"Being Alive" from Company. While not a love song in the traditional sense, "Being Alive" works through, in a most quintessentially "Sondheim" manner, the journey that one must take in order to be able to both give and receive love. The conclusion, that "alone is alone, not alive," and the final plea: "somebody crowd me with love, somebody force me to care..." shows us at our most vulnerable. And that is very romantic.

“If I Loved You” from Carousel is so classic. I love that doesn't come right out and get the point. Billy and Julie both flirt with the possibility of hooking up and maybe a life together and they essentially commit without without ever saying it. Also “Her Face” from Carnival has one of the most beautiful melodies.

I am naturally suspicious of flat-out love songs, preferring the ones that sneak up on you. Come to think of it, I am naturally suspicious of Valentine’s Day. Is it really about being in love, or is it about putting an enormous amount of pressure on everyone to feel in love and buy candy? Is it rapturous love or are we just trapped by the expectations of the heart holiday? If you’re not sure, or you’re recovering from heartbreak, or just feeling bullied into settling for a Whitman’s sampler and/or a hookup, I have a Broadway song for you: “It’s All Right With Me” by Cole Porter —the writer who excels at playing it witty and cool with deep and wrenching emotions. I love how Porter, who is normally so deft with internal rhymes writes a simple, repetitive and almost rhymeless lyric. The verse only has one rhyme in it (until the last verse which has two) It's the wrong time, and the wrong place Though your face is charming, it's the wrong face It's not his face, but such a charming face That it's all right with me It's the wrong song, in the wrong style Though your smile is lovely, it's the wrong smile It's not his smile, but such a lovely smile That it's all right with me For Porter, one rhyme a verse is nothing (This is the “You’re The Top” guy — the “Brush Up Your Shakespeare” guy!) But the seeming lack of effort works with the song’s subtext “Screw it, let’s live in the moment. I’m too tired and heartbroken to work at this. Just hand me the Whitman’s Sampler” It takes a lot of craft to write something that looks that effortless, and to take resignation and confusion and make it sing.

I'd say "Soon It's Gonna Rain" from The Fantasticks, but that's really Off-Broadway. So, I'll go with” Falling Slowly” from Once. Girl and Guy never even kiss in the show, but they express their yearning for one another through the music they make together. What's more romantic than that?

“If Ever I Would Leave You” from Camelot. Such a simple beautiful melody, such a simple beautiful promise…and by that final season of Spring: A Soaring declaration of (Calendar) love! “Garlic! Garlic!” from Dance of the Vampires runs a close second.

"If I Loved You" from CAROUSEL and "Too Many Mornings" from FOLLIES

One of my favorite musicals is Fanny, which unfortunately has never been revived on Broadway. On the original cast album a young Florence Henderson sings a heartbreaking love song as the title character “I have to tell you” in the first act which is then reprised in reverse in the second act by her true love Marius. I love all of this show’s score, with other wonderful singing actors as well, and Fanny’s plaintive love declaration is particularly moving as are many other moments in this lovely score.

"As Long as He Needs Me" from Oliver is beautiful but ladies I don't recommend loving a man that way, for the record.

"Bill" from Showboat and "Not A Day Goes By" from Merrily We Roll Along

"Suddenly Seymour" from Little Shop of Horrors. I saw the original production at The Orpheum when I was a kid and made my parents take me back several times. Lee Wilkof was my schmendrick superhero, and how can you not love a song about the little nebbishy Jewish guy finally getting the blonde bombshell?

In the spirit of Irving Berlin, "They Say That Falling In Love is Wonderful" from Annie Get Your Gun.

That is very easy! My favorite love song is "Good Thing Going" from Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along.

My favorite by far is "If I Loved You" from CAROUSEL. The whole 'bench scene' is so beautifully written -- so evocative of the first, tentative moments of a new love. "If" I loved you.....easier to say because it doesn't expose one in the same way "I am attracted to you" does. The melody is meltingly beautiful, and the lyric--perfect. Wish I had written it!

