What's the Most Romantic Broadway Love Song Ever?

If you told us three years ago that we would have had some of the biggest stars and leaders in the industry telling us what their favorite love song from a Broadway musical is, even WE wouldn't have believed you. In our third year, we've gotten more responses than ever, to add to the first two years of great names that we have already assembled, for one of BroadwayWorld.com's most popular features. Welcome to the 2007 edition of "What's the Most Romantic Broadway Love Song Ever?" compiled by Editor-in-Chief Robert Diamond and the BroadwayWorld.com Editorial Team. Since over the first two years of this popular feature we have already heard from so many stars, actors, performers and people in the business, this year, we reached out even further, to prove that EVERYONE loves Broadway, Broadway musicals, love songs and Valentine's Day.

Have a great time...and Happy Valentine's Day from all of us at BroadwayWorld.com. If you're feeling in the mood, click on BroadwayWorld.com Radio from 12:01AM on February 14 until midnight of February 14th. Our radio station will be playing love songs, and nothing but love songs, from Broadway musicals to celebrate the most romantic day of the year.

Barry Manilow - Harmony, Music & Passion,Copacabana "My Heart Is So Full Of You" by Frank Loesser from the musical THE MOST HAPPY FELLA.

Melora Hardin - NBC's The Office There are so many songs I love, but I'd have to say "Something Wonderful" from THE KING AND I is definitely one of the most romantic ones I've heard.

Olivia Newton-John - Grease, Xanadu, Grammy Award-Winning Recording Artist "Some Enchanted Evening" from SOUTH PACIFIC

Liza Minnelli - Flora, The Red Menace, Chicago, The Act, The Rink, Victor/Victoria "A Quiet Thing" from FLORA, THE RED MENACE

Polly Bergen - Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks, Follies, Cabaret, Love Letters, First Impressions, Champagne Complex, John Murray Anderson's Almanac. Commander In Chief. The Sopranos "Something Wonderful" from THE KING AND I. I've always loved it, but I've never sung it.

Rob Marshall - Chicago The Film, Memoirs of a Geisha, Cabaret, Little Me, ...Forum "I'll Never Fall In Love Again" from PROMISES, PROMISES, because in the song the two main characters, Fran Kubelik and Chuck Baxter sing about never falling in love again, while they actually do.

Rex Reed - Legendary Critic and Columnist, Author "Warm All Over" from THE MOST HAPPY FELLA by Frank Loesser.

Laila Robins - Heartbreak House, Frozen, The Herbal Bed, The Real Thing I've got two actually..."Somewhere" from WEST SIDE STORY and "Till There Was You" from THE MUSIC MAN.

Lauren Nelson - Miss America 2007 "People Will Say We're in Love" from OKLAHOMA! is my favorite romantic Broadway song.

Kristin Chenoweth - The Apple Tree, Wicked, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, RV ,Bewitched, The West Wing "Something Good" from THE SOUND OF MUSIC (film) and "Till There Was You" from THE MUSIC MAN

Steven Rosen - Spamalot, Don't Quit Your Night Job "Mea Culpa", cut from SWEENEY TODD. What's more romantic than an old man fantasizing about his adoptive daughter?

Honestly though, it would be Cole Porter's "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye" from RED, HOT AND BLUE. The phrase "how strange the change from major to minor" is so beautiful it makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up every time.

Todd Graff - Writer/Director: Camp, Director: 13, Performer: Baby "Make Our Garden Grow" from CANDIDE. It's not a romantic love song, it's not a starry-eyed love song. It's about the kind of love you earn. The kind you can trust. It's adult and hard-won, and yet ecstatic. With the most passionate, beautiful choral arrangement in the entire theatrical canon.

David Hasselhoff - The Producers, Jekyll & Hyde, TV Star "Someone Like You" (from JEKYLL & HYDE). The song is everyone's dream to meet someone that instinctively knows who you are, with just a look and a feeling and your life becomes complete.

Allan Stein - Columbia Records, Release Planning One of my favorite romantic Broadway love songs is "My Heart is So Full of You" by Frank Loesser from THE MOST HAPPY FELLA

Tony Danza - The Producers, A View from the Bridge, 'Who's the Boss,' 'Taxi' "I've Never Been in Love Before" from GUYS AND DOLLS

Jim Dale - Barnum, The Threepenny Opera, Candide, Me and My Girl, Scapino, ...Joe Egg "If I Loved You" from CAROUSEL. It's just the best love song - I'm serious!

Diana Kaarina - Les Miserables, RENT, Thoroughly Modern Millie After much thought and deliberation, I was torn between quite a few songs (of course!). I narrowed it down and although I think "Some Enchanted Evening" has such beautiful lyrics, there is just something magical about "So In Love" (KISS ME, KATE) -- the melody and the emotion that it inspires - it is incredibly romantic as an instrumental alone! Cole Porter wrote so many amazing love songs. I would maybe choose his "True Love," but it was used in the movie "High Society", not on stage. Ah, well!

Marvin Laird - Arranger, Musical Director, Conductor: Bernadette Peters' Gypsy, Annie Get Your Gun, Oh, Brother!, Broadway Follies, Perfectly Frank, One Night Stand, Georgy, The Happy Time, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Skyscraper, Ben Franklin in Paris. My favorite, actually, was written by Broadway composers, but I don't think it was ever in a show. Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh wrote a song called "It Amazes Me". If that's not legal, then my favorite from a show is "I Know Your Heart by Heart" from HIGH SPIRITS by Timothy Gray and Hugh Martin. That was actually my first Broadway show, for which I was the rehearsal pianist!

