Special Report

Best Musical at the Tony Awards the Year You Were Born

Charles Stockdale

Published: June 7, 2018 6:54 pm

Last Updated: January 11, 2020 10:37 pm

The Tony Award provides an annual snapshot of Broadway theater by highlighting the best achievements of the year. The Tony Award was founded in 1947, and two years later debuted the award for best musical.

The list of shows that have won the prestigious best musical award includes classics such as “Guys and Dolls,” “My Fair Lady,” and “Fiddler on the Roof.” Newer winners highlight the evolution of theater toward more adaptations of television and film. This year’s nominees include “Frozen,” “Mean Girls,” and “SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical.”

In honor of the 2018 Tony Awards – scheduled for Sunday, June 10 and being broadcast on CBS – 24/7 Wall St. is taking a look back at the best musical from each year, going back to 1949. In addition to each year’s winner, we include the musical and lyrical composers as well as the person or people responsible for the “book” – the script and narrative of the musical.

Click here to see the best musical at the Tony Awards the year you were born.

The Tony Award has recognized some of the most talented men and women in theater. Those songwriters responsible for the shows awarded the best musical award include Oscar Hammerstein II for his work on “South Pacific,” “The King and I,” and “The Sound of Music;” Stephen Sondheim for “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” “Company,” “A Little Night Music,” among others; and Andrew Lloyd Webber for “Evita,” “Cats,” “The Phantom of the Opera,” and more.

Other talented artists to find more recent success at the Tony awards include Mel Brooks, whose smash hit “The Producers,” won 12 Tonys – the most of any musical production. Lin-Manuel Miranda has also skyrocketed to fame for “Hamilton,” which he wrote. The musical set the record for most Tony nominations for a musical production – 16 in total – in 2016.

All of this year’s nominees, including “The Band’s Visit,” are productions based on previously released films and television series. This Sunday’s ceremony will reveal which one will make musical history by joining the 69 Tony Award-winning best musicals.

All data for the Best Musical at the Tony Award the Year You Were Born comes from the official website of the American Theatre Wing’s Tony Award. The term “book” refers to the narrative structure of the musical. Credits for music and lyrics, while denoting distinct roles, were combined for convenience.

Source: Time Out

1949
> Winner: Kiss Me, Kate
> Book: Bella & Samuel Spewack
> Music/lyrics: Cole Porter/Cole Porter
> Nominees: N/A

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Source: Courtesy of Majestic Theatre

1950
> Winner: South Pacific
> Book: Oscar Hammerstein II & Joshua Logan
> Music/lyrics: Richard Rodgers/Oscar Hammerstein II
> Nominees: N/A

Source: Courtesy of Naxos Musicals

1951
> Winner: Guys and Dolls
> Book: Abe Burrows & Jo Swerling
> Music/lyrics: Frank Loesser/Frank Loesser
> Nominees: N/A

Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

1952
> Winner: The King and I
> Book: Oscar Hammerstein II
> Music/lyrics: Richard Rodgers/Oscar Hammerstein II
> Nominees: N/A

Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

1953
> Winner: Wonderful Town
> Book: Jerome Chodorov & Joseph Fields
> Music/lyrics: Leonard Bernstein/Betty Comden & Adolph Green
> Nominees: N/A

Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

1954
> Winner: Kismet
> Book: Luther Davis & Charles Lederer
> Music/lyrics: Alexander Borodin/Chet Forrest & Bob Wright
> Nominees: N/A

Source: Wikimedia Commons

1955
> Winner: The Pajama Game
> Book: George Abbott & Richard Pike Bissell
> Music/lyrics: Richard Adler & Jerry Ross/Richard Adler & Jerry Ross
> Nominees: N/A

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Source: RCA Records / Wikimedia Commons

1956
> Winner: Damn Yankees
> Book: George Abbott & Douglass Wallop
> Music/lyrics: Richard Adler/Jerry Ross
> Nominees:

Pipe Dream

Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

1957
> Winner: My Fair Lady
> Book: Alan Jay Lerner
> Music/lyrics: Frederick Loewe/Alan Jay Lerner
> Nominees:

