BWW Blog: Alyssa Sileo - The 14 Best Theatre Love Songs
By: Guest Blogger: Alyssa Sileo Feb. 14, 2017
Happy Valentine's Day, Drama Kids! I can't wait to spend the whole day with my true love, the Fiddler revival soundtrack.
I asked the loves of my life, the members and alumni of my Thespian Troupe 5480, what their favorite theatre love songs were. Here's fourteen of the most mentioned, along with some stories about why they matter to me and 5480!
1) "You Matter To Me" - Waitress - A resounding victor in this contest.
2) "Follow Your Heart" - Urinetown - Perhaps at the top of the list because we're performing the musical this March! Plus, we still can't get over that "Gladness" harmony." We'll all be camped out in the small space of the wings to hear Bobby and Hope wail it out.
3) "Only Us" - Dear Evan Hansen - Any Pasek and Paul song has my heart, but this namely this tune, because compositions like this are changing the musical theatre form. I'm in love with the visions of our community's future.
4) "Dear Theodosia" - Hamilton - Lin-Manuel Miranda's lovely family lullaby will, guaranteed, put a smile on your face. This is a moment of pure joy in the score.
5) "The Next Ten Minutes" - The Last Five Years - In context, arguably, not the most celebratory song, but "The Next Ten Minutes" is written in such an exquisite way that makes our hearts glow. The quintessential wedding song. Again, out of context.
6) "Written In the Stars" - Aida - Elton John's writing, and the talents of Heather Headley and Adam Pascal? Dream.
7) "I'll Cover You" - Rent - (My personal favorite on this list.) Wilson Jermaine Heredia's and Jesse L. Martin's voices are a match made in heaven.
8) "I'm Here" - The Color Purple - Self-love for the WIN! This incredible anthem appeared several times during the poll, and what played in our heads was Cynthia Erivo's unbelievable rendition at the Tony's. I remember watching The Color Purple cast perform on that June night when my best friends and I had a Tony's Party.
9) "Can't Help Falling in Love" - All Shook Up - This jukebox musical was the class of 2016's freshmen musical, so that explains why this was on the lists of the alumnus. I recall closing night of Into the Woods when my seniors sat on the stage and sang "Can't Help" as our music director played it on piano. It was a tearful five minutes, but I remember it as one of my best school memories.
10) "Your Eyes" - Rent - Larson shows up again on this list, with this 11 'clock number that we usually can't see happening through our tears.
11) "I Love You Song" - The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee - It's considerably one of the sadder love songs, but 5480 has a devotion to it because of this year's New Jersey Thespian Festival. I sang as Olive, and my beautiful friends Liv and Dylan sang as my parents when we competed in the Group Musical Theatre category. Performing "The ILY Song" is a harrowing experience, and something I can check off my theatre bucket list. We won a superior medal for this competition, and I'll never forget those five perfect minutes where all of 5480 gathered on all sides of the room to support us.
12) "Falling Slowly" - Once - This breathtaking Hansard is enchanting.
13) "Daffodils" - Big Fish - One of the sweetest theatre songs ever! Plus, Norbert Leo Butz. That's all.
14) "I'd Give It All For You" - Songs for a New World - No surprise JRB appears again. This song is special to me and my best friend Dylan, as we sang this this year at Comp to fulfill our promise of doing a duet together.
Happy Valentine's Day, Broadway Lovers! Here's the playlist of the top 14 songs, excluding Big Fish stuff.
https://open.spotify.com/user/lyssimarieee/playlist/5E3tNOd6BTUfGvfl9OmhuM
And here's this 5.5 hour playlist of all the songs my troupe voted for! Featuring Cinderella, Wicked, It Shoulda Been You, Phantom of the Opera, and more!
https://open.spotify.com/user/lyssimarieee/playlist/3tiZe10QcRenBt9lIsyfxj
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