Harvey Fierstein - La Cage aux Folles, Fiddler on the Roof, Hairspray, Legs Diamond, Torch Song Trilogy The most romantic love song ever? Simple: "Not a Day Goes By" .

David Ian - Grease, 'You're the One That I Want,' Guys and Dolls, The King and I, Saturday Night Fever "Maria" from WEST SIDE STORY

Kenny Mellman - Kiki & Herb: Alive on Broadway I would have to say "What Would I Do?" from FALSETTOLAND. Wistful, full. Brings me to tears everytime. And it has the word 'shmaltz' in it, so it would have to be the most romantic for a Jew like me...

Bruce Lundvall - CEO Of Blue Note Records My songs would be "If I Loved You" from CAROUSEL and "On the Street Where You Live" from MY FAIR LADY.

Bob Mackie - Designer I think Irving Berlin's song "What'll I Do" from THE MUSIC BOX REVUE is terribly romantic and melancholy. And I love it when Bernadette (Peters) sings it!

Christine Estabrook - Spring Awakening, The Sisters Rosensweig, I'm Not Rappaport The most romantic song to me is "Tonight" by Stephen Sondheim and Leonard Bernstein.

Cloris Leachman - A Touch of the Poet, The Crucible, South Pacific, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Emmy and Academy Award Winner "Soliloquy" from CAROUSEL. "My boy Bill..."

Bob Martin - The Drowsy Chaperone I was thinking, wistfully, about London the other day. I don't know why, and my iPod shuffle, which is uncannily in tune with my psyche, served up the perfect compliment to my mood: Vera Lynn singing "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square". The song premiered on the London stage in 1940's NEW FACES. It is an unabashedly romantic tale of two people falling in love in Mayfair. There may be more romantic songs out there, but the age of the recording, coupled with the simple imagery and the sound of Vera Lynn's pure soaring voice singing "I know 'cos I was there" - well it gets me every time.

Marty Cooper - Colony Music "All The Things You Are" from VERY WARM FOR MAY by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II.

Chester Gregory - Tarzan, Hairspray "I Only Have Eyes For You". One of the best songs ever!!!

Ashley Brown - Mary Poppins, Beauty and the Beast, Disney's On The Record "My Funny Valentine" - I've always loved that song. I'd hate to say it because it's sort of generic because it's Valentine's Day, but I've just always loved that song and love to sing it.

David Kirshenbaum - Summer of '42, Party Come Here, Vanities - A New Musical My first instinct was something a bunch of other people have probably chosen, CAMELOT's "If Ever I Would Leave You;" it just doesn't get any better. But as a contemporary theatre songwriter, I feel like, in the end, I wanna go with some more recent stuff, and my three favorite love duets from the last decade or so are Yazbek's "Nothing Is Too Wonderful To Be True" (DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS) for its old-school melody and goofy originality, LaChiusa's "People Like Us" (THE WILD PARTY), with its sexy and soulful take on how two lonely, damaged people can connect, and, especially, Hamlisch and Carnelia's "Don't Know Where You Leave Off and I Begin" (THE SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS), which has a great lyric hook, endless longing, and in its own jazzy way, soars musically as much as anything since the days of Lerner & Loewe. All incredible, beautiful numbers, which prove they can write 'em like they used to. Here's hoping the most romantic Broadway love songs haven't even been written yet.

Lea Michele - Spring Awakening, Fiddler on the Roof, Les Miserables "Say It Somehow" from THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA is by far the most romantic Broadway song!

Kate Reinders - Wicked, Gypsy, Good Vibrations, TastiSkank "Somewhere" from WEST SIDE STORY has got to be the winner-even the 2/3 express trains agree. "Hold my hand and we're halfway there", "there's a place for us"... I mean, please. You can't get more romantic than that.

Jason Tam - A Chorus Line, Les Miserables My current favorite Broadway love song is "Love Who You Love" from A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE. It's as simple and wonderfully complicated as that.

Scott & Barbra Siegel - The Siegel Column, Broadway by the Year "I Wish I Could Forget You" from PASSION.

Bruce Kimmel - Kritzerland Records, Author, Producer/Director/Composer/Lyricist Okay, my unconventional choice for most beautiful B'way love song ever written will be "Once Upon A Time" from ALL AMERICAN by Strouse and Adams. It's rueful, but there is just something so achingly romantic and sweet about the look back at first love - so, I'm choosing it and that's that.

Debby Boone - Grease, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Feinsteins I've gotta go with two. "My Funny Valentine" because it's got killer lyrics - "My funny valentine/Sweet comic valentine/You make me smile with my heart/ Your looks are laughable/Unphotographable/Yet you're my favorite work of art." Come on!! Then, "Some Enchanted Evening," because it is a great romantic song, but also because when I opened in a run of SOUTH PACIFIC, my husband sent me a beautiful watercolor he had painted of a sunset with the words "Once you have found her, never let her go" written across the sky....now that's romantic!

Norm Lewis - Les Miserables, Amour, The Wild Party, Chicago, Side Show, Miss Saigon The Song "You Should Be Loved" is probably my most favorite "B'way" love song. It has such vulnerability and truth within it. My favorite love song happens to be my favorite song ever, and that is "We Live on Borrowed Time", written by David Friedman. The words in this song just make me truly appreciate life and the longing to share precious time with loved ones.

