Tony Award for Best Original Score
| Tony Award for Best Original Score | |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | Best Original Score |
| Location | United States New York City |
| Presented by | American Theatre Wing The Broadway League |
| Currently held by | Christopher Nightingale for A Christmas Carol (2020) |
| Website | TonyAwards.com |
The Tony Award for Best Original Score is the Tony Award given to the composers and lyricists of the best original score written for a musical or play in that year. The score consists of music and/or lyrics. To be eligible, a score must be written specifically for the theatre and must be original; compilations of non-theatrical music or compilations of earlier theatrical music are not eligible for consideration.
History[]
The award has undergone a number of minor changes. In 1947, 1950, 1951, and 1962, the award went to the composer only. Otherwise, the award has gone to the composer and lyricist for their combined contributions, except for 1971 when the two awards were split (although Stephen Sondheim won both, for Company).
In only nine years have non-musical plays been nominated for Tony Awards in this category: Much Ado About Nothing in 1973, The Good Doctor in 1974, The Song of Jacob Zulu in 1993, Twelfth Night in 1999, Enron and Fences in 2010, Peter and the Starcatcher and One Man, Two Guvnors in 2012, Angels in America in 2018, To Kill a Mockingbird in 2019, and A Christmas Carol, The Inheritance, The Rose Tattoo, Slave Play, and The Sound Inside in 2020. Because the Broadway season of 2019-2020 was shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic, only four musicals were eligible for Tony Awards. Three were jukebox musicals and the fourth was The Lightning Thief, the only musical of the season with original music. The Lightning Thief was not nominated for any Tony Awards, meaning that every nominee in this category in 2020 was a play rather than a musical.
In 2013, Cyndi Lauper became the first woman to win the award solo for Kinky Boots. In 2015, Lisa Kron and Jeanine Tesori became the first all-woman team to win the award for Fun Home.[1]
Lin-Manuel Miranda is the youngest person to win the award; he was 28 when he won for In the Heights. Adolph Green is the oldest person to win the award; he was 76 when he won for The Will Rogers Follies. If T. S. Eliot were alive when he won for Cats, he would have been 94. Eliot is one of two people to receive the award posthumously, the other being Jonathan Larson, who won for Rent. He would have been 36.
Winners and nominees[]
indicates the winner
1940s[]
| Year | Musical | Music | Lyrics |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1947 1st Tony Awards | |||
| Street Scene | Kurt Weill | Langston Hughes | |
| 1948 2nd Tony Awards |
N/A | ||
| 1949 3rd Tony Awards | |||
| Kiss Me, Kate | Cole Porter | ||
1950s[]
| Year | Musical | Music | Lyrics |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 4th Tony Awards | |||
| South Pacific | Richard Rodgers | Oscar Hammerstein II | |
| 1951 5th Tony Awards | |||
| Call Me Madam | Irving Berlin | ||
| 1952 – 1959 | N/A | ||
1960s[]
| Year | Musical | Music | Lyrics |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 – 1961 | N/A | ||