Bells Are Ringing
Candide
The Most Happy Fella

Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

1958
> Winner: The Music Man
> Book: Franklin Lacey & Meredith Willson
> Music/lyrics: Meredith Willson/Meredith Willson
> Nominees:

West Side Story
New Girl in Town
Oh, Captain!
Jamaica

Source: YouTube

1959
> Winner: Redhead
> Book: Dorothy Fields, Herbert Fields, David Shaw & Sidney Sheldon
> Music/lyrics: Albert Hague/Dorothy Fields
> Nominees:

Flower Drum Song
La Plume de Ma Tante

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Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

1960
> Winner: The Sound of Music/Fiorello! (tie)
> Book: Russel Crouse & Howard Lindsay/George Abbott & Jerome Weidman
> Music/lyrics: Richard Rodgers/Oscar Hammerstein II // Jerry Bock/Sheldon Harnick
> Nominees:

Gypsy
Once Upon a Mattress
Take Me Along

Source: Masterworks Broadway / Wikimedia Commons

1961
> Winner: Bye Bye Birdie
> Book: Michael Stewart
> Music/lyrics: Charles Strouse/Lee Adams
> Nominees:

Do Re Mi
Irma La Douce

Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

1962
> Winner: How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
> Book: Abe Burrows, Willie Gilbert & Jack Weinstock
> Music/lyrics: Frank Loesser/Frank Loesser
> Nominees:

Carnival!
Milk and Honey
No Strings

Source: Playbill / Wikimedia Commons

1963
> Winner: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
> Book: Larry Gelbart & Burt Shevelove
> Music/lyrics: Stephen Sondheim/Stephen Sondheim
> Nominees:

Little Me
Oliver!
Stop the World – I Want to Get Off

Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

1964
> Winner: Hello, Dolly!
> Book: Michael Stewart
> Music/lyrics: Jerry Herman/Jerry Herman
> Nominees:

Funny Girl
High Spirits
She Loves Me

Source: Playbill / Wikimedia Commons

1965
> Winner: Fiddler on the Roof
> Book: Joseph Stein
> Music/lyrics: Jerry Bock/Sheldon Harnick
> Nominees:

Golden Boy
Half a Sixpence
Oh, What a Lovely War!

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Source: Playbill / Wikimedia Commons

1966
> Winner: Man of La Mancha
> Book: Dale Wasserman
> Music/lyrics: Mitch Leigh/Joe Darion
> Nominees:

Mame
Skyscraper
Sweet Charity

Source: Fair Use / Wikimedia Commons

1967
> Winner: Cabaret
> Book: Joe Masteroff
> Music/lyrics: John Kander/Fred Ebb
> Nominees:

I Do! I Do!
The Apple Tree
Walking Happy

Source: Sony Broadway / Wikimedia Commons

1968
> Winner: Hallelujah, Baby!
> Book: Arthur Laurents
> Music/lyrics: Jule Styne/Betty Comden & Adolph Green
> Nominees:

The Happy Time
How Now, Dow Jones
Illya Darling

Source: mtishows.com / Wikimedia Commons

1969
> Winner: 1776
> Book: Peter Stone
> Music/lyrics: Sherman Edwards/Sherman Edwards
> Nominees:

Hair
Promises, Promises
Zorba

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Source: Decca U.S. / Wikimedia Commons

1970
> Winner: Applause
> Book: Betty Comden & Adolph Green
> Music/lyrics: Charles Strouse/Lee Adams
> Nominees:

Coco
Purlie

Source: Playbill / Wikimedia Commons

1971
> Winner: Company
> Book: George Furth
> Music/lyrics: Stephen Sondheim/Stephen Sondheim
> Nominees:

The Me Nobody Knows
The Rothschilds

Source: Musicals101

1972
> Winner: Two Gentlemen of Verona
> Book: John Guare & Mel Shapiro
> Music/lyrics: Galt MacDermot/John Guare
> Nominees:

