PLAYBILL PLAYLIST: Broadway Couples Pick Their Favorite Love Songs in Time for Valentine's Day | Playbill

Playlist PLAYBILL PLAYLIST: Broadway Couples Pick Their Favorite Love Songs in Time for Valentine's Day Broadway couples celebrate romance, both on stage and off, during the second annual A Very Broadway Valentine's Day Feb. 12 at 54 Below. In celebration of Valentine's Day and the concert, members of the cast pick their favorite love songs as part of this week's Playbill Playlist.
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Max Crumm

Concerts, featuring music direction by Benjamin Rauhala, are offered at 9:30 PM and 11:30 PM.

Performers include special guest Santino Fontana ("Frozen," Cinderella) and Broadway couples Matthew Scott (Sondheim on Sondheim) and Kirsten Scott (Big Fish); Alysha Umphress (On The Town) and Cody Williams (On The Town); Taylor Trensch (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time) and Max Crumm (The Fantasticks); Amy Spanger (Chicago) and Brian Shepard (Something Rotten!); Michael Tacconi (Bare) and Elizabeth Judd (Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark); R.J Valliancourt and Sara Kapner (Bare); Jake Boyd (Rock of Ages) and Casey Garvin (Bullets Over Broadway); Daniel Quadrino (Newsies) and Devin Lewis; cellist Mairi-Doman Phaneuf (The Bridges of Madison County) and saxophonist Marc Phaneuf (Honeymoon in Vegas); and Jason Gotay (Bring It On) and Michael Hartung (Peter Pan Live!).

The 11:30 PM performance will also feature Caroline Bowman (Wicked) and Austin Colby (Smokey Joe's Café); and Brendon Stimson (Honeymoon in Vegas) and Catherine Charlebois (Wicked). Spanger and Shepard will not appear at the 11:30 PM concert. 

The evening promises "many of Broadway's most romantic songs, and special stories from each couple."

54 Below is located at 254 West 54th Street. There is a $25-$45 cover charge plus a $25 food and beverage minimum. For more information and tickets, call (646) 476-3551 or visit 54Below.com.

Michael Tacconni: "Brand New" (Pharrell). I like "Brand New" by Pharrell. I think it's great because it's about how fun the feeling of love is. Just being on top of the world and refreshed from that person.

Jake Boyd: "I Drove All Night" (Celine Dion). My favorite love song is "I Drove All Night" by the lovely C. Dion. Why? This fever for you was just burning me up insiiiiiiiide.

Alysha Umphress: "Say It Somehow" (The Light In The Piazza). …Because it's the most beautiful song from the most beautiful show. Saw it four times (twice by myself). Perfection.

Matthew Scott: "Nobody Knows Me" (Lyle Lovett). This song gets me every time. It's a combination of the simplicity of the lyric and Lyle Lovett's vocals that make this one of the most beautiful love songs in my book. Kirsten and I relish having our morning coffee in our little nook and reading the morning paper or doing the crossword. It's cherished time together. "I like cream in my coffee. I like to sleep late on Sunday. And nobody knows me like my baby."

Kirsten Scott - "It Feels Like Home" (Randy Newman). My favorite love song is "Feels Like Home" by Randy Newman. (It just happens to be the song I sang in the V-day show last year.) My high school best friend and fellow performer, Anisha Nagarajan, sang this song at my wedding and did a beautiful rendition on the ukulele. It was as if time stopped at that moment during our wedding ceremony, and nothing mattered but Matt and I. It was magical.

Amy Spanger: "Falling Slowly" (Once). My favorite love song is "Falling Slowly" by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. My husband Brian and I sang this song at our wedding. We had a conversation early on in our relationship about how much we both loved the film "Once," so it was the perfect song choice for our wedding. Pretty much every person at our wedding was bawling during the song, including Brian and me. We sang it again recently as an encore at my 54 Below solo show!