| 1962 16th Tony Awards | |||
| No Strings | Richard Rodgers | ||
| How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying | Frank Loesser | ||
| Kwamina | Richard Adler | ||
| Milk and Honey | Jerry Herman | ||
| 1963 17th Tony Awards | |||
| Oliver! | Lionel Bart | ||
| Bravo Giovanni | Milton Schafer | Ronny Graham | |
| Little Me | Cy Coleman | Carolyn Leigh | |
| Stop the World – I Want to Get Off | Leslie Bricusse & Anthony Newley | ||
| 1964 18th Tony Awards | |||
| Hello, Dolly! | Jerry Herman | ||
| Funny Girl | Jule Styne | Bob Merrill | |
| High Spirits | Timothy Gray & Hugh Martin | ||
| 110 in the Shade | Harvey Schmidt | Tom Jones | |
| 1965 19th Tony Awards | |||
| Fiddler on the Roof | Jerry Bock | Sheldon Harnick | |
| Do I Hear a Waltz? | Richard Rodgers | Stephen Sondheim | |
| Half a Sixpence | David Heneker | ||
| The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd | Leslie Bricusse & Anthony Newley | ||
| 1966 20th Tony Awards | |||
| Man of La Mancha | Mitch Leigh | Joe Darion | |
| Mame | Jerry Herman | ||
| On a Clear Day You Can See Forever | Burton Lane | Alan Jay Lerner | |
| Sweet Charity | Cy Coleman | Dorothy Fields | |
| 1967 21st Tony Awards | |||
| Cabaret | John Kander | Fred Ebb | |
| The Apple Tree | Jerry Bock | Sheldon Harnick | |
| I Do! I Do! | Harvey Schmidt | Tom Jones | |
| Walking Happy | Jimmy Van Heusen | Sammy Cahn | |
| 1968 22nd Tony Awards | |||
| Hallelujah, Baby! | Jule Styne | Betty Comden & Adolph Green | |
| The Happy Time | John Kander | Fred Ebb | |
| How Now, Dow Jones | Elmer Bernstein | Carolyn Leigh | |
| Illya Darling | Manos Hatzidakis | Joe Darion | |
| 1969 23rd Tony Awards |
N/A | ||
1970s[]
| Year | Production (Musical or Play) | Music | Lyrics |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 24th Tony Awards |
N/A | ||
| 1971 25th Tony Awards | |||
| Company | Stephen Sondheim | ||
| The Me Nobody Knows | Gary William Friedman | Will Holt | |
| The Rothschilds | Jerry Bock | Sheldon Harnick | |
| 1972 26th Tony Awards | |||
| Follies | Stephen Sondheim | ||
| Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death | Melvin Van Peebles | ||
| Jesus Christ Superstar | Andrew Lloyd Webber | Tim Rice | |
| Two Gentlemen of Verona | Galt MacDermot | John Guare | |
| 1973 27th Tony Awards | |||
| A Little Night Music | Stephen Sondheim | ||
| Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope | Micki Grant | ||
| Much Ado About Nothing | Peter Link | N/A | |
| Pippin | Stephen Schwartz | ||
| 1974 28th Tony Awards | |||
| Gigi | Frederick Loewe | Alan Jay Lerner | |
| The Good Doctor | Peter Link | Neil Simon | |
| Raisin | Judd Woldin | Robert Brittan | |
| Seesaw | Cy Coleman | Dorothy Fields | |
| 1975 29th Tony Awards | |||
| The Wiz | Charlie Smalls | ||
| A Letter for Queen Victoria | Alan Lloyd | ||
| The Lieutenant | Gene Curty, Nitra Scharfman & Chuck Strand | ||
| Shenandoah | Gary Geld | Peter Udell | |
| 1976 30th Tony Awards | |||
| A Chorus Line | Marvin Hamlisch | Edward Kleban | |
| Chicago | John Kander | Fred Ebb | |
| Pacific Overtures | Stephen Sondheim | ||
| Treemonisha | Scott Joplin | ||
| 1977 31st Tony Awards | |||
| Annie | Charles Strouse | Martin Charnin | |
