While Sounds Good Choir singers were revving up for the 2025 Spring session, “Broadway!” we wanted to know what their favorite Broadway musical and show tunes were. We called out for answers to this question:
“If you could only sing one song from one musical, which one would it be?”
Surprisingly, or not, there were very few repeats. And when more than one person chose the same musical, different songs from it won out. A few musicals did ring the same bell for several singers: “Carousel,” “Guys and Dolls,” and “Les Misérables” were popular. Otherwise, everyone was shuffling all over the boards in Broadway’s lights. Here are just a few of the shows and songs which are favorites of Sounds Good singers and fans.
- One of my favorite musicals (maybe my all-time favorite) is “Carousel.” And the song I love most is “If I Loved You”. This was fun. Thanks! (Bob Steed)
- “What a Wonderful World”—I love the version by John Baptist (Phyllis Mitzen)
- It would be “For Good” from “Wicked, the Musical.” Thanks, George Klippel
- “Getting to Know You” from “The King and I” (Sheila Doherty)
- “Camelot” or “Cabaret” (Patricia Gill)
- I have many favorites, but if I have to pick just one, it’s “There’s a Small Hotel” from the Rodgers and Hart musical “On Your Toes.” (James Hinde)
- “Send In the Clowns.” (Betty Cannon)
- “Les Misérables,” “Do You Hear the People Sing?” (Bob Horner)
- Favorite musical is Les Misérables. Favorite number is toss-up between “Look to the Rainbow” (from “Finian’s Rainbow”) and “You’ll Never Walk Alone” from “Carousel.” Happy singing! (Barb Quinn)
- I think it would be fun to sing, “Another 100 People” from “Company.” (Linda Scott)
- My selection is actually an off Broadway production, but it is “If We Only Have Love” from “Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris.” (Jim Johnson)
- Easy! It would be: “One Day More” From “Les Misérables” (Tom Heinz)
- Definitely “She Used To Be Mine” from “Waitress” (Deborah Taylor Johnson)
- “Wheels of a Dream” from “Ragtime” (Manny Schenk)
- “The Brotherhood of Man” from “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.” (It eventually became the Hamms Beer jingle.) I played J. B. Biggley. (Mark Fedota)
- “Guys and Dolls” is my fave musical. “Sit Down You’re Rockin’ the Boat” and “Lucky Be a Lady” are the standout songs for me. (Ellen Dunleavy)
- “Bring Him Home” from “Les Misérables” (Betsy Kennedy)
- My favorite is “Bring Him Home” from “Les Misérables.” Makes me cry every time I hear it. (Jen Mahoney)
- “We’ll Make Our Garden Grow,” finale from “Candide.” (Completely different) “That’s Why I Love Vegetables,” from “The Fantastiks.” (Dorothy Strang)
- I have at least two favorite musicals that many people don’t seem to know: “The Roar of the Greasepaint, the Smell of the Crowd” —favorite song: “Who Can I Turn To?” and “Fiorello”—favorite song: “Politics and Poker” (Julian Breslow)
- “Defying Gravity” (vde frank)
- “There’s a Place for Us” from “West Side Story.” Always brings tears. (Tori Bassani)
- “Over the Rainbow.” This is one of my favorite tunes. I look forward to singing in the choir.” (Donna Schiller)
- One musical and one song? Almost impossible, but my first gut reaction is: “Guys and Dolls”—“More I Cannot Wish You” (Katie Frankle)
- “The Impossible Dream” (Leora Berns)
- Just a few off the top of my head—can come up with more (but I don’t know how some lend themselves to SATB)! (Linda Jenkins)
- “Bali Ha’i”
- “I Could Have Danced All Night”
- “Sunrise, Sunset”
- “Hello, Young Lovers”
- “On the Street Where You Live”
- “If Ever I Would Leave You”
- “If I Loved You”
- “Old Man River”
- “Bells Are Ringing”
- “Kiss Me Kate”—musical and “Adelaide’s Lament” from “Guys and Dolls”—because I got to perform it as a solo in a Skokie Concert Choir performance (Ruth Baerman)
- My choice would be the song “Snow” from “White Christmas.” (A Hoffman)
- Difficult to narrow down to one song but I thoroughly enjoyed “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Coat.” (Marsha Beavins Poppie)
- One of my favorites is “You’ll Never Walk Alone” from “Carousel” (Mark Cornell)
- Musical: “Hamilton.” Song: “Alexander Hamilton.” (Nan Fornal)
- Musical—”Cats,” song—“Memories” (Linda Slepicka)
- “Mary Poppins.” Me and my retired friends want a sing along just like we did years ago with sound of music. (Nancy Brown Silverman)
- Joy, Another “South Pacific” song, “Younger than Springtime.” (Sharon Kotzin Frolick)
- “Summertime”… and lucky me, I get to sing it this spring! (Robyn Mann)
- “There Ain’t Nothing Like A Dame” from “South Pacific” (Joy Bozzelli)
- “No More” from “Into the Woods” (Jose R. Colon)
- Almost anything from Sondheim’s “Company”—“Company,” “You Could Drive a Person Crazy,” “Getting Married Today,” “Side by Side by Side,” and “The Ladies Who Lunch.” (Julie Lilie)
- It’s very hard to choose just one musical as my favorite, but I’ll settle on “South Pacific.” And my favorite song? The human longing for unattainable perfection has never been more achingly expressed than in “This Nearly Was Mine,” from that musical. If I could add a favorite song from the other end of the emotional scale, it’s “Many a New Day,” from the musical, “Oklahoma.” (Jean Agathen)
- “To Dream the Impossible Dream” from “Man of La Mancha” is both powerful and timely. (Maura Junius)
- “Children Will Listen” from “Into the Woods” (Susan Beach White)
- Since you asked, I would have to say “Old Man River” from “Show Boat.” (Ron Hadsall)
- “One Day More” from “Les Misérables.” (Cathy Eisen)
I am aghast that no one mentioned The Music Man “76 Trombones Led the Big Parade” or The Sound of Music “The Hills are Alive with The Sound of Music” or “Edelweiss”