Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical
Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical | |
---|---|
Awarded for | Best Book of a Musical |
Location | United States New York City |
Presented by | American Theatre Wing The Broadway League |
Currently held by | Diablo Cody for Jagged Little Pill (2020) |
Website | TonyAwards.com |
The Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical is awarded to librettists of the spoken, non-sung dialogue, and storyline of a musical play. Eligibility is restricted to works with original narrative framework; plotless revues and revivals are ineligible. This award was originally called the Tony Award for Best Author, until musicals were split off from dramas.
Winners and nominees[]
indicates the winner
1940s[]
Year | Author | Production |
---|---|---|
1949 3rd Tony Awards | ||
Bella & Samuel Spewack | Kiss Me, Kate |
1950s[]
Year | Author | Production |
---|---|---|
1950 4th Tony Awards | ||
Oscar Hammerstein II & Joshua Logan | South Pacific |
1960s[]
Year | Author | Production |
---|---|---|
1962 16th Tony Awards | ||
Abe Burrows, Willie Gilbert & Jack Weinstock | How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying | |
Helen Deutsch & Michael Stewart | Carnival! | |
1963 17th Tony Awards | ||
Larry Gelbart & Burt Shevelove | A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum | |
Lionel Bart | Oliver! | |
Leslie Bricusse & Anthony Newley | Stop the World – I Want to Get Off | |
Neil Simon | Little Me | |
1964 18th Tony Awards | ||
Michael Stewart | Hello, Dolly! | |
Noël Coward & Harry Kurnitz | The Girl Who Came to Supper | |
Timothy Gray & Hugh Martin | High Spirits | |
Joe Masteroff | She Loves Me | |
1965 19th Tony Awards | ||
Joseph Stein | Fiddler on the Roof | |
Jerome Coopersmith | Baker Street | |
Beverley Cross | Half a Sixpence | |
Sidney Michaels | Ben Franklin in Paris |
1970s[]
Year | Author | Production |
---|---|---|
1970 24th Tony Awards |
N/A | |
1971 25th Tony Awards | ||
George Furth | Company | |
Robert H. Livingston & Herb Schapiro | The Me Nobody Knows | |
Sherman Yellen | The Rothschilds | |
1972 26th Tony Awards | ||
John Guare & Mel Shapiro | Two Gentlemen of Verona | |
Warren Casey & Jim Jacobs | Grease | |
James Goldman | Follies | |
Melvin Van Peebles | Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death | |
1973 27th Tony Awards | ||
Hugh Wheeler | A Little Night Music | |
Micki Grant | Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope | |
Roger O. Hirson | Pippin | |
Melvin Van Peebles | Don't Play Us Cheap | |
1974 28th Tony Awards | ||
Hugh Wheeler | Candide | |
Michael Bennett | Seesaw | |
Robert Nemiroff & Charlotte Zaltzberg | Raisin | |
1975 29th Tony Awards | ||
James Lee Barrett, Philip Rose & Peter Udell | Shenandoah | |
William F. Brown | The Wiz | |
Gene Curty, Nitra Scharfman & Chuck Strand | The Lieutenant | |
Michael Stewart | Mack and Mabel | |
1976 30th Tony Awards | ||
Nicholas Dante & James Kirkwood Jr. | A Chorus Line | |
Fred Ebb & Bob Fosse | Chicago | |
Alfred Uhry | The Robber Bridegroom | |
John Weidman | Pacific Overtures | |
1977 31st Tony Awards | ||
Thomas Meehan | Annie | |
Vinnette Justine Carroll | Your Arms Too Short to Box with God | |
Michael Feingold & Elisabeth Hauptmann | Happy End | |
Michael Stewart | I Love My Wife | |
1978 32nd Tony Awards | ||
Betty Comden & Adolph Green | On the Twentieth Century | |
Christopher Durang | A History of the American Film | |
Stephen Schwartz | Working | |
Elizabeth Swados | Runaways | |
1979 33rd Tony Awards | ||
Hugh Wheeler | Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street | |
Jerome Kass | Ballroom | |
Larry L. King & Peter Masterson | The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas | |
Neil Simon | They're Playing Our Song |
1980s[]
Year | Author | Production |
---|---|---|
1980 34th Tony Awards | ||
Tim Rice | Evita | |
Ralph G. Allen & Harry Rigby | Sugar Babies | |
Mark Bramble | Barnum | |
Dick Vosburgh | A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine | |
1981 35th Tony Awards | ||
Peter Stone | Woman of the Year | |
Mark Bramble & Michael Stewart | 42nd Street | |
Mary Kyte | Tintypes | |