| Godspell | Stephen Schwartz | ||
| Happy End | Kurt Weill | Bertolt Brecht & Michael Feingold | |
| I Love My Wife | Cy Coleman | Michael Stewart | |
| 1978 32nd Tony Awards | |||
| On the Twentieth Century | Cy Coleman | Betty Comden & Adolph Green | |
| The Act | John Kander | Fred Ebb | |
| Runaways | Elizabeth Swados | ||
| Working | Susan Birkenhead, Craig Carnelia, Micki Grant, Mary Rodgers, Stephen Schwartz & James Taylor | ||
| 1979 33rd Tony Awards | |||
| Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street | Stephen Sondheim | ||
| Carmelina | Burton Lane | Alan Jay Lerner | |
| Eubie! | Eubie Blake | Johnny Brandon, Jim Europe, F. E. Miller, Andy Razafe & Noble Sissle | |
| The Grand Tour | Jerry Herman | ||
1980s[]
| Year | Production (Musical or Play) | Music | Lyrics |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 34th Tony Awards | |||
| Evita | Andrew Lloyd Webber | Tim Rice | |
| A Day in Hollywood / A Night in the Ukraine | Frank Lazarus | Dick Vosburgh | |
| Barnum | Cy Coleman | Michael Stewart | |
| Sugar Babies | Artie Malvin | ||
| 1981 35th Tony Awards | |||
| Woman of the Year | John Kander | Fred Ebb | |
| Charlie and Algernon | Charles Strouse | David Rogers | |
| Copperfield | Joel Hirschhorn & Al Kasha | ||
| Shakespeare's Cabaret | Lance Mulcahy | N/A | |
| 1982 36th Tony Awards | |||
| Nine | Maury Yeston | ||
| Dreamgirls | Henry Krieger | Tom Eyen | |
| Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat | Andrew Lloyd Webber | Tim Rice | |
| Merrily We Roll Along | Stephen Sondheim | ||
| 1983 37th Tony Awards | |||
| Cats | Andrew Lloyd Webber | T. S. Eliot | |
| A Doll's Life | Larry Grossman | Betty Comden & Adolph Green | |
| Merlin | Elmer Bernstein | Don Black | |
| Seven Brides for Seven Brothers | Gene de Paul, Joel Hirschhorn & Al Kasha | Hirschhorn, Kasha & Johnny Mercer | |
| 1984 38th Tony Awards | |||
| La Cage aux Folles | Jerry Herman | ||
| Baby | David Shire | Richard Maltby Jr. | |
| The Rink | John Kander | Fred Ebb | |
| Sunday in the Park with George | Stephen Sondheim | ||
| 1985 39th Tony Awards | |||
| Big River | Roger Miller | ||
| Grind | Larry Grossman | Ellen Fitzhugh | |
| Quilters | Barbara Damashek | ||
| 1986 40th Tony Awards | |||
| The Mystery of Edwin Drood | Rupert Holmes | ||
| The News | Paul Schierhorn | ||
| Song and Dance | Andrew Lloyd Webber | Don Black & Richard Maltby Jr. | |
| Wind in the Willows | William P. Perry | Roger McGough | |
| 1987 41st Tony Awards | |||
| Les Misérables | Claude-Michel Schönberg | Herbert Kretzmer & Alain Boublil | |
| Me and My Girl | Noel Gay | Douglas Furber & L. Arthur Rose | |
| Rags | Charles Strouse | Stephen Schwartz | |
| Starlight Express | Andrew Lloyd Webber | Richard Stilgoe | |
| 1988 42nd Tony Awards | |||
| Into the Woods | Stephen Sondheim | ||
| The Phantom of the Opera | Andrew Lloyd Webber | Charles Hart & Richard Stilgoe | |
| Romance/Romance | Keith Herrmann | Barry Harman | |
| Sarafina! | Hugh Masekela & Mbongeni Ngema | ||
| 1989 43rd Tony Awards |
N/A | ||
1990s[]
| Year | Production (Musical or Play) | Music | Lyrics |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 44th Tony Awards | |||