Ain’t Supposed to Die a Natural Death
Follies
Grease

Source: YouTube

1973
> Winner: A Little Night Music
> Book: Hugh Wheeler
> Music/lyrics: Stephen Sondheim/Stephen Sondheim
> Nominees:

Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope
Pippin
Sugar

Source: Sony Broadway / Wikimedia Commons

1974
> Winner: Raisin
> Book: Robert Nemiroff & Charlotte Zaltzberg
> Music/lyrics: Judd Woldin/Robert Brittan
> Nominees:

Over Here!
Seesaw

Source: Atlantic Records / Wikimedia Commons

1975
> Winner: The Wiz
> Book: William F. Brown
> Music/lyrics: Charlie Smalls/Charlie Smalls
> Nominees:

Mack & Mabel
The Lieutenant
Shenandoah

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Source: Sony Music Entertainment / Wikimedia Commons

1976
> Winner: A Chorus Line
> Book: James Kirkwood Jr.
> Music/lyrics: Marvin Hamlisch/Ed Kleban
> Nominees:

Bubbling Brown Sugar
Chicago
Pacific Overtures

Source: Mike Nichols productions / Wikimedia Commons

1977
> Winner: Annie
> Book: Thomas Meehan
> Music/lyrics: Charles Strouse/Martin Charnin
> Nominees:

Happy End
I Love My Wife
Side by Side by Sondheim

Source: RCA Records / Wikimedia Commons

1978
> Winner: Ain’t Misbehavin’
> Book: N/A
> Music/lyrics: Fats Waller/Various
> Nominees:

Dancin’
On the Twentieth Century
Runaways

Source: Masterworks Broadway / Wikimedia Commons

1979
> Winner: Sweeney Todd
> Book: Hugh Wheeler
> Music/lyrics: Stephen Sondheim/Stephen Sondheim
> Nominees:

Ballroom
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
They’re Playing Our Song

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Source: Prince Edward Theater / Wikimedia Commons

1980
> Winner: Evita
> Book: Tim Rice
> Music/lyrics: Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice
> Nominees:

A Day in Hollywood / A Night in the Ukraine
Barnum
Sugar Babies

Source: RCA Records / Wikimedia Commons

1981
> Winner: 42nd Street
> Book: Mark Bramble & Michael Stewart
> Music/lyrics: Harry Warren/Al Dubin
> Nominees:

Sophisticated Ladies
Tintypes
Woman of the Year

Source: Playbill / Wikimedia Commons

1982
> Winner: Nine
> Book: Arthur Kopit
> Music/lyrics: Maury Yeston/Maury Yeston
> Nominees:

Dreamgirls
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Pump Boys and Dinettes

Source: Effie / Wikimedia Commons

1983
> Winner: Cats
> Book: T. S. Eliot
> Music/lyrics: Andrew Lloyd Webber/T. S. Eliot & Trevor Nunn
> Nominees:

Blues in the Night
Merlin
My One and Only

Source: DatBot / Wikimedia Commons

1984
> Winner: La Cage aux Folles
> Book: Harvey Fierstein
> Music/lyrics: Jerry Herman/Jerry Herman
> Nominees:

Baby
Sunday in the Park with George
The Tap Dance Kid

Source: Decca U.S. / Wikimedia Commons

1985
> Winner: Big River
> Book: William Hauptman
> Music/lyrics: Roger Miller/Roger Miller
> Nominees:

Grind
Leader of the Pack
Quilters

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Source: New York Shakespeare Festival / Wikimedia Commons

1986
> Winner: The Mystery of Edwin Drood
> Book: Rupert Holmes
> Music/lyrics: Rupert Holmes/Rupert Holmes
> Nominees:

Big Deal
Song and Dance
Tango Argentino

Source: Theo's Little Bot / Wikimedia Commons

1987
> Winner: Les Misérables
> Book: Alain Boublil & Claude-Michel Schönberg
> Music/lyrics: Claude-Michel Schönberg/Herbert Kretzmer
> Nominees:

Me and My Girl
Rags
Starlight Express

Source: Really Useful Group / Wikimedia Commons

1988
> Winner: The Phantom of the Opera
> Book: Richard Stilgoe & Andrew Lloyd Webber
> Music/lyrics: Andrew Lloyd Webber/Charles Hart
> Nominees:

Into the Woods
Romance/Romance
Sarafina!

