Can you name only one show tune that you would consider your all-time favorite? It’s a challenging task, we admit it, but these actors were game.
(The following responses were culled from Playbill’s Cue and A series.)
“Pinball Wizard!”
Ramin Karimloo
“If Ever I Would Leave You”
Keala Settle
“Coloring Book.” It’s so haunting, I love it.
Charlotte Parry
“Somewhere” from West Side Story
Elizabeth Stanley
So many, but I do have a special fondness for “Good Morning, Starshine” from Hair, and “Muddy Water” from Big River. Hairspray also gets a lot of playtime on my iPod; it’s just so happy!
Ben Vereen
“Magic To Do”
Erin Davie
I couldn’t possibly pick just one. It changes daily. It was “Memory” for a long time. Maybe it hasn’t changed. I’m not very committal. Can you tell?
There are so many...”Marry Me A Little”...”My Heart is So Full of You”...”Some Other Time”...”At the Ballet”...”Lonely Town”...”This Nearly Was Mine”...”Move On”...and just about anything from Gypsy and West Side Story.
Lillias White
“That’s Enough for Me” from Romance in Hard Times by William Finn
Petula Clark
“Somewhere” from West Side Story. Nothing can top that, frankly.
Conrad Kemp
“Don’t Cry For Me Argentina.” Or “I Loves You, Porgy.” Or “My Man’s Gone Now.” Or anything else from Porgy and Bess...
Krystal Joy Brown
“And the World Goes ‘Round”
That song just pretty much sums it up for me… “Sometimes you’re happy, sometimes you’re sad, but the world goes ‘round.” Yeah that pretty much says it all.
Jeremy Hays
“In This Wide, Wide World” from Gigi
“Pretty Women” from Sweeney Todd
Ben Fankhauser
I love “The Riddle Song” from Floyd Collins
Lee Tergesen
“Damned For All Time/Blood Money”
Jeff Hiller
“Change” from A New Brain. I’ve never met Mary Testa, but I wouldn’t mind being her best friend.
“Coloring Book.” It’s so haunting, I love it.
Bryan Terrell Clark
It’s between “On Broadway” and “Sophisticated Ladies”
Teal Wicks
“The Ballad of Sweeney Todd,” “Cool” from West Side Story, “Sunday” from Sunday in the Park with George
Nic Rouleau
Easy - “Make Someone Happy” by Jule Styne. It will be my wedding song.
Matt Lauria
“Heaven on Their Minds” (Jesus Christ Superstar), “Corner of the Sky” (Pippin), “A New World” (Songs for a New World), “Comfort and Joy” (Bat Boy), “Lily’s Eyes” (The Secret Garden).
Marla Mindelle
If I said “The Life I Never Led,” would you slap me across the face?
Gerard Canonico
Not sure I can choose even a handful. A plethora of songs from Les Miz. I think that score is beautiful. “Bring Him Home,” “Who Am I?,” “I Dreamed a Dream,” “On My Own” etc. I also really love Sweeney Todd. “Not While I’m Around” is one of my favorites for sure.
Brynn O’Malley
“Someone In a Tree”
“Finishing the Hat”
“Now” – “Soon” – “Later”
I’ll stop there before I just list every Sondheim song in some order.
Andrew Samonsky
“Pretty Women” and “The Nearness of You”
“The Riddle Song” from Floyd Collins, “Make Someone Happy” from Do Re Mi, “Our Time” from Merrily We Roll Along, “96,000” from In the Heights, “Paris Through the Window” from A Class Act
Taylor Louderman
“Dance of the Robe” from Aida
Howard McGillin
“A Quiet Thing” by Kander and Ebb. I’m a softie, what can I say?
Anna Chlumsky
“Cabaret“
“Broadway Baby”
“Adelaide’s Lament”
“I Am What I Am”
“The Impossible Dream”
“From this Moment On” from Cole Porter‘s Out of this World
Jayne Houdyshell
“Anyone Can Whistle,” “Who Are You Now,” “Rose’s Turn,” “Move On”
Michael Cumpsty
“If I Loved You” from Carousel
Josh Young
“Finishing the Hat” from Sunday in the Park with George
“Soliloquy” from Carousel
“Gethsemane” from Jesus Christ Superstar
Molly Ranson
“I Could Have Danced All Night” from My Fair Lady
“Hello Dolly” from Hello, Dolly!
“Maybe this Time” from Cabaret
“Edelweiss” from The Sound of Music
Matt Shingledecker
“Soliloquy” from Carousel
Mare Winningham
“Tonight” and “Somewhere” from West Side Story
“Rose’s Turn” from Gypsy
“A Wonderful Guy” from South Pacific
“Old Man River” and “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man of Mine” from Show Boat
“Maybe This Time” from Cabaret
All of Porgy and Bess
“Everything’s Coming Up Roses”
“Something’s Coming”
“Much More”
“Applause“
“I’m All I’ve Got”
“Sunday”
“I Remember”
“Superboy and the Invisible Girl”
Marlo Thomas
The entire score of A Chorus Line
Gabriel Ebert
“Singin’ in the Rain”
“Nobody’s Fool” from “The Court Jester”
“The Old Red Hills of Home” from Parade
I always love “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat” from Guys and Dolls.