| City of Angels | Cy Coleman | David Zippel | |
| Aspects of Love | Andrew Lloyd Webber | Don Black & Charles Hart | |
| Grand Hotel | Chet Forrest, Bob Wright & Maury Yeston | ||
| Meet Me in St. Louis | Ralph Blane & Hugh Martin | ||
| 1991 45th Tony Awards | |||
| The Will Rogers Follies | Cy Coleman | Betty Comden & Adolph Green | |
| Miss Saigon | Claude-Michel Schönberg | Alain Boublil & Richard Maltby Jr. | |
| Once on This Island | Stephen Flaherty | Lynn Ahrens | |
| The Secret Garden | Lucy Simon | Marsha Norman | |
| 1992 46th Tony Awards | |||
| Falsettos | William Finn | ||
| Jelly's Last Jam | Luther Henderson & Jelly Roll Morton | Susan Birkenhead | |
| Metro | Janusz Stokłosa | Agata, Maryna Miklaszewska & Mary Bracken Phillips | |
| Nick & Nora | Charles Strouse | Richard Maltby Jr. | |
| 1993 47th Tony Awards | |||
| Kiss of the Spider Woman | John Kander | Fred Ebb | |
| The Who's Tommy | Pete Townshend | ||
| Anna Karenina | Daniel Levine | Peter Kellogg | |
| The Song of Jacob Zulu | Ladysmith Black Mambazo | Ladysmith Black Mambazo & Tug Yourgrau | |
| 1994 48th Tony Awards | |||
| Passion | Stephen Sondheim | ||
| Beauty and the Beast | Alan Menken | Howard Ashman & Tim Rice | |
| Cyrano: The Musical | Ad van Dijk | Sheldon Harnick, Peter Reeves & Koen van Dijk | |
| 1995 49th Tony Awards | |||
| Sunset Boulevard | Andrew Lloyd Webber | Don Black & Christopher Hampton | |
| 1996 50th Tony Awards | |||
| Rent | Jonathan Larson | ||
| Big: the musical | David Shire | Richard Maltby Jr. | |
| Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk | Ann Duquesnay, Zane Mark & Daryl Waters | Duquesnay, Reg E. Gaines & George C. Wolfe | |
| State Fair | Richard Rodgers | Oscar Hammerstein II | |
| 1997 51st Tony Awards | |||
| Titanic | Maury Yeston | ||
| Juan Darién | Elliot Goldenthal | ||
| The Life | Cy Coleman | Ira Gasman | |
| Steel Pier | John Kander | Fred Ebb | |
| 1998 52nd Tony Awards | |||
| Ragtime | Stephen Flaherty | Lynn Ahrens | |
| The Capeman | Paul Simon | Simon & Derek Walcott | |
| The Lion King | Elton John, Lebo M., Mark Mancina, Jay Rifkin & Hans Zimmer | M., Mancina, Tim Rice, Rifkin & Julie Taymor | |
| Side Show | Henry Krieger | Bill Russell | |
| 1999 53rd Tony Awards | |||
| Parade | Jason Robert Brown | ||
| The Civil War | Frank Wildhorn | Jack Murphy | |
| Footloose | Eric Carmen, Sammy Hagar, Kenny Loggins, Tom Snow & Jim Steinman | Carmen, Hagar, Loggins, Dean Pitchford & Steinman | |
| Twelfth Night | Jeanine Tesori | N/A | |
2000s[]
| Year | Musical | Music | Lyrics |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 54th Tony Awards | |||
| Aida | Elton John | Tim Rice | |
| James Joyce's The Dead | Shaun Davey | Davey & Richard Nelson | |
| Marie Christine | Michael John LaChiusa | ||
| The Wild Party | |||
| 2001 55th Tony Awards | |||
| The Producers | Mel Brooks | ||
| A Class Act | Edward Kleban | ||
| The Full Monty | David Yazbek | ||
| Jane Eyre | Paul Gordon | John Caird & Gordon | |
| 2002 56th Tony Awards | |||
| Urinetown | Mark Hollmann | Hollmann & Greg Kotis | |
| Sweet Smell of Success | Marvin Hamlisch | Craig Carnelia | |
| Thoroughly Modern Millie | Jeanine Tesori | Dick Scanlan | |
| Thou Shalt Not | Harry Connick Jr. | ||
