Walk On By,” “Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head,” and “Do You Know The Way To San Jose” speaks to how deeply this body of work has become the soundtrack to our lives.
The show is led by longtime Bacharach arranger/music director Rob Shirakbari and features Todd Rundgren and Wendy Moten with an all-star 9-piece ensemble that has worked with Burt Bacharach, Stevie Wonder, Adele, Elvis Costello, Dionne Warwick, Brian Wilson, and Aretha Franklin. The ensemble includes Rori Holub, Probyn Gregory, Woody Mankowski, Kenny Dickenson, Kasim Sulton, Elise Trouw, and special guests.
Burt Bacharach is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential figures of 20th-century popular music. Over 1,000 artists have recorded Bacharach songs such as The Beatles, Dusty Springfield, Tom Jones, Sheryl Crow, The Pretenders, Aretha Franklin, Elvis Costello, Christopher Cross, The White Stripes, The Carpenters, Michael McDonald, Herb Alpert, Stevie Wonder and, of course, Dionne Warwick.
Tickets range from $39-$129 and are available for purchase online or call bergenPAC's Box Office at (201) 227-1030. Bergen Performing Arts Center (bergenPAC) is located at 30 North Van Brunt Street in Englewood, New Jersey.
Founded in 2003, the 1,367-seat Bergen Performing Arts Center, or bergenPAC, is the area’s cultural mecca. Housed in a historic Art Deco-style theater boasting one of the finest acoustic halls in the United States, bergenPAC attracts a stellar roster of world-class entertainment.
The jewel in their crown is The Performing Arts School at bergenPAC – the innovative, educational performing arts initiative that, through programs, classes, outreach, school shows, and main theater presented shows, reach more than 30,000 students and community youth annually. The Performing Arts School provides community youth, age 2 months to 21 years, with unique, “hands-on” training in music, dance, and theater by industry professionals.
It is through the ongoing generosity of sponsors, donors, members, and patrons that the not-for-profit 501 (c)(3) corporation bergenPAC and The Performing Arts School are able to thrive and enrich the community.