Kathleen Marshall - Grease, 'You're the One That I Want,' Wonderful Town, Kiss Me, Katem The Pajama Game For the most romantic Broadway love song, I choose "All the Things You Are" from VERY WARM FOR MAY. It has an achingly beautiful melody by Jerome Kern and the lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II are filled with wonderfully exaggerated declarations of true love.

Ann Hampton Callaway - Swing!, MAC Award-winning Cabaret Singer, Recording Artist, Song Writer For someone who sings gorgeous love songs every day of my life, that's a Sophie's Choice kind of question. But at this moment I would answer with "How Deep Is the Ocean" by Irving Berlin, written in 1933 for the Broadway show AS THOUSANDS CHEER. The words and the music are so perfect for each other that they themselves are like two great lovers in the sublime way that they connect. The lyric expresses exactly how I feel when I am with someone I love with all my heart. What makes the song pure genius is that Berlin expresses the deepest love through only questions. Romance is heightened by anticipation, and here, each question makes the listener find each answer. As a side note, I'd like to ask all singers reading this to please resist the temptation to do this song as a crazy upbeat number. It takes all the heart and soul out of it and I want to call the "lyric police" whenever I hear this. When I recorded this classic on my first CD with Mike Renzi at the piano, I had a fantasy that the beauty of the song would touch people so much that it would miraculously become a hit single played on every radio station. It might have happened if we lived in a world where each day was Valentine's Day.

Christopher Hanke - Rent, In My Life Maybe it's because I'm currently in RENT or maybe it's because we just celebrated 10 years of Jonathan Larson's beautiful score being sung on Broadway, but the "I'll Cover You (Reprise)" that the character of Collins sings, as a eulogy to Angel in the second act of RENT is pure romance. Now, I know some of you are thinking, "yeah, but it's a eulogy." "No," I say. It's a celebration, a love poem, an essay on the relationship that these two souls have. Forever. I mean, come on....."live in my house, I'll be your shelter, just pay me back with one thousand kisses". Beautiful. Romantic. Thank you Jonathan. You are a blessing.

J. Robert Spencer - Jersey Boys, Side Show The most romantic broadway love song ever...the one that always makes me cry...is "Sleepy Man" from THE ROBBER BRIDEGROOM. It's soooo beautiful. There's something about that chorus that gets me everytime. It makes you instantly want to find that special someone, so you can sing it to them...for the rest of your life.

David (Dudu) Fisher - Les Miserables, International Recording Artist, Cantor The only song that makes me cry every time I listen to it, or sing it, is "Song On The Sand" from LA CAGE AUX FOLLES. This song has the power to take you back in time and space, to a life long forgotten. It makes you feel homesick and goes right into your "kishkes."

Josh Gad - 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee The most romantic love song ever has got to be "Unchained Melody." Every time I hear that song, I feel like I need to strip down and start making clay pottery with my loved one.

Tracy Schiller - Managing Director, Keith Prowse Ticketing - New York "On the Street Where You Live" from MY FAIR LADY always did it for me, and it still does.

Kurt Deutsch - Shk-K-Boom Records President I can't speak to "the best ever," but I think the song "The Next Ten Minutes" from Jason Robert Brown's THE LAST FIVE YEARS is one of the most beautiful love songs written for musical theatre. There are sentimental reasons of course....

Telly Leung - RENT, Wicked Boy, this is tough - there are SO MANY! I can't narrow it down, so I'll give you my top 3 (in no particular order): "I'll Cover You" from RENT, "Jimmy" from Thoroughly Modern Millie, and "You're Nearer" from Rodgers and Hart's TOO MANY GIRLS.

Sarah Saltzberg - The 25th Annual Putnam Country Spelling Bee, Don't Quit Your Night Job Growing up with LES MIS, I have to say the most romantic Broadway love song ever is "On My Own." I know this is probably not an original response, but I love it! So tragic!!

Jennifer Smith - The Drowsy Chaperone, The Producers, High Society, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Once Upon a Mattress, Victor/Victoria, She Loves Me, The Secret Garden, A Change in the Heir, La Cage aux Folles My favorite is "Once Upon a Time" from ALL-AMERICAN by Charles Strouse. It is actually a little sad and melancholy, but the older I get the more it rings true!

Marc Summers - Family Double Dare, Unwrapped That is easy for me. "Near To You" from DAMN YANKEES! I was living in NYC hosting a talk show on Lifetime, when Jerry Lewis was doing the lead...and went in and caught the second act every night. Perhaps it was a combination of the staging and the beautiful harmony, but the words were so good as well. Put it all together...it spells romantic to me!

Ken Page - Ain't Misbehavin', Cats, Guys and Dolls, The Wiz Favorite #1. "Soon It's Gonna Rain" from THE FANTASTICKS The show is really Off-Broadway, so I'll include my other favorite. Favorite #2. "Sweet Time" from RAISIN. It's a love song about trying to continue to love...what made love possible in the first place, and how to keep going. It also has such a great bluesy-jazz urban sound to it.

Lynn Ahrens - Ragtime, Once On This Island, Seussical, A Christmas Carol, Anastasia, A Man of No Importance, Dessa Rose, My Favorite Year, Lucky Stiff "Do You Love Me?" from FIDDLER ON THE ROOF. There's a whole lifetime of attachment, struggle, care and sacrifice summed up in this tiny song, sung by two older people who've never given love a thought until this moment. "For twenty five years, I've lived with him, fought with him, starved with him. Twenty-five years, my bed is his. If that's not love, what is?" Sentimental? No way. Deep, true, funny and moving? Absolutely.

