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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.
Performer
Hamilton | Matilda The Musical
"The Next Ten Minutes" from The Last 5 Years...not only is it a gorgeous song, but it's the only song in The Last 5 Years where the stories come together. I have never seen this show live, but it always leaves me close to tears when I listen to the album.
Performer
Be More Chill | Freaky Friday | Benny and Joon
"If I Loved You" from Carousel. Just the best melody, most beautiful lyrics of all time. Best sentiment.
Performer
Chicago | Jekyll & Hyde
I love "Til There Was You" from The Music Man. That is what sticks out in my head. I also love "We Have So Little to Be Sure Of", even though it isn't lovey dovey- it's a bout people going separate ways, but I think it's beautiful.
Performer
Dead Outlaw | Natasha | Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812
"Somewhere" from West Side Story. It's a very obvious choice, but there is something so haunting about the way that melody enters.
Performer
Be More Chill | If/Then | A Chorus Line
"What I Did for Love" because of my history with the show, but also because it's such a beautiful message of celebrating love despite the complications... and still choosing it regardless.
Performer
The White Chip | Socrates | You Can't Take It With You
"Sunday in the Park with George" because I'm in love with the person who sang it last- my wife, Annaleigh Ashford. Maybe it's not a traditional love song, but seeing her do it on opening night was a moment I will never forget.
Performer
Wolf Hall: Parts 1 and 2
This is a tricky one… one of my favorite songs ever is "I Loves You Porgy" from Porgy And Bess, but my favorite version is Nina Simone’s which I know is not strictly a Broadway song! It’s haunting and filled with fear, but almost childlike in its simplicity.
Performer
The Lion King
"You Should Be Loved" from Side Show. I choose this song because Its written in such a way and with such beautiful imagery that it allows Jake to not only profess his love but simultaneously show her what true love should look like and that she should settle for nothing less than that- even in the face of rejection and hurt. It beautifully reminds us that there are no conditions as it relates to loving someone.
Performer
Tina | Nine | Macbeth | Electra
"I Didn’t Know What Time It Was” by Rogers and Hart from a musical called Too Many Girls (1939). It is a grown person’ s song, with a breadth of vision that embraces the past and the present-a combination of regret and wonder that makes me ache-in a good way.
Performer
Recording Artists
Our favorite Broadway love song is "Somewhere" from West Side Story, which we perform in our concerts and is also on our new album, A Collection of Broadway and American Classics. Those of us who have been lucky enough to fall in love can understand the daily distractions and various challenges that can arise in a relationship. The song is basically about one couple's yearning to get away from all of the difficulties and get back to the simplicity of their love for each other. They long for the idea that somehow, someday, somewhere, their love will triumph over everything.
Producer
Be More Chill
"Adore" from The Hunter S. Thompson musical that my collaborator Joe Iconis is working on. You can watch it on YouTube, I think that song knows exactly what love is and I think it's one of the most exciting songs that you will hear on Broadway someday soon.
Performer
Pippin | Spider-Man Turn Off The Dark
If we are talking Broadway or even Off Broadway, one of my favorite songs is
Jason Robert Brown's 'All the Wasted Time' but otherwise in general I'm
listening to 'My First Love' by Aiden Moore.
Performer
Barococo
“If I Loved You - from Carousel by Rodgers and Hammerstein. To me, this song is this epitome of romance. As the melody mounts and the crescdenos expand in Rodgers and Hammerstein's "If I Loved You," the newly met lovers entwine their fears and hopes with heartbreaking honesty. By the end of the song, they have fallen in love.”
Performer
Little Shop of Horrors
My favorite Broadway love song right now would have to be”All The Wasted Time” from Parade. The song talks about love in such a space of gratitude but also being accountable in the things we as people do in our relationships. It’s SO REAL! Also Ben and Micheala sing the heck out of the song!
Performer
The View Upstairs
My favorite love song is"‘I Do Not Know A Day I Did Not Love You" from a musical called Two By Two, the story of Noah and the Ark, starring Danny Kaye. Lyrics by Martin Charnin, music by Richard Rodgers. The song title alone says it all! I actually think that it should be revived starting Steve Martin.
Director
Here Lies Love | Moulin Rouge! | Beetlejuice | Rocky | American Utopia | Peter and the Starcatcher | Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson | Here Lies Love | The Robber Bridegroom | Oh | Hello
Performer
Leopoldstadt | Travesties | The Importance of Being Earnest
My favorite Broadway love song is "I've Never Been In Love Before." Guys And Dolls was the very first musical I was ever in. I was 14 years old, in 9th grade, and I fell head over heels in love with the melody. The harmony on "So please forgive, this helpless haze I'm in…" gave me shivers. When I met my husband at University he was doing an opera degree and I introduced him to this song and we would sing that harmony together in the car. We still do. And it still gives me shivers.”
Industry
Be More Chill | Poster Boy | The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical
"Suddenly Seymour" from Little Shop of Horrors. In a show that has so many fantastic elements, that song is the beating heart of the show.
Performer
Girl From the North Country
My favorite Broadway love song is definitely “They Can’t Take That Away From Me” — nothing like some Gershwin to capture the little things.
Performer
The Cher Show | An American in Paris
Alexa, play “I’m Here” by Cynthia Erivo on Spotify.
Director
NEXT TO NORMAL | JERSEY BOYS | THE ADDAMS FAMILY | ALL SHOOK UP
"Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" from JERSEY BOYS
Performer
The Other Josh Cohen
There is only one reason that my favorite Broadway love song is "Till There Was You" from The Music Man. Only one. It was recorded by The Beatles.
Yeah...Yeah... Yeah.
Performer
Enter Laughing The Musical | The Goodbye People | Trelawny of the
"I'll Know" from GUYS AND DOLLS. They realize they're made for each other during the song.
Videos
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