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.

It's "So In Love" from Kiss Me Kate. This is going to sound so dorky, but it has these beautiful intervals- very longing, bittersweet, reaching intervals. I love the idea of it... the unrequited sort of theme that's happening there. And it's a minor key, which I also love! You just can't go wrong with Cole Porter.

Anything Sondheim... but do you know what it is? "Losing My Mind from Follies. That's the best love song ever written. And equally as good is "Loving You" from Passion. Loving you is not a choice, it's who I am... So good.

We love "Move On" from Sunday in the Park with George, but that's more of a breakup song... How about "If I Loved You" from Carousel? All of those great Richard Rodgers songs are so beautiful.

"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.

Hands down, "The Music That Makes Me Dance" from FUNNY GIRL. But I also love "Some Girls" from ONCE ON THIS ISLAND. When he says... some girls you marry, some you love... Gets me everytime.

That would be a song I've used to romance women with. It's a cute song - "I Get A Kick Out Of You" (ANYTHING GOES) - it's a fun song to get the girl in the mood. That's my love song for any beautiful woman that I'm dating on Valentine's Day. Cole Porter knew his stuff. He also wrote the lyric "Let's do it!"- which is my theme song.

I think one of my favorite love songs has always been "I've Never Said I Love You" from Jerry Herman's DEAR WORLD. The melody is terrific and the last few lines are great: "I've never said 'I love you'/when I say 'I love you'/He'll know I've never loved before/He'll know I'll never love again." Gets me every time!

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.

"Do That to Me One More Time" by The Captain and Tennille.

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.

We just can't choose one. Our favorites are: "It Only Takes a Moment" from HELLO DOLLY!, "What More Can I Say" from Falsettos, and "I Have Dreamed" from THE KING AND I.

"Something Good" from (the film) THE SOUND OF MUSIC.

"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.

In my opinion, the most romantic Broadway love song is "Move On" from SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE. Not in the traditional sense, but in the way lovers support and uplift each other to be their very best. I love the way the song suggests that although this may not be easy, as long as you "Move On" and stay true to yourself, you will have something more to give..to enrich others' lives.

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 most romantic song written for a musical in my opinion is "I Never Loved You' from Cyrano de Bergerac starring Christopher Plummer. The song not only has beautiful emotional lyrics but a soaring melody that tears your heart out given the context of the piece. The song is placed in the final scene when Roxane finally realizes that it was Cyrano who had written the love letters to her and not Christian but Cyrano still tries to deny it by singing the incredibly moving line "I never loved you, My Dear love, not I" and it just breaks your heart ! Try it !

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.