Source: RCA Records / Wikimedia Commons

1989
> Winner: Jerome Robbins’ Broadway
> Book: N/A
> Music/lyrics: Various/Various
> Nominees:

Black and Blue
Starmites

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Source: Playbill / Wikimedia Commons

1990
> Winner: City of Angels
> Book: Larry Gelbart
> Music/lyrics: Cy Coleman/David Zippel
> Nominees:

Aspects of Love
Grand Hotel
Meet Me in St. Louis

Source: Playbill / Wikimedia Commons

1991
> Winner: The Will Rogers Follies
> Book: Peter Stone
> Music/lyrics: Cy Coleman/Betty Comden & Adolph Green
> Nominees:

Miss Saigon
Once on This Island
The Secret Garden

Source: Angel Records / Wikimedia Commons

1992
> Winner: Crazy for You
> Book: Ken Ludwig
> Music/lyrics: George Gershwin/Ira Gershwin
> Nominees:

Falsettos
Five Guys Named Moe
Jelly’s Last Jam

24/7 Wall St.
American Cities With the Most Property Crime in Every State

Source: Courtesy of RCA Records

1993
> Winner: Kiss of the Spider Woman
> Book: Terrence McNally
> Music/lyrics: John Kander/Fred Ebb
> Nominees:

Blood Brothers
The Goodbye Girl
The Who’s Tommy

Source: Courtesy of Angel Records

1994
> Winner: Passion
> Book: James Lapine
> Music/lyrics: Stephen Sondheim/Stephen Sondheim
> Nominees:

A Grand Night for Singing
Beauty and the Beast
Cyrano: The Musical

Source: Really Useful Group / Wikimedia Commons

1995
> Winner: Sunset Boulevard
> Book: Christopher Hampton & Don Black
> Music/lyrics: Andrew Lloyd Webber/Christopher Hampton & Don Black
> Nominees:

Smokey Joe’s Cafe

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Source: JessnKat / Wikimedia Commons

1996
> Winner: Rent
> Book: Jonathan Larson
> Music/lyrics: Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller/Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller
> Nominees:

Bring in ‘da Noise, Bring in ‘da Funk
Chronicle of a Death Foretold
Swinging on a Star

Source: Lunt-Fontanne Theatre / Wikimedia Commons

1997
> Winner: Titanic
> Book: Peter Stone
> Music/lyrics: Maury Yeston/Maury Yeston
> Nominees:

Juan Darien
Steel Pier
The Life

Source: Courtesy of Disney

1998
> Winner: The Lion King
> Book: Roger Allers & Irene Mecchi
> Music/lyrics: Elton John/Tim Rice
> Nominees:

Side Show
The Scarlet Pimpernel
Ragtime

Source: Courtesy of BMG Entertainment

1999
> Winner: Fosse
> Book: N/A
> Music/lyrics: Various/Various
> Nominees:

The Civil War
It Ain’t Nothin’ But the Blues
Parade

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Source: Playbill / Wikimedia Commons

2000
> Winner: Contact
> Book: John Weidman
> Music/lyrics: Various/Various
> Nominees:

James Joyce’s The Dead
Swing!
The Wild Party

Source: Playbill / Wikimedia Commons

2001
> Winner: The Producers
> Book: Mel Brooks & Thomas Meehan
> Music/lyrics: Mel Brooks/Mel Brooks
> Nominees:

A Class Act
The Full Monty
Jane Eyre

Source: Andreas Praefcke / Wikimedia Commons

2002
> Winner: Thoroughly Modern Millie
> Book: Richard Morris & Dick Scanlan
> Music/lyrics: Jeanine Tesori/Dick Scanlan
> Nominees:

Mamma Mia!
Sweet Smell of Success
Urinetown

Source: Hairspray / Wikimedia Commons

2003
> Winner: Hairspray
> Book: Thomas Meehan & Mark O’Donnell
> Music/lyrics: Marc Shaiman/Marc Shaiman & Scott Wittman
> Nominees:

Amour
A Year with Frog and Toad
Movin’ Out

Source: Avenue Q / Wikimedia Commons

2004
> Winner: Avenue Q
> Book: Jeff Whitty
> Music/lyrics: Robert Lopez & Jeff Marx/Robert Lopez & Jeff Marx
> Nominees:

The Boy from Oz
Caroline, or Change
Wicked

Source: Spamalot / Wikimedia Commons

2005
> Winner: Spamalot
> Book: Eric Idle
> Music/lyrics: John Du Prez & Eric Idle/Eric Idle
> Nominees:

The Light in the Piazza
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

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Source: Broadway Tour / Flickr

2006
> Winner: Jersey Boys
> Book: Marshall Brickman & Rick Elice
> Music/lyrics: Bob Crewe & Bob Gaudio/Bob Crewe & Bob Gaudio
> Nominees:

The Color Purple
The Drowsy Chaperone
The Wedding Singer

Source: Courtesy of Playbill

2007
> Winner: Spring Awakening
> Book: Steven Sater
> Music/lyrics: Duncan Sheik/Steven Sater
> Nominees:

Curtains
Grey Gardens
Mary Poppins

Source: In The Heights Broadway / Facebook

2008
> Winner: In the Heights
> Book: Quiara Alegría Hudes
> Music/lyrics: Lin-Manuel Miranda/Lin-Manuel Miranda
> Nominees:

Cry-Baby
Passing Strange
Xanadu

Source: Billy Elliot the Musical / Facebook

2009
> Winner: Billy Elliot the Musical
> Book: Lee Hall
> Music/lyrics: Elton John/Lee Hall
> Nominees:

Next to Normal
Rock of Ages
Shrek The Musical

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Source: Memphis The Musical / Facebook

2010
> Winner: Memphis
> Book: Joe DiPietro
> Music/lyrics: David Bryan/David Bryan & Joe DiPietro
> Nominees:

American Idiot
Fela!
Million Dollar Quartet

Source: The Book of Mormon on Broadway / Facebook

2011
> Winner: The Book of Mormon
> Book: Robert Lopez, Trey Parker & Matt Stone
> Music/lyrics: Various/Various
> Nominees:

Catch Me If You Can
The Scottsboro Boys
Sister Act

24/7 Wall St.
Cities Where Crime Is Soaring in Every State

Source: Once the Musical / Facebook

2012
> Winner: Once
> Book: Enda Walsh
> Music/lyrics: Glen Hansard & Markéta Irglová/Glen Hansard & Markéta Irglová
> Nominees:

Leap of Faith
Newsies
Nice Work If You Can Get It

Source: Kinky Boots on Broadway / Facebook

2013
> Winner: Kinky Boots
> Book: Harvey Fierstein
> Music/lyrics: Cyndi Lauper/Cyndi Lauper
> Nominees:

Bring It On the Musical
A Christmas Story: The Musical
Matilda the Musical

Source: A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder / Facebook

2014
> Winner: A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder
> Book: Robert L. Freedman
> Music/lyrics: Steven Lutvak/Robert L. Freedman & Steven Lutvak
> Nominees:

After Midnight
Aladdin
Beautiful: The Carole King Musical

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Source: Fun Home The Musical / Facebook

2015
> Winner: Fun Home
> Book: Lisa Kron
> Music/lyrics: Jeanine Tesori/Lisa Kron
> Nominees:

An American in Paris
Something Rotten!
The Visit

Source: Steve Jurvetson / Wikimedia Commons

2016
> Winner: Hamilton
> Book: Lin-Manuel Miranda
> Music/lyrics: John Kander/Fred Ebb
> Nominees:

Bright Star
School of Rock
Shuffle Along
Waitress

Source: Broadwaycom / YouTube

2017
> Winner: Dear Evan Hansen
> Book: Steven Levenson
> Music/lyrics: Benj Pasek & Justin Paul/Benj Pasek & Justin Paul
> Nominees:

Come from Away
Groundhog Day
Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812