Julian More & Monty Norman | The Moony Shapiro Songbook | |
1982 36th Tony Awards | ||
Tom Eyen | Dreamgirls | |
Martin Charnin & Joel Siegel | The First | |
Arthur Kopit | Nine | |
Tim Rice | Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat | |
1983 37th Tony Awards | ||
T. S. Eliot | Cats | |
Betty Comden & Adolph Green | A Doll's Life | |
Richard Levinson & William Link | Merlin | |
Timothy S. Mayer & Peter Stone | My One and Only | |
1984 38th Tony Awards | ||
Harvey Fierstein | La Cage aux Folles | |
Charles Blackwell | The Tap Dance Kid | |
James Lapine | Sunday in the Park with George | |
Sybille Pearson | Baby | |
1985 39th Tony Awards | ||
William Hauptman | Big River | |
Barbara Damashek & Molly Newman | Quilters | |
Fay Kanin | Grind | |
Michael Stewart | Harrigan 'N Hart | |
1986 40th Tony Awards | ||
Rupert Holmes | The Mystery of Edwin Drood | |
Betty Comden & Adolph Green | Singin' in the Rain | |
Bob Fosse | Big Deal | |
Jane Iredale | Wind in the Willows | |
1987 41st Tony Awards | ||
Alain Boublil & Claude-Michel Schönberg | Les Misérables | |
Howard Ashman | Smile | |
Stephen Fry, Douglas Furber, Mike Ockrent & L. Arthur Rose | Me and My Girl | |
Joseph Stein | Rags | |
1988 42nd Tony Awards | ||
James Lapine | Into the Woods | |
Lee Breuer | The Gospel at Colonus | |
Barry Harman | Romance/Romance | |
Richard Stilgoe & Andrew Lloyd Webber | The Phantom of the Opera | |
1989 43rd Tony Awards |
N/A |
1990s[]
Year | Author | Production |
---|---|---|
1990 44th Tony Awards | ||
Larry Gelbart | City of Angels | |
Luther Davis | Grand Hotel | |
Andrew Lloyd Webber | Aspects of Love | |
Hugh Wheeler | Meet Me in St. Louis | |
1991 45th Tony Awards | ||
Marsha Norman | The Secret Garden | |
Lynn Ahrens | Once on This Island | |
Alain Boublil & Claude-Michel Schönberg | Miss Saigon | |
Peter Stone | The Will Rogers Follies | |
1992 46th Tony Awards | ||
William Finn & James Lapine | Falsettos | |
Ken Ludwig | Crazy for You | |
Clarke Peters | Five Guys Named Moe | |
George C. Wolfe | Jelly's Last Jam | |
1993 47th Tony Awards | ||
Terrence McNally | Kiss of the Spider Woman | |
Peter Kellogg | Anna Karenina | |
Des McAnuff & Pete Townshend | The Who's Tommy | |
Willy Russell | Blood Brothers | |
1994 48th Tony Awards | ||
James Lapine | Passion | |
Walter Bobbie | A Grand Night for Singing | |
Koen van Dijk | Cyrano: The Musical | |
Linda Woolverton | Beauty and the Beast | |
1995 49th Tony Awards | ||
Don Black & Christopher Hampton | Sunset Boulevard | |
1996 50th Tony Awards | ||
Jonathan Larson | Rent | |
Graciela Daniele, Michael John LaChiusa, & Jim Lewis | Chronicle of a Death Foretold | |
Reg E. Gaines | Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk | |
John Weidman | Big: The Musical | |
1997 51st Tony Awards | ||
Peter Stone | Titanic | |
Leslie Bricusse | Jekyll & Hyde | |
Cy Coleman, Ira Gasman & David Newman | The Life | |
David Thompson | Steel Pier | |
1998 52nd Tony Awards | ||
Terrence McNally | Ragtime | |
Roger Allers & Irene Mecchi | The Lion King | |
Nan Knighton | The Scarlet Pimpernel | |
Bill Russell | Side Show | |
1999 53rd Tony Awards | ||
Alfred Uhry | Parade | |
Charles Bevel, Lita Gaithers, Randal Myler, Ron Taylor & Dan Wheetman | It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues | |
Walter Bobbie & Dean Pitchford | Footloose | |
Pam Gems | Marlene |
2000s[]
Year | Author | Production |
---|---|---|
2000 54th Tony Awards | ||
Richard Nelson | James Joyce's The Dead | |
Michael John LaChiusa | Marie Christine | |
LaChiusa & George C. Wolfe | The Wild Party | |
John Weidman | Contact | |
2001 55th Tony Awards | ||
Mel Brooks & Thomas Meehan | The Producers | |
John Caird | Jane Eyre | |
Linda Kline & Lonny Price | A Class Act | |
Terrence McNally | The Full Monty | |
2002 56th Tony Awards | ||
Greg Kotis | Urinetown | |
John Guare | Sweet Smell of Success | |
Catherine Johnson | Mamma Mia! | |
Richard Morris & Dick Scanlan | Thoroughly Modern Millie | |
2003 57th Tony Awards | ||
Thomas Meehan & Mark O'Donnell | Hairspray | |
David Henry Hwang | Flower Drum Song | |
Willie Reale | A Year with Frog and Toad | |
Jeremy Sams & Didier Van Cauwelaert | Amour | |
2004 58th Tony Awards | ||
