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Valentine's Day is here and love is all around us. At this most romantic time of the year, we can't help but wonder... what is the greatest Broadway love song ever? BroadwayWorld continues our great tradition of finding that consensus- and this year we have more answers than ever! We've gathered responses from over 1500 performers, composers, industry professionals, and entertainment personalities from all over the world. 

This year's list is presented by The Notebook, now in previews on Broadway. Based on the best selling novel that inspired the iconic film, this new musical follows Allie and Noah, both from different worlds, as they share a lifetime of love despite the forces that threaten to pull them apart, in a deeply moving portrait of the enduring power of love.

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Performer
The Ferryman | The Last Ship | The Producers
"To My Wife" from Franny which I got to sing Elena Shaddow at Encores and it's so moving and so beautiful.
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Performer
A Beautiful Noise | Back to the Future | Funny Girl | Moulin Rouge! | Head Over Heels | Hamilton
It has to be “All I’ve Ever Known” from Hadestown. Moving forward, I believe Anaïs Mitchell must write every long song on Broadway. Oh, and Eva Noblezada is one of my favorite voices to exist.
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Performer
The Lion King
Oh wow, how can I pick just one? There are so many beautiful love songs in the Broadway musicals repertoire. But two are pressing on my heart as I write this. "It All Fades Away" from Bridges of Madison County and "Written in the Stars" from Aida - both songs are beautifully written stories of finding, feeling, and experiencing true love and the difficulties of it being forbidden. They definitely tear at your heart.
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Performer
PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT
"Take Me or Leave Me" from RENT. I know it's obscure, but far too often do we make provisions for the people/persons in our lives. I believe that authenticity is our greatest asset as humans, and if a person chooses to have you in their life, then they should expect nothing less then the "REAL" you, Under all circumstances. Arguments, disagreements, and sometimes," knock down drag outs", are essential to learning each other. Let's face it, without confrontation there is no solution. Clearly, i'm not the mushy type!!
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Performer
Mack & Mabel | Aladdin |
My favorite broadway love song is "Summertime" from Porgy and Bess. It is love for the future... for a child.
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Performer
Ain't Too Proud | Beautiful
Favorite Broadway love song would be “When I First Saw You” from Dreamgirls, one of my favorites.
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Performer
Leopoldstadt
Most of my favorite love songs are by Rodgers and Hart, but specifically, and especially for Valentine’s Day, I love “My Romance.” Its lyric and melody are both so beautifully crafted, simple, and sentimental, and I love singing it. There is a wonderful, quiet confidence-in-love that drives it. I also love “A Quiet Thing” by Kander and Ebb from Flora the Red Menace for the same reasons.
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Performer
First Down | Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo
"You're the One That I Want" from Grease the musical - because It's fun, upbeat, and lighthearted.
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Performer
All Things Equal: The Life Trials of Ruth Bader Ginsburg
My favorite Broadway love song is actually entitled "Love Song"! When I played Catherine in PIPPIN at NYU, I remember having a huge show crush on my Pippin, and singing these lyrics with him- "sitting on the floor and talking till dawn… trading old beliefs and humming old songs” just hit me as so spot on about the purity of love, what it really feels like when you are sorting through the avalanche emotions between you and another person. I love thinking about this moment even more now as I realize that PIPPIN just had it’s 50th anniversary with the original cast, and also that when playing RBG recently at the Bay Street Theatre, I got to spend a little time with artistic director Scott Schwartz, the powerhouse son of the great Stephen himself!
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Performer
A Night with Janis Joplin | Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown | Passing Strange
"Losing My Mind" from Follies.
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Performer
Machinal | The Lion King
"Baptize Me" from The Book of Mormon
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Creative
Ghost The Musical
"As Time Goes By" written by Herman Hupfeld from the 1931 Broadway musical Everyone's Welcome.
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Performer
Aladdin
"Somewhere" from West Side Story. The first two notes create a minor seventh- you can feel the heartbreaking reach for the octave that never makes it. The lyrics are honest and innocent- "peace and quiet and open air," "we'll find a new way of living, we'll find a way of forgiving"- that dream up an imaginary "somewhere" where their love can be fully alive. It's the glimmer of hope you achingly hold onto, hoping this time the story will end differently, knowing too well how it ends.
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Performer
Present Laughter | Accent on Youth | High Society | Arcadia | Rumors
"Till There Was You" from THE MUSIC MAN. Paul Mcartney thinks so too!
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Performer
West Side Story | The Mystery of Edwin Drood | She Loves Me