Sean McDermott - Grease, Falsettos, Miss Saigon, West Side Story In my opinion the Most Romantic Broadway Love Song ever is "Loving You" from Stephen Sondheim's PASSION. Plain and simple, "I will live and I would die for you." What more can you say to one who has captured your heart?

Mary Faber - Avenue Q, Floyd and Clea Under the Western Sky In high school, I would listen to "Some Girls" from ONCE ON THIS ISLAND and just cry the tears of 10,000 dramatic teenage girls. "Don't you get it, Ti Moune? He loves you, but he can't love you! The cruel realities of social class will tear your love asunder!!" It was pretty deep. Truth be told, it still gets me.

Jesse Tyler Ferguson - On the Town, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The Class on CBS The most romantic song ever written is "It's Hard Out Here For a Pimp", but we are talking BROADWAY so... My favorite song ever written also happens to be the song that I think is the most romantic broadway song ever written: "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" by Rodgers and Hart from PAL JOEY. Ella Fitzgerald's version of it puts me over the moon. I will never get tired of it.

Michael Weiner - Second Hand Lions, Disney's Twice Charmed, Cinderella III, Liberty Smith In attempting to choose what I felt was the most romantic Broadway love song EVER (a very tall order), I discovered one constant -- Rodgers and Hammerstein. Songs like "We Kiss In A Shadow," "I Have Dreamed," "If I Loved You," "When The Children Are Asleep," "Younger Than Springtime," "An Ordinary Couple" and "People Will Say We're In Love" all immediately came to mind. The combination of Hammerstein's deceptively simple, but masterfully crafted lyrics and Rodgers' ability to match the lyric with a perfectly gorgeous melody is nothing short of masterful.

Peter Palmer - The Music of Neil Berg, Li'l Abner It would have to be "When Did I Fall in Love?" from FIORELLO, music and lyrics by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick. It never gained the popularity as most of the others - but, it sure was a great one.

Philip S. Birsh - President & Publisher, Playbill Inc. My favorite song is "Dulcinea" from MAN OF LA MANCHA. I love it because it's about a man who sees the woman of his dreams as she is and not how she may critically see herself. Beauty and adoration should always be in the eyes of the beholder.

Sutton Foster - The Drowsy Chaperone, Little Women, Thoroughly Modern Millie I bet others will say this as well, but Maria from West Side Story. I think that this show is the most romantic Musical ever written, and that song just captures so many elements... rapture, passion, love, desire... truly beautiful.

Aaron Lazar - Les Miserables, Light in the Piazza, Harmony (ed: What else?) "Love to Me" from LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA

Ben Vereen - Wicked, Pippin, I'm Not Rappaport, Fosse, Grind, Jesus Christ Superstar "My Funny Valentine". What else? It's a beautiful song, beautiful lyrics, and it's about the simple truth of love. Valentine's Day, to me, is every day. And it's not just about the love of a Valentine, it's about the love of spirit. If we can, as a people, all over the world, come to love one another, then the world will be a better place.

Lillias White - The Life, Chicago, How To Succeed..., Once On This Island, Dreamgirls, Cats, Barnum "With Every Breath I Take" from CITY OF ANGELS. Ahhhh - it's pretty, romantic...gut-wrenching. It goes to different places musically - and stretches the singer too. The melody is haunting and the lyrics by David Zippel are incredible (they just say it all) - and they remind you what really being in love is about. You take a deep breath and you just sigh...it's also soulful and jazzy.

Anthony Crivello - Phantom - The Las Vegas Spectacular, Marie Christine, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Les Miserables "Spankin'" from ENG: FANTASY 101 is my personal favorite (look for it to be on Broadway soon!), but "Dulcinea" from MAN OF LA MANCHA makes me cry.

Kristoffer Cusick - Wicked, Saturday Night Fever, RENT "Say It Somehow" from LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA because the music and lyrics are just beyond beautiful. "Sixteen Going On Seventeen" from THE SOUND OF MUSIC, because it reminds me of how young and free love can make you feel.

Todd Buonopane - The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Henry and Mudge The first song that popped into my mind is "With So Little To Be Sure Of" from ANYONE CAN WHISTLE. The song is all about the moment. We may not always have each other, but we do now, and isn't it "marvelous". It also has that beautiful lyric: "The more I memorize your face, the more I never want to leave." Wow, I'm a bigger sap than I thought!

Alan Campbell - Adrift in Macao, Contact, Sunsert Boulevard "Tonight" from WEST SIDE STORY. It's so in the moment. Immediate, dangerous and fleeting. Everything that makes new love so irresistible. My favorite score by the ultimate "dream team."

Capathia Jenkins - Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me, Caroline, or Change, The Look of Love, The Civil War Ok, I'm torn between "Not While I'm Around" from SWEENEY TODD - the melody is just gorgeous and the bridge takes my breath away -and "Maria" from WEST SIDE STORY - well, the simplicity is just awesome and talk about romantic? Having someone say your name over and over and exclaim how it's the most beautiful word? Well, no more to say on that. Happy Valentines Day!

David Shire - Composer: Big, Baby, Starting Here, Starting Now, Closer Than Ever Hard to pick just one - there are so many that I love. But if pressed, I'd have to say: "All The Things You Are" - Happy Valentine's Day!

Danny Burstein - The Drowsy Chaperone, A Class Act, Titanic, Company "Some Enchanted Evening" from SOUTH PACIFIC by Rodgers and Hammerstein. Because the lyric sums up the way I felt when I first saw my wife and the melody is so damn haunting and beautiful.