| 2003 57th Tony Awards [2] | |||
| Hairspray | Marc Shaiman | Shaiman & Scott Wittman | |
| Amour | Michel Legrand | Jeremy Sams & Didier Van Cauwelaert | |
| Urban Cowboy | Danny Arena, Clint Black, Jeff Blumenkrantz, Jason Robert Brown, Roger Brown, Carl L. Byrd, Pevin Byrd-Munoz, Jerry Chesnut, Tommy Conners, Tom Crain, Charlie Daniels, Taz DiGregorio, Ronnie Dunn, Fred Edwards, Skip Ewing, Wayland Holyfield, Bob Lee House, Marcus Hummon, Sara Light, Lauren Lucas, Martie Maguire, Wanda Mallette, Jim Marshall, Bob Morrison, James Hayden Nicholas, Luke Reed, Patti Ryan, Jerry Silverstein & Bob Stillman | ||
| A Year with Frog and Toad | Robert Reale | Willie Reale | |
| 2004 58th Tony Awards | |||
| Avenue Q | Robert Lopez & Jeff Marx | ||
| Caroline, or Change | Jeanine Tesori | Tony Kushner | |
| Taboo | Boy George | ||
| Wicked | Stephen Schwartz | ||
| 2005 59th Tony Awards | |||
| The Light in the Piazza | Adam Guettel | ||
| Dirty Rotten Scoundrels | David Yazbek | ||
| Spamalot | John Du Prez & Eric Idle | Idle | |
| The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee | William Finn | ||
| 2006 60th Tony Awards | |||
| The Drowsy Chaperone | Lisa Lambert & Greg Morrison | ||
| The Color Purple | Stephen Bray, Brenda Russell & Allee Willis | ||
| The Wedding Singer | Matthew Sklar | Chad Beguelin | |
| The Woman in White | Andrew Lloyd Webber | David Zippel | |
| 2007 61st Tony Awards | |||
| Spring Awakening | Duncan Sheik | Steven Sater | |
| Curtains | John Kander | Fred Ebb | |
| Grey Gardens | Scott Frankel | Michael Korie | |
| Legally Blonde | Nell Benjamin & Larry O'Keefe | ||
| 2008 62nd Tony Awards | |||
| In the Heights | Lin-Manuel Miranda | ||
| Cry-Baby | David Javerbaum & Adam Schlesinger | ||
| The Little Mermaid | Alan Menken | Howard Ashman & Glenn Slater | |
| Passing Strange | Heidi Rodewald & Stew | Stew | |
| 2009 63rd Tony Awards | |||
| Next to Normal | Tom Kitt | Brian Yorkey | |
| Billy Elliot the Musical | Elton John | Lee Hall | |
| Shrek the Musical | Jeanine Tesori | David Lindsay-Abaire | |
| 9 to 5 | Dolly Parton | ||
2010s[]
| Year | Production (Musical or Play) | Music | Lyrics |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 64th Tony Awards | |||
| Memphis | David Bryan | Bryan & Joe DiPietro | |
| The Addams Family | Andrew Lippa | ||
| Enron | Adam Cork | Lucy Prebble | |
| Fences | Branford Marsalis | N/A | |
| 2011 65th Tony Awards | |||
| The Book of Mormon | Robert Lopez, Trey Parker & Matt Stone | ||
| The Scottsboro Boys | John Kander | Fred Ebb | |
| Sister Act | Alan Menken | Glenn Slater | |
| Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown | David Yazbek | ||
| 2012 66th Tony Awards | |||
| Newsies | Alan Menken | Jack Feldman | |
| Bonnie & Clyde | Frank Wildhorn | Don Black | |
| One Man, Two Guvnors | Grant Olding | ||
| Peter and the Starcatcher | Wayne Barker | Rick Elice | |
| 2013 67th Tony Awards | |||
| Kinky Boots | Cyndi Lauper | ||
| A Christmas Story: The Musical | Benj Pasek & Justin Paul | ||
| Hands on a Hardbody | Trey Anastasio & Amanda Green | Green | |
| Matilda the Musical | Tim Minchin | ||
| 2014 68th Tony Awards | |||
| The Bridges of Madison County | Jason Robert Brown | ||
