My Top 5 Showtunes: Jonathan Reid Gealt

Jonathan Reid Gealt is a New York based composer and lyricist. His first full-length song cycle, Forward received critical acclaim and featured the likes of Shoshana Bean, Jonathan Groff, and Tituss Burgess. As a performer his credits include The Secret Garden, Rags and Les Miserables.

He will appear in concert, alongside some special guests, at the Hippodrome Casino in Leicester Square on Thursday 16 February.

We caught up with Jonathan and asked him: "If you were stranded on a desert island which five showtunes could you not live without?"

1. "Old Red Hills of Home" from Parade

I remember everything about the first time I heard this song and this score. I was with one of my best friends in high school and he said he had heard this new show he thought I would really enjoy. So we piled in my car, drove over to Strawberries (a music store), and they had one copy left. From the first drum beat, I was mesmerised. We sat in the car and listened to the entire show from start to finish without leaving the parking lot. It was the day I realised musical theatre was what I wanted to do with my life.

2. "A Little Priest" from Sweeney Todd

Sweeney is my favorite show. I feel like Sondheim was just showing off when he wrote it. Not intentionally, but he was. The sophistication, the ingenuity, the depth of emotion and range he's given his characters is almost unmatched. And that score! The sheer size of the score is enough to blow you through the back wall of the theatre. The first time I heard "A Little Priest", I couldn't believe how he managed to come up with something that intricate while still making it so melodic, pleasing, and funny!

3. "Till We Reach That Day" from Ragtime

The entire score to Ragtime blows me away every time I hear it. The storytelling, the voices, the music and the emotion made me cry the first time I heard it. I had never been moved to tears by a song before that moment. It was also the first time I heard Audra [McDonald].

4. "Love to Me" from Light in the Piazza

Adam Guettel is my hero. Nobody writes the way he does. It's one of my favorite love songs of all time and the way he captures the storytelling in the music itself is unrivaled. Even when you break it down just by the time signature. 5 4/8. Who does that!? He does. But it sounds like the wind. He captured the wind in a single song. It's magical.

5. "You Matter To Me" from Waitress

The lyrics of this song are everything I try to live my life by. I know that sounds dramatic, but it's true. Sara Bareilles managed to write a song that resonates with the simplest thing that truly matters in a relationship – each other, whatever kind of relationship it might be. And Drew Gehling could sing me the phonebook and I'd find it beautiful and interesting.

Bonus entry. "I'm Here" from The Color Purple

Okay, so I know I'm only allowed five picks, but Cynthia Erivo's performance of "I'm Here" in The Color Purple is one of those moments you never forget. The song is beautiful, moving and impeccable. But Cynthia's portrayal, voice, emotion and honesty just make it something that I wouldn't be able to live without. Cynthia is the reason it's on this list. Watching her in this show was one of the most magical musical moments of my life.