Barbara Carroll - Jazz Pianist, Composer, Vocalist, Recording Artist, Algonquin Regular "If I Loved You" from CAROUSEL... In the show, that song wasn't a declaration, it was an "if". I thought that it was very tenderly done, because it was discussing how they'd feel "if", even though the audience knew that they were clearly falling in love.

Georgia Engel - The Drowsy Chaperone, Hello, Dolly, My One and Only, House of Blue Leaves I have always responded most strongly to lyrics. There is a particularly moving phrase in the finale of LES MISERABLES that I think is so beautiful - it's when Jean Valjean sings "To love another person is to see the face of God."

Christian Hoff - Jersey Boys, The Who's Tommy These lyrics say it all: "Are you my love, has life begun for me? Are you my love, the moon and sun for me? Are you my joy, are you my pain, are you my universe, earth and heaven? Are you a dream, that's overtaken me? If you're a dream, then don't awaken me. My heart must know or miss a beat. Are you my love, my sweet?" With a gentle, seductive melody to match. Rodgers and Hart, 1936. For my forever valentine, Melissa.

Chris Isaacson - Producer / Host of Upright, an L.A. Cabaret "I'll Cover You" - RENT. This song came into my life when I fell in love for the first time. I was liberated. Full of adolescent passion, unabashed trust and unequaled daring. This song reminds me of how wonderful that time was.

Joan Rivers - E! Entertainment Red Carpet Coverage, Sally Marr...And Her Escorts I love "76 Trombones" because it reminds me of 76 trombones and that always makes me cry. P.S. Can you get me out of here? The nurse won't let me communicate with the outside world.

David Burtka - Gypsy, The Opposite of Sex, The Play About The Baby To me, the most romantic Broadway love songs have a main common theme - death. I have two: "Forever Yours" by Flaherty and Ahrens (ONCE ON THIS ISLAND the lead character offers her life in exchange for his), and "So in Love" by Cole Porter (KISS ME, KATE what lyrics - "Taunt me, hurt me, deceive me, desert me, I'm yours till I DIE!"). Creepy, maybe, but death and love the most powerful things we have on earth.

Neil Patrick Harris - How I Met Your Mother, Cabaret, Assassins, Proof, Sweeney Todd "Love Has Come Of Age" from the JEKYLL & HYDE album with Colm Wilkinson. His voice is phenomimazing! I've always dreamed of that song being sung at my wedding, but only if Colm'll sing it himself. Probably a long shot...

Adam Epstein - Hairspray, The Wedding Singer, Cry-Baby, The Crucible, Amadeus "I Have Dreamed" from THE KING AND I - it's melodically transcendent and heart-piercing all at once.

Lauren Kennedy - Spamalot, Side Show, Sunset Boulevard, Les Miserables Hands down, "The Music That Makes Me Dance" from FUNNY GIRL. But I also love "Some Girls" from ONCE ON THIS ISLAND. When he says... some girls you marry, some you love... Gets me everytime.

Aubrey Reuben - Acting President - Outer Critics Circle, Playbill Photographer That would be a song I've used to romance women with. It's a cute song - "I Get A Kick Out Of You" (ANYTHING GOES) - it's a fun song to get the girl in the mood. That's my love song for any beautiful woman that I'm dating on Valentine's Day. Cole Porter knew his stuff. He also wrote the lyric "Let's do it!"- which is my theme song.

Michael Rupert - Legally Blonde, Ragtime, Falsettos, City of Angels, Sweet Charity, Pippin, Putting it Together, The Happy Time I think one of my favorite love songs has always been "I've Never Said I Love You" from Jerry Herman's DEAR WORLD. The melody is terrific and the last few lines are great: "I've never said 'I love you'/when I say 'I love you'/He'll know I've never loved before/He'll know I'll never love again." Gets me every time!

Beth Leavel - The Drowsy Chaperone, 42nd Street, Show Boat, Crazy For You I've been thinking and thinking and I can't decide if it's a classic or if it's a song from something like RENT. But the one that comes right to mind is "Someone To Watch Over Me" - because my husband and I...like that song. And because I did the show CRAZY FOR YOU and that was one of the ballads there and it was a wonderful time in my life. I love that song.

Meredith Patterson - 42nd Street, The Green Bird, White Christmas, Boston Legal My choice for Broadway's Most Romantic Song is a little "old school" - "I'll be Seeing You" by Irving Kahal and Sammy Fain, from the 1938 Broadway musical RIGHT THIS WAY.

Charlotte St. Martin - Executive Director, The League of American Theatres & Producers, Inc. "Something Good" from (the film) THE SOUND OF MUSIC.

Rich Affannato - The Producers: Las Vegas, Les Miserables In my opinion, the most romantic Broadway love song is "Move On" from SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE. Not in the traditional sense, but in the way lovers support and uplift each other to be their very best. I love the way the song suggests that although this may not be easy, as long as you "Move On" and stay true to yourself, you will have something more to give..to enrich others' lives.