"Bewitched, Bothered, & Bewildered"... "Vexed again, perplexed again… thank God I can be oversexed again!" For me, this tune captures the joy and ache of longing perfectly. I particularly love Justin Vernon’s rendition which he recorded with his high school jazz ensemble as a fundraiser for their music program. It knocks my socks off.

"I'd Rather Be Sailing" from A New Brain. I am such a fan of William Finn, Malcom Gets, and especially Norm Lewis, whom I had the honor of working with in both Dreamgirls and Porgy and Bess. This song and their performances are simply sublime.

What More Can I Say" from Falsettos. This song captures the unbelievable wonder of being in love. Yum. And also "Fable" from The Light in the Piazza. There's a longing in that song that makes my heart swell. I told Victoria Clark that I like to listen to it when I'm doing housework--it elevates my mundane chores and even makes toilet-scrubbing a loving act. Sincerely.

"Marriage Proposal" from Falsettos because it's Mendel's song and it's really good, it's great.

"Never Before, Never Again" from The Muppet Movie. Okay, not technically a Broadway song, but still- a fantastic love song from a brilliant movie musical. Also one of the most romantic sequences in film history and one of Miss Piggy's greatest performances (in a long list of great performances). If this song doesn't make you want to find a Kermit of your own, nothing will! Happy Valentine's Day, everybody!

"Maria" from West Side Story.

My favorite love song from Broadway is from HIGH SOCIETY, 'True Love.' It's also a favorite of my father-in-law, who is 86 years old!!

"Something Good"! This song makes me tear up pretty much immediately. Perhaps it's the tender vocals, the romantic gazebo scene from the movie, the complicated lyrics –– or frankly, all of the above! –– that makes this my absolute favorite. Now go watch and listen to the film version with Christopher Plummer's original vocals: it's stunning!

"I Have a Love" from WEST SIDE STORY. Why? Listen to the lyric - "love him...right or wrong." It's a brilliant piece of writing. My favorite movie song is "The More I See You," Harry Warren - "The more I see you...the more I want you..."

I am thinking a lot about Sweet Charity right now. That show makes me think a lot about love- about hopelessly romantic love.

This is a no-brainer. "Love to Me" from The Light in the Piazza, but the version that really throws me over the edge is Adam Guettel singing it himself. (I think it was a demo version that they added to the end of the original cast album. Sort of a bonus track...) There's something so sexy and real about his voice and then knowing that he actually wrote the song just wipes me out. I think every girl wishes she had a boy that felt like that about her.

There are two Broadway love songs that tickle my fancy; first, I would have to say is “The Origin of Love” from Hedwig and the Angry Inch. I just really love the idea of having ‘another half’ out there that we are each destined to find and rejoin. Second, I would have to say “I'd F*ck Me” from Silence! The Musical– let's face it, I've been working out, and I look good.. not Andrew Samonsky good, but still pretty good, so...

My favorite Broadway Love song is "So In Love" from Kiss Me Kate. I love it because I love Cole Porter’s music and I played Kate in a high school production of Kiss Me Kate and singing "So In Love" made me feel so full of emotion and true love.

One of my favorite love songs from a musical is "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" from Beautiful. I have loved this song for a while, long before it was in the show. But the fact that it is now in such a gorgeous and heartfelt production, gives the song so much more context. This song has been one of my go-to's in terms of grasping inspiration for my own songwriting. Carole King is truly amazing and the hook "will you still love me tomorrow?" tugs at my heartstrings every time.

Adam Guettel's score is filled with some of the most rapturous music I've ever heard, and "Say It Somehow" is when the two young lovers first get together. When they start harmonizing, my head practically explodes.

It doesn't get much better than “They Say It's Wonderful” from Annie Get Your Gun. The slight melodic changes on the repetitions of "wonderful" melt me. Also a great shower song.

"If I Loved You" from CAROUSEL