| Aladdin | Alan Menken | Howard Ashman, Chad Beguelin & Tim Rice | |
| A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder | Steven Lutvak | Robert L. Freedman & Lutvak | |
| If/Then | Tom Kitt | Brian Yorkey | |
| 2015 69th Tony Awards | |||
| Fun Home | Jeanine Tesori | Lisa Kron | |
| The Last Ship | Sting | ||
| Something Rotten! | Karey & Wayne Kirkpatrick | ||
| The Visit | John Kander | Fred Ebb | |
| 2016 70th Tony Awards | |||
| Hamilton | Lin-Manuel Miranda | ||
| Bright Star | Edie Brickell | Brickell & Steve Martin | |
| School of Rock | Andrew Lloyd Webber | Glenn Slater | |
| Waitress | Sara Bareilles | ||
| 2017 71st Tony Awards | |||
| Dear Evan Hansen | Benj Pasek & Justin Paul | ||
| Come from Away | David Hein & Irene Sankoff | ||
| Groundhog Day | Tim Minchin | ||
| Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 | Dave Malloy | ||
| 2018 72nd Tony Awards | |||
| The Band's Visit | David Yazbek | ||
| Angels in America | Adrian Sutton | N/A | |
| Frozen | Robert Lopez & Kristen Anderson-Lopez | ||
| Mean Girls | Jeff Richmond | Nell Benjamin | |
| SpongeBob SquarePants | Yolanda Adams, Sara Bareilles, Jonathan Coulton, Domani, Alex Ebert, The Flaming Lips, Rob Hyman, Lady Antebellum, Cyndi Lauper, John Legend, Lil'C, Panic! at the Disco, Plain White T's, Joe Perry, They Might Be Giants, T.I. & Steven Tyler | ||
| 2019 73rd Tony Awards | |||
| Hadestown | Anaïs Mitchell | ||
| Be More Chill | Joe Iconis | ||
| Beetlejuice | Eddie Perfect | ||
| The Prom | Matthew Sklar | Chad Beguelin | |
| To Kill a Mockingbird | Adam Guettel | N/A | |
| Tootsie | David Yazbek | ||
2020s[]
| Year | Production (Musical or Play) | Music | Lyrics |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 74th Tony Awards | |||
| A Christmas Carol | Christopher Nightingale | N/A | |
| The Inheritance | Paul Englishby | N/A | |
| The Rose Tattoo | Fitz Patton & Jason Michael Webb | N/A | |
| Slave Play | Lindsay Jones | N/A | |
| The Sound Inside | Daniel Kluger | N/A |
Award records[]
Multiple wins[]
|
|
Multiple nominations[]
|
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Female winners[]
Only seven women have won this award, four of whom won without male writing partners, and for only eight shows:
- Betty Comden – Hallelujah, Baby! (1968), On the Twentieth Century (1978), and The Will Rogers Follies (1991), becoming the first and, so far, only woman to win this Tony multiple times.
- Lynn Ahrens – Ragtime (1998)
- Lisa Lambert – The Drowsy Chaperone (2006)
- Cyndi Lauper – Kinky Boots (2013), becoming the first woman to win this Tony without a male writing partner.
- Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron – Fun Home (2015), becoming the first all-female songwriting team (music and lyrics) to win this Tony.
- Anaïs Mitchell — Hadestown (2019), becoming the second woman to win this Tony without a male writing partner.
References[]
- ^ 'Fun Home' songwriters become 1st winning female team Yahoo News
- ^ "Tony Award Nominees". The Washington Post. May 13, 2003. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
External links[]
Categories:
- Tony Awards
- Awards established in 1947
- Songwriting awards
- 1947 establishments in the United States