Burt Bacharach performing at Smith Center

It’s “An Evening With Burt Bacharach,” not an all-nighter.

But for the songwriter whose list of hits stretches from “Alfie” to “You’ll Never Get to Heaven (If You Break My Heart)” — with more than 500 others in between — the thought of how to handle his vast musical output is a matter of some concern.

After all, “you can’t hold an audience for 4½ hours — in prison,” Bacharach says, joking about a make-believe concert where he’d announce “ ‘We’re now into the fifth hour,’ ” before launching into a now-obscure hit such as “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.” (Inspired by, but not featured in, director John Ford’s 1962 Western classic starring John Wayne and James Stewart, Gene Pitney’s recording of the tune topped out at No. 4 on Billboard’s Top 40 chart.)

So, what’s an incredibly prolific musical legend like Bacharach, now 84, to do?

The answer, in one word: “medleys.”

So when “An Evening With Burt Bacharach” hits The Smith Center’s Reynolds Hall next Thursday , audiences can expect “maybe three medleys” as one way to suggest the vast span of his musical output.

“That way, you at least get in touch with the audience,” he says during a telephone interview.

“It’s not the best way,” Bacharach admits, but half a song is better than none.

So cheer up, “Walk on By” fans — and don’t hold your breath if your favorite Bacharach song is “Make It Easy on Yourself,” because “we probably won’t get to that one,” the composer warns.

There’s just too much competition.

Bacharach’s catalog spans Oscar-winners (“Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head,” from 1969’s “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”) and shoulda-been Oscar-winners (1967’s “The Look of Love,” which lost to — brace yourself — “Talk to the Animals” from “Dr. Dolittle”).

There are Broadway (“I’ll Never Fall in Love Again,” from 1968’s Tony-winning “Promises, Promises”) and all those Top 40 smashes — “Close to You,” “Do You Know the Way to San Jose” “I Say a Little Prayer” and “What the World Needs Now,” to cite four — he wrote with longtime lyricist Hal David. (No wonder the duo became the first songwriting team to win the Library of Congress’ Gershwin Prize for Popular Song in 2011; David died last September at 91.)

But Bacharach’s written plenty of other songs with other lyricists — and Las Vegas audiences can expect to hear some of those as well.

There’s “certain stuff from the Elvis Costello album,” 1998’s “Painted From Memory,” a collaboration that was sparked by another shoulda-been-an-Oscar-contender, “God Give Me Strength,” written for 1996’s “Grace Of My Heart.” (Bacharach and Costello won a Grammy for best pop collaboration with vocals for their rendition of the album’s “I Still Have That Other Girl.”)

Another source of tunes: “Some Lovers,” a holiday musical (inspired by O. Henry’s short story “The Gift of the Magi”) that Bacharach wrote with “Spring Awakening” Tony-winner Steve Sater . It premiered in 2011 at San Diego’s Old Globe Theatre .

“There are some great songs from that,” Bacharach says. “It’s important for me to do something new, something fresh.”

And while “it’s not about a contest,” in the realm of old vs. new, Bacharach has few illusions about which songs his audiences prefer, recalling a Rolling Stones concert he attended at the Hollywood Bowl four or five years ago.

“The place was packed,” Bacharach says, noting that the Stones had a new album out — and when they played songs from it, “everyone went to the bathroom.”

While “I don’t see people going to the bathroom” during his show, “we spot it carefully,” he says of his new material.

But “it’s good,” Bacharach says. “I deem it worthwhile enough to hear.”

He ought to know. After all, he’s been doing this a long time.

Even before his songwriting breakthrough, Bacharach was onstage.

In the ’50s, he accompanied and conducted for, among others, crooner Vic Damone and cinematic legend Marlene Dietrich, accompanying both to long-ago Las Vegas.

“I remember how it was,” back in the days when El Rancho Vegas and the Flamingo were the only games in town, he says. “That was a kick.”

These days, “it takes my breath away,” Bacharach says of the 21st-century incarnation of Neon Nirvana.

But the lessons he learned so long ago, about being in front of an audience, remain with him.

At first, “when you are not in the background and you’re in the foreground, it’s pretty scary,” he recalls.

Eventually, however, Bacharach has grown comfortable onstage — in part because it provides a welcome break from the solitary pursuit of songwriting.

Composing music is “such an isolated process — you sit in a room by yourself or with another writer,” he says. “It’s a singular journey and you write the stuff.”

Unless you’re a singer-songwriter in the vein of Elton John or Carole King, he adds, “the basic role of the writer is, nobody knows what they look like.”

By now, however, Bacharach doesn’t need to worry much about that.

Not after decades as a concert — and showroom — headliner.

And though Bacharach’s written (and performed) enough songs for several lifetimes, he shows no sign of giving up either creative pursuit.

After Thursday’s Smith Center performance, he’s headed to Brazil, followed by a European tour in June.

That’s just the performing part.

On the writing front, he’s working on a Broadway adaptation of “Painted From Memory,” and anticipates writing five or six new songs.

Oh, and remember Bacharach’s cameo appearances in all three “Austin Powers” movies?

“Mike and I have talked about turning it into a musical,” Bacharach says of his past — and, perhaps, future — collaboration with Austin Powers himself, Mike Myers.

At the moment, however, Burt Bacharach’s concentrating on bringing his music to audiences — himself.

“I stand in front of an orchestra, or a little orchestra like I’ve got” — in this case, seven musicians, plus three singers — and “I play my music.”

Simple as that.

Contact reporter Carol Cling at ccling@
reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0272.