What's Nashville's Favorite Love Song from a Musical?

In a town where everyone from your next-door neighbor to your favorite barista - from your dental hygienist to your manicurist, your seatmate on the bus, your friendly neighborhood bartender and maybe even the guy who does your taxes - is a songwriter, you'll find that there's never a shortage of opinions on the topic of favorite songs. Ask a cross-section of Nashville theater-types what their favorite love song is from the annals of musical theater and you're going to get a barrage of answers.

In honor of Valentine's Day, we posed that very question to some of our favorite theater community-dwellers in yet another not-so-scientific survey. So, if you're thinking about putting together a playlist of favorite love songs - or if you're searching for the perfect tunes to play in the background while you set the scene for a romantic evening with your own Valentine, here are some suggestions:

Chelsea Ann Brannon: There are too many! "On The Street Where You Live" from My Fair Lady is a front runner.

Cecilia Lighthall: "I'll Cover You" from Rent.

Amanda Grace Creech: "You Should Be Loved" from Side Show.

Cade Smith: "I Love You Because" from I Love You Because

Karen Himelrick: "All I Ask of You" from Phantom of the Opera

Angela Wibking Fox: "Suppertime" from You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown; Thought I'd speak for all the furry four-footed Valentines out there!

Jonah Jackson: I would probably have to go with "When We Dance" from The Last Ship!

Casey Hebbel: I love "Love who You Love" from Bonnie and Clyde and I also love "What Only Love Can See" from Chaplin and "Something Good" from The Sound of Music.

Lar'Juanette Williams: I have to think....Love Song....I love to sing "Someone Like You" from Jekyll & Hyde, but interestingly enough, my favorite love song is really not a love song at all. The Winner Takes It All from Mamma Mia tears me up everytime I hear it! Literally! Been rejected too much by some stupid man, I guess.

Marianne Kenney: "Tonight" or "Somewhere" from West Side Story.

Jordan Tudor Haggard: "If Ever I Would Leave You" from Camelot

Wesley King: "What About Love" from The Color Purple

Ryan Bowie: "Easy to Love" from Anything Goes, "The Sailor of My Dreams" from Dames at Seas, and "The Origin of Love" from Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

Elizabeth Turner: "The Next Ten Minutes" from The Last Five Years

Kary Moreland Choate: The first that comes to mind is "Somewhere" from West Side Story.

Tonya Pewitt: "On the Street Where You Live" from My Fair Lady

Halee-Catherine Culicerto: "Roll in the Hay" from Young Frankenstein. "Ooh, I forgot about 'Dangerous Game' from Jekyll and Hyde...maybe the kind of love you want to avoid."

Rowena Soriana Gonzalez Aldridge: "You Made Me Love You" from Irene, "Just in Time" from Bells Are Ringing and "I Got Lost In His Arms" from Annie Get Your Gun: "I've done all three of these shows (many years ago) and I think these songs are some of the best - and unfortunately overlooked songs - in musical theater."

Joshua Waldrep: "Love Song" from Pippin and "I'll Cover You" from Rent.

Debra Barrett Graham: "Loving You" from Passion: "It is not a romantic song, but it's so expressive for those of us with 20+ years with a best friend, a lover, the father of my children and lifelong companion..."

Scott Rice: "They Were You" from The Fantasticks, "So Many People" from Saturday Night and "Love to Me" from The Light in the Piazza.

Amy Prough Stumpfl: I still love the classics..."I Have Dreamed" from The King and I, "Not While I'm Around" from Sweeney Todd, "People Will Say We're In Love" from Oklahoma and "Somewhere" from West Side Story. But lately, I've been a little obsessed with "Song on the Sand" from La Cage aux Folles...so very sweet.

Jama Bowen: "My Cup Runneth Over" from I Do, I Do.

Amanda Lamb: "Love Song" from Pippin: "I love its quirkiness."

Jennifer Bennett: "'Til There Was You" from The Music Man.

Kim Thornton Nygren: "Someone Like You" from Jekyll and Hyde.

Jaclyn Lisenby Brown: "Yesterday I Loved You" from Once on this Island.

Bonnie Keen: "How Could I Ever Know" from The Secret Garden.

Patrick Kramer: "Follow Your Heart" from Urinetown the Musical.

Henry Haggard: "Corner of the Sky" from Pippin.

Lisa Truley Dunaway: "'Til There Was You" from The Music Man.

Rollie Mains: "A Bushel and A Peck" from Guys and Dolls: "My mom used to sing to me, 'I love you a bushel and a peck,' she didn't know hardly any of the words...just the first couple of lines."

Britt Byrd: "All I Ask of You"from Phantom of the Opera.

Lane Wright: "My Heart is So Full of You" from The Most Happy Fella, "When Did I Fall in Love" from Fiorello and "Losing My Mind" from Follies.

Todd Rowan: "I Chose Right" from Baby.

Jack Chambers: "So Many People" from Saturday Night and Marry Me A Little.

Molly Breen: "All I Ask of You" from The Phantom of the Opera, "If I Loved You" from Carousel, "Sun and Moon" from Miss Saigon, "Tell Me to Go" from Martin Guerre and "Without You" from Rent.

Ben Van Diepen: "Too Many Morning" from Follies.

Amy Greenwell Warren: "With You" from Pippin. The most beautiful.

Evan Taylor Williams: "People Will Say We're in Love" from Oklahoma, "All The Wasted Time" from Parade, "On the Street Where You Live" from My Fair Lady, "Suddenly Seymour from Little Shop of Horrors, "You Are Love" from The Fantasticks, "'Til There Was You" from The Music Man, "As Long As You're Mine" from Wicked, "I Should Tell You" from Rent, "Rosemary" from How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, "All I Ask of You" from The Phantom of the Opera... "and, of course, 'Grow Old With You' and 'If I Told You' from The Wedding Singer!"

Kenneth Stalsworth: ‎"You Walk with Me" from The Full Monty: "One of the few times I have cried in public."

Ginger Newman: "Moonfall" from The Mystery of Edwin Drood, "Nothing's Gonna Harm You" from Sweeney Todd, "If He Walked Into My Life" from Mame, "The Story Goes On" from Baby, "Mama a Rainbow" from Minnie's Boys and "If I Sing" from Closer Than Ever and, of course, "There's a Fine, Fine Line" from Avenue Q...and I could go down a dark, sarcastic path, but why bother?

Bob Fish: "Will He Like Me?" from She Loves Me. More of a hope song actually, but I find the melody heart-rending.

Michael Adcock: "Run Away with Me" from The Unauthorized Autobiography of Samantha Brown.

Kallen Prosterman: "People" from Funny Girl and "All the Wasted Time" from Parade (not sure why my favorites are always semi-depressing).

Philip Boston: A good unrequited love song is "Someone Else's Story from Chess."

Elliot Winston Robinson: "When I First Saw You" from Dreamgirls

Jessica Carter: "Someone Like You" from Jekyll & Hyde.

Will Lasley: Does "Music of the Night" count? I love that one. Also, "If I Can't Love Her" (obviously), "It Takes Two" from Into the Woods, and "The Song That Goes Like This" from Spamalot.

Brooke Leigh Davis: "Somewhere" from West Side Story.

Johnny Dellarocca: I think all time favorite is Love Changes Everything from Aspects of Love.

To post a comment, you must register and login.