Hands down the best Broadway love song ever written is "If I Loved You" from CAROUSEL, not only because of the amazingly poignant melody and those heartbreaking harmonies, but also because of the simplicity and honesty of the lyric. Romantic denial as poetry. The song is also framed by in one of the best-written book scenes ever written for a musical. I had the privilege of hearing Sally Murphy and Michael Hayden perform the song and scene at a Lincoln Center Theater gala last year and was once again blown away by its enduring power and beauty. Happy Valentine's Day to all!

"You Are My Dream" from DREAMGIRLS because I remember thinking..."one day, someone will say that to me"...and he did.

To me, what makes a love song poignant and romantic is when it's sung by a real person to or about a real person. And real people are imperfect. And mature love is a lot about loving someone's imperfections -- or loving despite their imperfections. There are two songs that fit this description perfectly, and they never fail to move me. The first, fittingly enough, is "My Funny Valentine". (Pal Joey, Rodgers & Hart.) "Your looks are laughable/Unphotographable/Yet you're my favorite work of art". The other is "What Makes Me Love Him?". (The Apple Tree, Bock & Harnick.) "What makes me love him?/It's not his singing/I've heard his singing/It spoils the milk/And yet, it's gotten to the point where I prefer that kind of milk". It's set to a brilliantly simple melody, which makes it all the more romantic and poignant. I don't mind admitting that it makes me cry every time I hear it.

"Send in the Clowns"

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.

"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!

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...

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.

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!!!

"I'll Cover You" from RENT

"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.

There are so many great romantic love songs from Broadway shows... I could make an endless list. But my favorite, by far, is "Yours, Yours, Yours" by Sherman Edwards from "1776." Every time I see a production of the show or hear it on a Broadway Cast Recording, it leaves me in a puddle. That song destroys me every time.

Rodgers & Hart "Small Hotel" especially the Portia Nelson recording.

I'm actually partial to "The Old Red Hills of Home" as a love song because of the way the love of this woman, Lila, gradually keeps expanding to the love of a place, a home, a way of life. It's very beautiful and not a little terrifying, the way something putatively marital becomes potently martial.

"So Far" from ALLEGRO. Though in its original context I think it was sung to a newborn baby, out of context it's always sung as a love song. It's a great song because it's about that overwhelming anticipation and hope at the beginning of any relationship.

Well, "I Have Dreamed" from THE KING AND I is definitely up there, as is "Still" from TITANIC and John Bucchino's "Unexpressed". But for sheer purity and simplicity, I'll have to go with "They Were You" from THE FANTASTICKS. The lyric is so heartfelt and the melody so beautiful. Maybe someday someone will sing it to me (he said hopefully). Now pass the candy hearts...

The song is "Long Before I Knew You" from the show BELLS ARE RINGING, written by my husband, Adolph Green. I met him when I auditioned for that show, and we were married over 40-some-odd years. So I think my answer is the best of anybody's you're going to get.

I'd have to name "Music That Makes Me Dance" as first performed on Broadway in FUNNY GIRL by Barbra Streisand and then even more memorably by Mimi Hines. Great 11:00 number by Jule Styne with Bob Merrill's moving lyrics.

It's definitely "Some Enchanted Evening" from SOUTH PACIFIC. I used to watch the movie everytime it came on television with my father. When Emile sings "And night after night, as strange as it seems, the sound of her laughter will sing in your dreams" I get very weepy. The song really defines the complicated layers of love- how it can completely capture you off guard, and how it can fill you with hope and longing.

My favorite love song is "My Heart is So Full of You" from THE MOST HAPPY FELLA. It's simple; it's perfect.

To me the most romantic Broadway love song would have to be "Unusual Way" from NINE. It is so moving and beautiful, and it talks about how love has no perfect mold. Happy Valentines Day!

I would have to say "With So Little To Be Sure Of" from Anyone Can Whistle. Not only a heartbreakingly beautiful melody, but it captures the essence of right person/wrong time. Also, "It Never Was You" from Weill's Knickerbocker Holiday. Another ballad of love and longing, beautiful and sad. Another tough year, then.....

"All I Ask of You" from Andrew Lloyd Webber's THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. Just the aching plea of the song is enough to send shivers through me every time.

It has to be "Love Sneaks In" from DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS. A Valentine song for the more mature man.

I think the most romantic Broadway love song, for me, is "Not While I'm Around" from SWEENEY TODD. Not for what it says, but for what it does not directly say. The act of protecting someone from all things bad is the most primal form of devotion, love---if not in the standard "I love you, you love me" form. Of course the character who sings this song is not in love in the traditional way. But for him, he is experiencing the most strong and raw emotion that he has ever felt. Quirky, I know, but the combination of sweeping melody, with it's rather wide intervals and plaintive simple lyrics make this the most romantic Broadway love song that I can think of. I know this is not a doctoral thesis, but this song of devotion has moved me more than any other.

"With Every Breath I Take" from CITY OF ANGELS. What a way to be thinking of someone you love or lost but still love them. I mean, we breathe every second!

(1950-2007) "My Heart is So Full of You", with music and lyrics and music by Frank Loesser from MOST HAPPY FELLA. It's a duet sung by Tony and Rosabella, from a magnificent score with breathtaking emotional melodies. Their love for one another is bursting with passion, not reflected but immediate and it's full of expression. Forgive me Mr. Loesser, but I think that the lyric went something like this: "my heart is so full of you, there is no room for anything more there" Wow! Come on! This knocks me out. I think that I remember that feeling? Do you? Hope so!! Celebrate your partners! Happy Valentine's Day!

On the Street Where You Live from My Fair Lady. A valentine to stalkers everywhere. You can just imagine the ski cap and the high powered rifle while you listen to it.

Easy! "Some Enchanted Evening." Because when it's done by the right person with the right voice it transports all of us to that moment when we first spotted someone we found perfect -whether it was in a crowded restaurant or subway. R&H hit emotional heights with this one.

After weighing the obvious ("If I Loved You" from CAROUSEL) and the classic ("Tonight" from WEST SIDE STORY)and the sad (there are so many of these including "A Little Fall of Rain" from Les Mis or "Not a Day Goes Boy" from MERRILY) Jessica-Snow Wilson and I both agreed that "I Chose Right" from BABY is probably the song that will always bring tears to our eyes with it's heartfelt lyrics and sentiment. "And I think about you, and I think about me loving you..."