Austin Colby: Kurt Elling's cover of "Leaving Again/In The Wee Small Hours of the Morning." So I may be cheating by submitting this clip because technically it is two songs. The majority of my relationship with Caroline [Bowman] has been long distance. This lifestyle is one that many actors can relate to. Without fail, this song would play immediately following our always-short visits during tour. It depicts how precious time together is and while it was a challenge, she was always worth it. I'm pleased to report that we survived the tour life and now can call each other neighbors.

Caroline Bowman - "A Case Of You" (Joni Mitchell). I just love the idea of being drunk in love because it's not something you can control and sometimes you hurt, and it goes in glorious waves, but it's a gift to be in love. Also, I just think the song is beautiful. "Love is touching souls!"

Sara Kapner and RJ Valliancourt: "Steal My Girl" (One Direction). After a hotly debated discussion, in which RJ vouched for "If I Loved You" and Sara vouched for "I Luh Ya Papi," we decided our favorite love song right now is none other than One Direction's "Steal My Girl." We're not entirely sure what the song is about or why Danny DeVito is in the video, but it's really catchy and the chorus is impossible not to sing along to.

Casey Garvin: "Somebody Loves You" (Betty Who). It's not over dramatic, but really shows the true meaning as to why it's nice to have somebody there who really loves you for you.

Daniel Quadrino - "Everybody" (Ingrid Michaelson). Devin [Lewis] and I used to make playlists for each other, and this song was on the first one Devin made for me.

Elizabeth Judd - "The Way You Look Tonight" (Tony Bennett). My favorite love song is probably "The Way You Look Tonight" because I watched "My Best Friends Wedding" one million times when I was a kid and then would fall asleep to the Tony Bennett CD because I loved the song so much. I was a strange kid.

Max Crumm: "Love They Say" (Tegan and Sara). I truly believe that being in love or having love is one of the greatest feelings. This song describes it perfectly! Also, that hard, magical 80s sound gets me every time.

Taylor Trensch - "You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go" (Bob Dylan). It's more heartbreaking than romantic, but I think this song contains some of the most honest lyrics from one of our greatest poets. Also, by Dylan's standards, he sounds great.

Benjamin Rauhala: "If You're Not The One" (Daniel Bedingfield). Daniel Bedingfield's 2002 power ballad "If You're Not The One" is unquestionably my favorite love song. The entire verse is only two chords, never quite resolving, which leaves the listener uncertain as to whether the singer is pleading to hold onto a love that is slipping away, or simply seeking to affirm a love they hold in their grasp. The melody and lyrics of the chorus are so simple and universal, and yet filled with longing — "If I'm not made for you then why does my heart tell me that I am?" Daniel Bedingfield's falsetto is gorgeous, and the melancholy chord progression really helps this tune pull at my heartstrings. When he hits a high E-flat as he asks, "Is there any way that I can stay in your arms?" My goodness. Hopefully, I'll be lucky enough to have someone sing something like this to me one day.

Alan Stevens Hewitt: "It's You I Like" (Mr. Rogers). Hmm… Favorite love song is tough — so many good ones. But, this is definitely my favorite "like" song…

Mairi Dorman-Phaneuf: "At Last" (Etta James). My favorite love song is Gordon and Warren's "At Last" as made famous by Etta James. The arrangement Riley Hampton wrote for her has become so iconic. Beautiful.

Marc Phaneuf: "Stardust" (Hoagy Carmichael). My favorite romantic ballad would be Hoagy Carmichael's "Stardust" with a close second of Johnny Green's "Body and Soul."

 Brendon Stimson and Catherine Charlebois: "Love to Me" (The Light in the Piazza). Our favorite love song, as far as musical theatre goes, would have to be "Love to Me" from The Light in the Piazza. It's such a gorgeous tune and actually has some special significance to us, as we had it played at our wedding ceremony. Catherine walked down the aisle to Pachelbel's Canon in D, and it morphed into "Love to Me" so seamlessly. Anytime we hear that song it'll always take us back to that beautiful day.

 
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