Gavin Lee
“Unexpected Song” from Song and Dance
Terri White
Anything from West Side Story and “Who Can I Turn To?” from Roar of the Greasepaint...
Randy Graff
“Never Never Land”
“I Have Dreamed”
“Anyone Can Whistle”
“Johanna”
“Some People”
Ohhh, the list goes on....
Rutina Wesley
“Out Here On My Own” from Fame
Ari Graynor
Anything from Gypsy, Annie or Into the Woods
Bryce Ryness
“Soliloquy” from Carousel. As a father to a little girl (and new baby boy), that song carries a lot of weight. I also love “Gethsemane” from Jesus Christ Superstar. Just epic.
It changes but currently... “The Next Ten Minutes” from The Last Five Years is one of the most beautiful songs I’ve ever heard.
Corbin Bleu
It’s common to hear, but anything from Rent is very hard for me not to start singing along to.
Nick Adams
“The Music and the Mirror”
“All the Things You Are”
“Ballad of Sweeney Todd”
Forrest McClendon
“Free At Last” from Big River
Stephen Kunken
My cheeseball favorite: “Bring Him Home” as sung by Colm Wilkinson
My quotable favorite: “Epiphany” from Sweeney Todd
Josh Gad
“Breeze Off the River”
“Somewhere”
“I Am What I Am”
Alan Campbell
“Tonight” (come on... this whole score!)
“Stars and the Moon” by Jason Robert Brown
“Sailing” by William Finn. I did a workshop of New Brain and loved singing it.
Matt Cavenaugh
Impossible to name just one. Ummm... “Maria,” “Midnight Radio,” the entire bench scene from Carousel, “Sunday,” the overture from Merrily We Roll Along, “A Quiet Thing,” to name a few.
“Some People” from Gypsy. I get really cheesy and sing it at the top of my lungs when I’m feeling really strongly in one direction emotionally. Happy, angry, excited... doesn’t matter which “direction” as long as it’s strong. Belting Ethel-style is a complete release!
Gregg Edelman
Really now... it’s like trying to pick your favorite child. All right, I’ll play your game, Mr. Playbill.
For my more mainstream choice I’ll go with “At the Ballet” from A Chorus Line. For the “road less traveled” choice, I’ll pick “Is Anybody There?” from 1776.
Jackie Hoffman
Is this a questionnaire for gay people?
Michael Ball
My favourite song is “Gethsemane” from Jesus Christ Superstar. It’s an incredibly powerful, huge song (written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice) and I absolutely love singing it onstage when I’m on tour.
Andy Karl
“Dancing Through Life” from Wicked. Did I mention...? If you ever heard Orfeh sing anything it would be your freakin’ favorite. When I saw her sing “If I Can’t Have You” in Saturday Night Fever, it took the show to a new level. Same thing for “Make Like a Nail” in Trailer Park... just awesome.
There are a few songs that I don’t click past when I’m in shuffle mode. “Heart & Soul” from Bright Lights, Big City, “Class” from Sondheim’s Saturday Night, “The Calling” from Altar Boyz.
“Some Enchanted Evening.” Always has been.
Hugh Panaro
OMG! Impossible to pick one as there are so many amazing songs out there. But because it was the very first showtune I EVER sang (when I was 12), and since there are so many memories attached to it, and I still agree with the sentiment of it, I’m gonna say “Tomorrow.”
Joshua Henry
Tie between “What Would I Do If I Could Feel” from The Wiz, “New Music” from Ragtime and “Dividing Day” from Light in the Piazza. They all get me every time.
Emily Skinner
If truth be told, “Schadenfreude” from Avenue Q speaks to my very core.
“And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” from Dreamgirls
Jan Maxwell
I don’t know if it’s my favorite, but when I think of my son, a Sondheim song comes to mind - “Loving You.” The first line of that song makes me fall apart: “Loving you is not a choice, it’s who I am.”
Robin De Jesús
“Buddy’s Eyes,” “I’m Here,” “Soliloquy” or “96,000.” Depending on the day.
Katie Finneran
Sweeny Todd “Johanna” Act II
Jessica Hecht
“Suddenly Seymour” (is that the title...you know from Little Shop...)
Rebecca Naomi Jones
love the song “Barcelona” from Company. And the entire West Side Story score is just so beautiful.
Bobby Steggert
Is the opening number of Ragtime cheating?
“Nobody’s Side” (how many days did I drive around in my Bronco II in high school pretending I was Judy Kuhn or Elaine Page...who’s a geek??)
Chad Kimball
“The Riddle Song” from Floyd Collins