Erich Bergen - Jersey Boys National Tour, White Christmas Well, let me be a total shill for a second and say that every night I get to hear "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" from JERSEY BOYS(which makes it a showtune, right?, and I fall in love with the song more each night. I love the fact that Bob Gaudio had 3 different songs, took parts of the 3 and made up what we now know as one of the greatest love songs ever written. Nothing beats watching Christopher Jones (who plays Frankie) from the catwalk above and seeing him sing the first line of the song, "You're just too good to be true...," and hearing 1600 people go "ahhhh....." and then break into applause. It gives me goosebumps everytime. As far as the most romantic song written directly for the theatre...I'll never forget when I went to go see BIG, THE MUSICAL. It was the first Broadway show I ever saw, and I remember falling in love with Crista Moore as she sang "One Special Man." I still listen to it all the time. The chord changes in between the verses give me chills, and nothing beats the lryic, "you shake me, astound me, like no one else can." I'm in love just thinking about it. Is that weird?

Rick Elice - Writer: Jersey Boys, Double Double, Father of the Bride (upcoming) For my money, the most romantic songs are the conditional ones, because I personally find it more romantic (in a play, not in life) when an individual can't quite bring himself to admit the love with which he is so overcome.

In life, of course, I'm all for blurting it out. ("I love him, I'm his, and everything he is, I am too" and the other frontal statements of love that issue forth from the score of WEST SIDE STORY to cite but one show's instances, are certainly unforgettable, and I have certainly blurted out my share of bold declarations in my youth...even if, at my age, I better understand the power of nuance. With all due respect to ROMEO AND JULIET, can't somebody do "Antony & Cleopatra" for the grown-ups?)

Of all the conditional love songs, the defining example, for me, is "If I Loved You." To call it a number is really insufficient, because it is an entire scene, in which two people almost drugged by sexual attraction, manage to express themselves instead through romantic longing. The distance they travel in the course of this sequence, from strangers who are hot for each other through the slow dawning in each that this time it?s the real thing, is not just a great lesson in theater writing. The window into their souls is humbling to witness, adding immeasurably to the pure luxury of melody. And the catch at the end, after that magnificent crescendo in the penultimate line... the circumspection of the lyric and music on the last line is, well, so human that is simply breaks my heart. As if the "if" will somehow protect them from heartbreak. As if the "if" is the out they can always exercise, except for the undertow of love that has already pulled them under.

Kristin Huffman - Company, BroadwayWorld.com's ActorQuest "Sorry-Grateful." And not JUST because I play that beautiful melody on my flute each night. The words are so honest about REAL love and romance. Relationships are not great all the time, but if it is a true romance it lasts through all the sorry-grateful parts of it. "You're always sorry, you're always grateful, you're always wondering what might have been...then she walks in" just says it all about how that one person can be so irritating and yet integral to your life! THAT is a true romance that lasts!

Lauren Molina - Sweeney Todd "My Funny Valentine" is just heartbreaking with it's sincerity and truth...it communicates that "you may not be perfect, but you are perfect for me." The lyrics are beautifully poetic..."you make me smile with my heart...you're my favorite work of art," and it's melody begins with a haunting minor progression that is infused with passion and romance.

Joanna Gleason and Chris Sarandon - Dirty Rotten Scoundels, Into The Woods/The Light In The Piazza, The Rothchilds, The Princess Bride Ooh. That's a tough one. "If I Loved You", which is melancholy but great. There's "Some Enchanted Evening." Really anything by Rodgers and Hammerstein...or Rodgers and Hart. Now we'll have to sing them all...

Robert Viagas - Editor of 'The Alchemy of Theatre' and 'The Playbill Broadway Yearbook,' both from Playbill Books The most romantic show song would have to be "If I Loved You" from CAROUSEL. First, it's a tease. They're not saying they are in love, but they're not fooling anybody, least of all each other. But, if played properly, the scene with Billy and Julie isn't just a cute opposites-attract kind of romantic moment. You can feel the awesome force of Nature inexorably drawing them together. They're standing beneath these blooming trees and the blossoms are falling all around them. And as Billy and Julie move closer together, they nervously note that there is no breeze to make the flowers fall. She breathes, "It's just their time to." And they're in each other's arms. It's love, it's death, it's love in the face of death, which is what CAROUSEL is all about, and, really, what life is all about. Yow!

Jason Graae - Stardust, Falsettos, Forbidden Broadway, A Grand Night for Singing "What More Can I Say?" from FALSETTOS. Bill Finn, who isn't the most sentimental guy I've ever met, wrote the most romantic song imaginable!

Alan Zachary - Second Hand Lions, Disney's Twice Charmed, Cinderella 3 As a big Ashman/Menken fan, I'm offering up "Suddenly, Seymour" from LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS as deserving a place among the most romantic Broadway songs. This poor schlep of a guy finally finds love by asserting his previously non-existent self-worth as he helps a girl with off-the-charts low self-esteem understand the value of her own inner beauty. And the lyric somehow manages to convey Seymour's tremendous affection for Audrey without making him sound uncharacteristically eloquent or literate. Instead, we're won over by his simple sincerity and his heartfelt pledge of 'sweet understanding.' Awesome.

Shoshana Bean - Wicked, Hairspray "All the Wasted Time" - PARADE; "What About Love" - THE COLOR PURPLE; "I'll Be Here" - THE WILD PARTY; "In Whatever Time We Have" - CHILDREN OF EDEN. I can't pick just one! You choose!

Noah Racey - Curtains, Never Gonna Dance, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Follies You know what, I'm going to say a song that isn't from Broadway - I can't decide between "The Nearness of You" or "What'll I Do?" - they're all very sad...but then again I think it goes back to "If I Loved You" from CAROUSEL. And a good runner up would be "All The Things You Are".

