What The World Needs Now, a Burt Bacharach/Hal David musical revue, may have stalled in San Diego on the way to Broadway, but the woman who made many of those songs famous plans to bring those tunes to the Great White Way.
As reported in mid-September, Dionne Warwick is hoping to bring her concert, Dionne Sings Dionne: "I Won't Stop Now", to Broadway in January 1999. James L. Nederlander will present a try out at the Berkshire Festival in Stockbridge, MA, Oct. 22-25. (The venue was recently changed from the National Music Center Theatre in Lenox, MA, though the dates are the same, according to spokesperson Irene Gandy.) For tickets to the MA engagement call (413) 298-5576.
Back in May, the NY Daily News reported that Warwick was seeking backers to produce a musical about her life. "I want to tell my story, my heritage, using the music that has been an integral part of my life," she said.
Warwick's concert will feature such hits as "Walk On By," "That's What Friends Are For," "Say A Little Prayer" and "Do You Know The Way To San Jose?" Warwick told the News in May that Bacharach and David would help out on the show. Christopher Renshaw, who directed High Society and The King and I, will direct the Warwick revue.
Pop and gospel singer Warwick reached stardom in the 1970s and is recently best known for hosting television infomercials for The Psychic Friends Network. -- By David Lefkowitz