I love "UNFORGETTABLE" by Nat King Cole because not only is it sophisticated musically and lyrically, but my sweet husband Tom, who is not a performer, often out of the blue, sweeps me in his arms, waltzes me around humming that song gentle into my ear. Talk about romantic-I swoon every time.

I'm very partial to "Out of my Dreams", from OKLAHOMA, even though people are usually watching a ballet while it's being sung. The melody is transporting and the lyric is about a fantasy love affair, which is the most romantic kind. In fact, the only kind, lately.

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.

I think the most romantic love song is "The Music That Makes Me Dance" from FUNNY GIRL. If you are fortunate enough to have that deep kind of love for someone,which the song is clearly addressing, it is pure magic. It works for me because I have been dancing to the same music for 28 fantastic years and there is nothing better. Happy Valentine's Day.

"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.

"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.

"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.

Without a doubt, for me, it's Rodgers & Hammerstein's "Some Enchanted Evening", from their musical, SOUTH PACIFIC. Growing up, I remembered my parents trying to explain to me the passion everyone remembered - seeing Ezio Pinza and Mary Martin sing this song together, on the stage. People SWORE they were having an affair. Do I know? Of course not. The song itself is a magical love song because it's FULL of POSSIBILITY. Just what you want when "chemistry" is at play. When Bernadette Peters and I first faced the R&H songs, to begin making choices for the BERNADETTE PETERS LOVES RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN recording ... all she had to do was sing it once, in her apt. w/ just the piano, and I was a mess!

"Someone To Watch Over Me". It may be a bit cliche, but the lyrics are so simple, and the intent is so clear......anyone can sing it and relate to that need. It would be the best if Judy Kuhn sang it!

I'm a sucker for the obvious standards, the ones that I'm sure are going to be mentioned a zillion times. I love "My Romance" because it's a perfect blend of lyric and melody and it expresses the idea that simplicity is best. And "All The Things You Are" is a bit more harmonically complex but is also a simple statement of honor and romance. But the most romantic songs are the silly songs that people write and sing to each other to make them laugh. My husband wrote a song for me about how corny it was that I like Barry Manilow, and it's far and away the most romantic (if completely stupid) song I've ever heard.

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!

"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."

Can't pick one. Having been in a splendid and amazing relationship for nearly 11 years, (5 of the best years of my life!), my idea of romance lead me to choose: "You'll Never Get Away From Me" from GYPSY, because it has the humor and committment necessary to true, long term romance - It says "Whatever happens, I ain't going anywhere. I love you and we're stuck!." Also, "Not While I'm Around," from Sweeney Todd, which really captures the selflessness you have when you're truly in love. Staying with Sondheim, "Anyone Can Whistle", while not a typical love song, is about the kind of trust required to have the real thing - "I am flawed, I am scared, maybe you can help me be better." Good stuff. And finally, and mostly, Kurt Weill's "It Never Was You," which just kills me. Typically, I chose a song about lost love. But then, you're talking to someone whose song lists in concert and on cds read like one long suicide note. Even my uptempos are just tragedy with a beat...

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!

"Timeless to Me", of course. That song celebrates the depth of love for the long haul. (would you expect me to say anything else!) A close second is "I Could Have Danced All Night". It captures the exhilaration and promise of the very first moment of falling in love.

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!

"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.

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."

My choice for the greatest love song ever heard on Broadway is simple: IF I LOVED YOU. The idea that the 20 minute scene following the unsung prologue contains three songs... two charmingly setting up the two main female characters.... then building to the rapturous duet between Julie and Billy remains, to me, the masterpiece of modern musical theater writing. Hammerstein's simple lyric, set to Rodgers' broad, Puccini-esque melody, wherein the they declare their love, all qualified by the word 'IF'.....dazzles me as it first did to me as a child. (I must add that 'Carousel' was the first show I ever saw...and remains my favorite.)

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.

Mark Lester singing "Where is Love" in the 1968 Carol Reed film, OLIVER!. I was experiencing my first love at the time, and my heart heard the lyrics before my brain, a sensation better than chocolate, I discovered. It was the moment I found out that I was a hopeless romantic.

"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.

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.

It's so hard to pick a favorite, but I guess I'll have to say "Til' There Was You" by Meredith Wilson. I just love how the characters' entire view of the world changes because of their love....an entire world opens up that they never knew was there. So romantic!!!

"If Ever I Would Leave You". I haven't experienced it yet, but I would like to be loved like that. Beautiful.

"Music of the Night" from THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA.

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.

"I'll Cover You" from RENT

"I Have Dreamed" from THE KING AND I - it's melodically transcendent and heart-piercing all at once.

"The Next Ten Minutes" from THE LAST FIVE YEARS is the most romantic song to me. The lyric, "Will you share your life with me...'til there's no one left who has ever known us apart!" is what makes this song so beautiful to me. That line captures the hope and love of marriage and the deepness of commitment it will take to make it last. The song moves me every time I hear it. As a matter of fact, I need to put it on now.