Micky Dolenz - Pippin, AIDA "And This is My Beloved" from KISMET. Besides Borodin's wonderful melody, the lyrics of Robert Wright and George Forrest subtly, yet passionately, describe the indescribable feeling when one meets one's perfect love.

Gwen Cooper - Author: DIARY OF A SOUTH BEACH PARTY GIRL "I Have A Love" from WEST SIDE STORY. Commenting on the perfection of the music in this piece--the flow from the strong to the plaintive and the eventual fusing of the two--would require many paragraphs. But the lyrics are equally perfect, particularly when Maria sings, "I love him; I'm his/ And everything he is/ I am too." It always reminds me of the line in WUTHERING HEIGHTS where Catherine says of Heathcliff: "Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same." It isn't about losing one's identity in love; it's about who we love being the ultimate clarifier of who we are.

Marc Kudisch - The Apple Tree, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, See What I Wanna See, Assassins, Thoroughly Modern Millie The most romantic song has to be "Make Someone Happy" from DO RE MI. The words and the sentiment in that song - it's exactly what love is about.

Charlotte D'Amboise - A Chorus Line, Sweet Charity, Contact, Chicago, Company, Damn Yankees, Jerome Robbins' Broadway, Carrie, Song and Dance, Cats "Hey There" from THE PAJAMA GAME. The reason is because I did a production of that show in High School. I was in the chorus and I was madly in love with the guy...and I love the song!

Rebecca Luker - Mary Poppins, The Secret Garden, The Music Man, The Sound of Music, Nine, Showboat, The Phantom of the Opera "All The Things You Are" from VERY WARM FOR MAY, by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II. For me, it's like the heavens are opening up when I hear that song. And it reminds me of how I feel about Danny.

Roger Puckett - Triton Gallery "People" from FUNNY GIRL, sung by the star Barbra Streisand - hands on! I saw FUNNY GIRL in previews and I'll never forget that moment when she sang -- it was an amazing thing!

Lee Roy Reams - The Producers, Hello, Dolly!, Beauty and the Beast, La Cage aux Folles, 42nd Street, Lorelei, Applause, Sweet Charity I have so many favorites, but the first that comes to mind is "I Only Have Eyes for You." Harry Warren and Al Dubin wrote it for 42ND STREET. It's a wonderful, wonderful song that was in and out of the original show (I know that Dolores Gray sang it at one point), but it was definitely in the arrival. I also love "It Only Takes a Moment" from HELLO, DOLLY! Jerry Herman is my personal favorite!

Roz Ryan - Chicago, The Pajama Game, One Mo' Time, Dreamgirls, Ain't Misbehavin' "Not While I'm Around" because Barbra Streisand sang the fool out of it. It's also such a powerful song about devotion, protection and love.

Josh Strickland - Tarzan "Sun And Moon" from Miss Saigon. The message of this song for me is that love conquers all. No matter who you are, where you are or what you believe, "Sun and Moon" shows us that love is the thing that binds us all together in the end. And what could be more romantic than that!

Kate Wetherhead - Legally Blonde, 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee "Maria" from WEST SIDE STORY! Oh, it kills me!

Mimi Hines - Grease, Funny Girl, Reprise On the 20th Century, Encores! Follies "Till There Was You" from THE MUSIC MAN is my favorite Broadway love song because it reminds me of when my partner Phil Ford and I were discovered by Jack Paar. I was able to sing it to the world on THE TONIGHT SHOW while reaching for Phil's hand, which brought tears to Jack's eyes, as well as mine. Recording it in 1958 was the icing on the cake!

Annaleigh Ashford - Legally Blonde, Wicked "Losing My Mind" from FOLLIES. It's a little uncertain, as love so often is!

Mara Davi - A Chorus Line "So in Love" from KISS ME, KATE. It breaks my heart and wrenches my stomach every time I hear the words "So taunt me, and hurt me, deceive me, desert me. I'm yours till I die." You may say it's masochistic, but I say it's desperate, undying love (Je t'aime toujours, Aaron)!

Cara Joy David - Freelancer Writer for Numerous Publications; Theatre Blogger I have been dared to say "Memory" from CATS and I can rarely resist a dare unless it involves the possibility of physical harm. That, plus, that entry will amuse at least two of my friends, so, there you go. "Memory." Though I am a little apprehensive about touting something with the lyrics "If you touch me, you'll understand what happiness is," as that could result in pawing, I will still select with it. This choice goes against my inclination to pick a ditty that could be construed as edgy, like a Joe Iconis song, or a tune that is catchy and seemingly anti-romantic, like "Is it Me You Want to Kiss?" from SARAH, PLAIN AND TALL, but, I'm always for a new day beginning. Now and forever.

Jill O'Hara - Promises, Promises, George M! "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" from PAL JOEY

Tony Roberts - Barefoot in the Park, Cabaret, Victor/Victoria, Sugar, The Tale of the Allergist's Wife, Promises, Promises, They're Playing Our Song After thinking about it, I have to select Rodgers & Hammerstein's "If I Loved You". Perhaps because it lets you hedge your bets!

John Simon - Writer, Critic Noel Coward's "Someday I'll Find You," from PRIVATE LIVES. But, truthfully, there is no single most romantic song. Personally, I think yearning is more romantic than fulfillment, hence the above choice. But it could just as easily have been Vernon Duke's terrific "Words Without Music," from ZIEGFELD FOLLIES OF 1936 among many, many others.