Jeff Whitty | Avenue Q | |
Nick Enright & Martin Sherman | The Boy from Oz | |
Winnie Holzman | Wicked | |
Tony Kushner | Caroline, or Change | |
2005 59th Tony Awards | ||
Rachel Sheinkin | The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee | |
Eric Idle | Spamalot | |
Jeffrey Lane | Dirty Rotten Scoundrels | |
Craig Lucas | The Light in the Piazza | |
2006 60th Tony Awards | ||
Bob Martin & Don McKellar | The Drowsy Chaperone | |
Chad Beguelin & Tim Herlihy | The Wedding Singer | |
Marshall Brickman & Rick Elice | Jersey Boys | |
Marsha Norman | The Color Purple | |
2007 61st Tony Awards | ||
Steven Sater | Spring Awakening | |
Heather Hach | Legally Blonde | |
Rupert Holmes & Peter Stone | Curtains | |
Doug Wright | Grey Gardens | |
2008 62nd Tony Awards | ||
Stew | Passing Strange | |
Douglas Carter Beane | Xanadu | |
Quiara Alegría Hudes | In the Heights | |
Thomas Meehan & Mark O'Donnell | Cry-Baby | |
2009 63rd Tony Awards | ||
Lee Hall | Billy Elliot the Musical | |
Hunter Bell | [title of show] | |
David Lindsay-Abaire | Shrek the Musical | |
Brian Yorkey | Next to Normal |
2010s[]
Year | Author | Production |
---|---|---|
2010 64th Tony Awards | ||
Joe DiPietro | Memphis | |
Colin Escott & Floyd Mutrux | Million Dollar Quartet | |
Bill T. Jones & Jim Lewis | Fela! | |
Dick Scanlan & Sherie Rene Scott | Everyday Rapture | |
2011 65th Tony Awards | ||
Trey Parker, Robert Lopez & Matt Stone | The Book of Mormon | |
Douglas Carter Beane, Bill & Cheri Steinkellner | Sister Act | |
David Thompson | The Scottsboro Boys | |
Alex Timbers | Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson | |
2012 66th Tony Awards | ||
Enda Walsh | Once | |
Douglas Carter Beane | Lysistrata Jones | |
Joe DiPietro | Nice Work If You Can Get It | |
Harvey Fierstein | Newsies | |
2013 67th Tony Awards | ||
Dennis Kelly | Matilda the Musical | |
Douglas Carter Beane | Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella | |
Harvey Fierstein | Kinky Boots | |
Joseph Robinette | A Christmas Story: The Musical | |
2014 68th Tony Awards | ||
Robert L. Freedman | A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder | |
Woody Allen | Bullets Over Broadway | |
Chad Beguelin | Aladdin | |
Douglas McGrath | Beautiful: The Carole King Musical | |
2015 69th Tony Awards | ||
Lisa Kron | Fun Home | |
Karey Kirkpatrick & John O'Farrell | Something Rotten! | |
Craig Lucas | An American in Paris | |
Terrence McNally | The Visit | |
2016 70th Tony Awards | ||
Lin-Manuel Miranda | Hamilton | |
Julian Fellowes | School of Rock | |
Steve Martin | Bright Star | |
George C. Wolfe | Shuffle Along | |
2017 71st Tony Awards | ||
Steven Levenson | Dear Evan Hansen | |
Dave Malloy | Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 | |
Danny Rubin | Groundhog Day | |
David Hein & Irene Sankoff | Come from Away | |
2018 72nd Tony Awards | ||
Itamar Moses | The Band's Visit | |
Jennifer Lee | Frozen | |
Tina Fey | Mean Girls | |
Kyle Jarrow | SpongeBob SquarePants | |
2019 73rd Tony Awards | ||
Robert Horn | Tootsie | |
Dominique Morisseau | Ain’t Too Proud | |
Scott Brown & Anthony King | Beetlejuice | |
Anaïs Mitchell | Hadestown | |
Chad Beguelin & Bob Martin | The Prom |
2020s[]
Year | Author | Production |
---|---|---|
2020 74th Tony Awards | ||
Diablo Cody | Jagged Little Pill | |
John Logan | Moulin Rouge! The Musical | |
Katori Hall, Frank Ketelaar & Kees Prins | Tina: The Tina Turner Musical |
Award records[]
|
|
Nomination records[]
- 5 Nominations
- Michael Stewart
- 4 Nominations
- Douglas Carter Beane
- James Lapine
- Terrence McNally
- Peter Stone
- Hugh Wheeler
- 3 Nominations
- Chad Beguelin
- Harvey Fierstein
- Michael John LaChiusa
- George C. Wolfe
- 2 Nominations
- Walter Bobbie
- Alain Boublil
- Mark Bramble
- Leslie Bricusse
- Betty Comden
- Joe DiPietro
- Bob Fosse
- Larry Gelbart
- Adolph Green
- John Guare
- Rupert Holmes
- Jim Lewis
- Craig Lucas
- Bob Martin
- Thomas Meehan
- Marsha Norman
- Tim Rice
- Dick Scanlan
- Claude-Michel Schönberg
- Neil Simon
- Joseph Stein
- David Thompson
- Melvin Van Peebles
- Andrew Lloyd Webber
External links[]
Categories:
- Tony Awards
- Awards established in 1949
- 1949 establishments in the United States