My favorite Broadway love song is "Maria" because it's perfect. It's from West Side Story. 'Nuff said.
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Performer
The Phantom of the Opera | A Tale of Two Cities | Assassins
I think "If Ever I Would Leave You" is to me the quintessential love song. Especially, you can take it out of context- but within that context, I just think it covers all the bases.
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Industry
Bright Half Life
"I'm Changing My Major" from Fun Home
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Performer
The Phantom of the Opera
I can't wipe the smile off my face during "People Will Say We're In Love" from Oklahoma!. Those repeated denials and sly teases. . . They may say it ain't so, but the audience clearly sees two people who are absolutely perfect for one another.
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Performer
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory | Cinderella | Memphis | Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark
I'd have to say, "On the Street Where You Live". The idea that you can be so obsessed and enraptured with someone that you're happy just being near a place that that love of your life may possibly be? Seems like the ultimate love to me.
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Performer
Doctor Zhivago; Baby | It's You! | Wicked
"All the Wasted Time" from Parade. I find the confession/apology of this duet the height of romance because of its raw honesty. A love that looks back on itself with regret for every wasted minute inspires me to always try and be in the moment with my partner.
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Performer
Significant Other | Company | Fiddler on the Roof
"Sunrise, Sunset," written by my brother-in-law. It is a love song for everybody, isn't it? It's what jumped to my mind. There were some songs in Follies but I really have to think about that. Then we had a song in Company, "Sorry/Grateful." That's a great song.
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Performer
Wicked
My pick would have to be “What About Love?” From The Color Purple. This song celebrates the side of love that you don’t always recognize. The realization that the idea of “love” in your head is not at all what you’re feeling is very relatable to anyone discovering a love of anything.
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Performer
She Loves Me | Something Rotten! | Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella | A Free Man of Color
I imagine we all have many favorites, but the first Broadway show I saw was the 1957 Bells Are Ringing and although one could certainly choose “The Party's Over” or “Just In Time” from that wonderful score, it's the beautiful “Long Before I Knew You” that has stayed with me.
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Performer
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying | The Odd Couple | Chicago | Sweet Charity | Little Shop of Horrors
For me, it's a tie:"One Hand, One Heart" and "Somewhere" from West Side Story. Both of them beautifully convey the innocence of First Love, and the bittersweet dream of a world where that love may live freely. They're tied with "Food, Glorious Food" from Oliver! Love may be fleeting, but Hot Sausages and Mustard are forever.
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Performer
In Transit
My favorite Broadway love song is "My Friends" from Sweeney Todd. I want someone to look at me like Sweeney looks at razor blades.
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Performer
The Unsinkable Molly Brown | The Bridges of Madison County
My favorite Broadway love song is "One Second and a Million Miles" from The Bridges of Madison County, specifically sung by Steven Pasquale and Kelli O'Hara. It's so gorgeous and so romantic. Happy Valentine's Day!
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Performer
Ain't Too Proud | Memphis | The Little Mermaid | 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
My favorite love song is “The I Love You Song” from my Broadway debut, Spelling Bee. It’s just a beautiful song. It’s a beautiful song with a beautiful family, and Bill Finn who wrote the music and did the lyrics, there’s such a touching story of love within a family.
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Performer
The Play That Goes Wrong
My favorite Broadway love song from the moment I first heard it is “All I Ask Of You” from Phantom of the Opera. No snarky irony. I love Phantom. When I was a teen, Phantom really spoke to me. The lyrics helped teach me how to express love. Even now the music transports me. There are several other top love song candidates in Phantom, but the sentiment expressed in the duet between Christine and Raoul of just needing to be together is simple, timeless, and perfect.
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Performer
Natasha | Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812
There are so many incredible songs to choose from, but instantly my mind went to "With So Little To Be Sure Of" from Anyone Can Whistle. Something about the strength love gives us, how that moment of connection with another person can create stability at moments when the world around you seems to be going truly crazy. And how that can help one believe in oneself even once that moment of connection is over: "Being sure enough of you made me sure enough of me."
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Composer/Lyricist
Other World | Now. Here. This. | [title of show]
My favorite love song is from one of my favorite musicals- She Loves Me. It's "Will He Like Me?". I think it's a beautiful, love song about the possibility of love and how you show up for that first meet.

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