Nikki Renee Daniels - Les Miserables, Lestat, Nine, Aida One of my favorite Broadway love songs is "Soon it's Gonna Rain" from THE FANTASTICKS. It's so beautiful and fresh and hopeful. Of course, some years when Valentine's Day rolls around, the theme song seems to be "Making Love Alone"!

Michelle Kittrell - Legally Blonde, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, All Shook Up, Urban Cowboy, Hairspray, The Sweet Smell of Success, Seussical, Footloose, Grease It's difficult to choose from so many great selections...however, hands down, I would have to say 'The Next Ten Minutes' from THE LAST 5 YEARS. There's something about JRB's (or J Bob, as I call him) music that moves me.

David Sexton - Writer: The Nature of the Beach, It's a Fabulous Life, Marvel Comics, Genre "If I Loved You" because it's so impossibly romantic and yet it hedges it's bets. It's a hypothetical love song.

Michael Alden - Producer: Grey Gardens, Bridge & Tunnel "Being Alive" from COMPANY. It isn't about another person, it's about being that person that deserves to be loved...knowing that you are ready and deserving. There's no greater love song!

Trapper Felides - Music Director of Upright, an L.A. Cabaret "Anytime"- cut from A NEW BRAIN. To say that these are the most thoughtful lyrics I have heard from Finn is a bold statement, but the first time this song landed on my ears, I was a water well from first to last note. His simple rhythmic motives and soaring vocal lines evoke a beautiful tale of how love, no matter how it ends, carries on.

Juliana Hansen - Grease: You're The One That I Want, Thoroughly Modern Millie, The Fantasticks, Beauty and the Beast "The Next 10 Minutes" from The Last Five Years

Leslie Kritzer - Legally Blonde, The Great American Trailer Park Musical, Hairspray, Leslie Kritzer is Patti LuPone at Les Mouches My favorite Broadway Love Song is "One Hand, One Heart" from my favorite Broadway musical, WEST SIDE STORY. I recently sang it at my aunt's wedding - it's a beautiful, simple, love song.

Jill Paice - Curtains, The Woman in White I choose "Love to Me" from THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA as the most romantic song EVER!! It's what every girl wants to hear from her boy.

Daniel Reichard - Jersey Boys "The Shortest Day of the Year" from BOYS FROM SYRACUSE...though it actually could be any of the love songs in BOYS FROM SYRACUSE from "This Can't Be Love" to "You Have Cast Your Shadow on the Sea." These songs all have the most tender and delicate melodies and such perfectly, simple lyrics by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. Of any love song that I have sung, "The Shortest Day of the Year" is my absolute favorite. It's so romantic and its message is so basic and so heartfelt.

Paul Rudnick - Screenwriter and Playwright: Addams Family Values, Jeffrey, In & Out, Isn't She Great, Marci X, The Stepford Wives, Jeffrey "Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans" - when it's sung by Bryan Batt.

Shane Scheel - Producer / Host of Upright, an L.A. Cabaret "Till There Was You" from THE MUSIC MAN. I played Harold Hill in my first high school musical and when it came time for the kiss at the end of this song, Marian Paroo proceeded to shove her tongue down my throat. I blame her for my fear of...librarians.

Megan Sikora - Curtains, Dracula The Musical, Wonderful Town, Wicked, Thoroughly Modern Millie, 42nd Street One of my favorite love songs is "What Makes Me Love Him?" from THE APPLE TREE. It's a song that I love to sing and listen to. I love the story telling and it just warms my heart.

I came up with a couple that nobody on the panel came up with:

"Her Face" from "Carnival!" and "I Won't Send Roses" from "Mack and Mabel."

To see the previous lists, visit:

http://www.broadwayworld.com/vday07/index.cfm?year=2006 http://www.broadwayworld.com/vday07/index.cfm?year=2005

A few that people came up with in the 2006 list that are favorites of mine:

"What I Did for Love" (A Chorus Line)
"Yours, Yours, Yours" (1776)
"Send in the Clowns" (A Little Night Music)
"All I Ask of You" (The Phantom of the Opera)
"The Party's Over" (Bells Are Ringing)

And from the 2005 list:

"In a Most Unusual Way" (Nine)
"Fallin'" (They're Playing Our Song)

You are young and beautiful,
Sweet as the breath of May.
Earnestly I speak to you.
Weigh ev'ry word I say.

If you want to have a rosy future
And be happy as a honey bee,
With a husband who will always love you,
Baby, Don't marry me.

If you want a man you can depend on,
I can absolutely guarantee
I will never fail to disappoint you,
Baby, Don't marry me.

I eat litchie nuts and cookies in bed
And I fill the bed with nutshells and crumbs.
I have irritating habits you'll dread,
Like the way I have of cracking my thumbs.

My grandpa was a big game hunter,
He met grandma swinging on a tree.
If you want to have attactive children,
Baby, Don't marry me.

--I would like to see my sons and daughters
Sliding up and down their father's knee.--
They'll get splinters in their little fannies,
Cookie, Don't marry me.

I'm devoted to my dear old Mama,
And if you and Mama disagree,
I would always side with her against you,
Schnookie, Don't marry me.

--I would always like to know where you go.
I don't like a man to keep me in doubt.--
Honey that's a thing that's easy to know,
You will always know where I am, I'm out!

I am talking like a Chinese uncle.
I'm as serious as I can be.
I am saying this because I love you,
Darling, Don't marry me

I will admit that I like "What I Did for Love" so much that I have already told all the family that when my time comes (in the distant fture), I want it sung at my memorial service.

"Gone,
Love is never gone.
As we travel on,
Love's hat we'll remember."

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