Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical

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.

Awards and nominations

1940s

• 1949: Kiss Me, Kate – Samuel and Bella Spewack
  • No nominees

1950s

• 1950: South Pacific – Oscar Hammerstein and Joshua Logan
  • No nominees

1960s

• 1962: How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying – Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock and Willie Gilbert
  • Carnival! – Michael Stewart and Helen Deutsch

• 1963: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum – Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart
  • Oliver! – Lionel Bart
  • Little Me – Neil Simon
  • Stop the World – I Want to Get Off – Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley

• 1964: Hello, Dolly! – Michael Stewart
  • The Girl Who Came to Supper – Noël Coward and Harry Kurnitz
  • She Loves Me – Joe Masteroff
  • High Spirits – Hugh Martin and Timothy Gray

• 1965: Fiddler on the Roof – Joseph Stein
  • Baker Street – Jerome Coopersmith
  • Half a Sixpence – Beverly Cross
  • Ben Franklin in Paris – Sidney Michaels

1970s

• 1971: Company – George Furth
  • The Me Nobody Knows – Robert H. Livingston and Herb Schapiro
  • The Rothschilds – Sherman Yellen

• 1972: Two Gentlemen of Verona – John Guare and Mel Shapiro
  • Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death – Melvin Van Peebles
  • Follies – James Goldman
  • Grease – Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey

• 1973: A Little Night Music – Hugh Wheeler
  • Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope – Micki Grant
  • Don't Play Us Cheap – Melvin Van Peebles
  • Pippin – Roger O. Hirson

• 1974: Candide – Hugh Wheeler
  • Raisin – Robert Nemiroff and Charlotte Zaltzberg
  • Seesaw – Michael Bennett

• 1975: Shenandoah – James Lee Barrett, Peter Udell and Phillip Rose
  • Mack and Mabel – Michael Stewart
  • The Lieutenant – Gene Curty, Nitra Scharfman, and Chuck Strand
  • The Wiz – William F. Brown

• 1976: A Chorus Line – James Kirkwood, Jr. and Nicholas Dante
  • Chicago – Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse
  • Pacific Overtures – John Weidman
  • The Robber Bridegroom – Alfred Uhry

• 1977: Annie – Thomas Meehan
  • Happy End – Elisabeth Hauptmann and Michael Feingold
  • I Love My Wife – Michael Stewart
  • Your Arm's Too Short to Box with God – Vinnette Justine Carroll

• 1978: On the Twentieth Century – Betty Comden and Adolph Green
  • A History of the American Film – Christopher Durang
  • Runaways – Elizabeth Swados
  • Working – Stephen Schwartz

• 1979: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street – Hugh Wheeler
  • Ballroom – Jerome Kass
  • The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas – Larry L. King and Peter Masterson
  • They're Playing Our Song – Neil Simon

1980s

• 1980: Evita – Tim Rice
  • A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine – Dick Vosburgh
  • Barnum – Mark Bramble
  • Sugar Babies – Ralph G. Allen and Harry Rigby

• 1981: Woman of the Year – Peter Stone
  • 42nd Street – Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble
  • The Moony Shapiro Songbook – Monty Norman and Julian More
  • Tintypes – Mary Kyte

• 1982: Dreamgirls – Tom Eyen
  • Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat – Tim Rice
  • Nine – Arthur Kopit
  • The First – Joel Siegel and Martin Charnin

• 1983: Cats – T. S. Eliot
  • A Doll's Life – Betty Comden and Adolph Green
  • Merlin – Richard Levinson and William Link
  • My One and Only – Peter Stone and Timothy S. Mayer

• 1984: La Cage aux Folles – Harvey Fierstein
  • Baby – Sybille Pearson
  • Sunday in the Park with George – James Lapine
  • The Tap Dance Kid – Charles Blackwell

• 1985: Big River – William Hauptman
  • Grind – Fay Kanin
  • Harrigan and Hart – Michael Stewart
  • Quilters – Molly Newman and Barbara Damashek

• 1986: The Mystery of Edwin Drood – Rupert Holmes
  • Big Deal – Bob Fosse
  • Singin' in the Rain – Betty Comden and Adolph Green
  • Wind in the Willows – Jane Iredale

• 1987: Les Misérables – Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg
  • Me and My Girl – L. Arthur Rose, Douglas Furber, Stephen Fry and Mike Ockrent
  • Rags – Joseph Stein
  • Smile – Howard Ashman

• 1988: Into the Woods – James Lapine
  • The Gospel at Colonus – Lee Breuer
  • The Phantom of the Opera – Richard Stilgoe and Andrew Lloyd Webber
  • Romance/Romance – Barry Harman

1990s

• 1990: City of Angels – Larry Gelbart
  • Aspects of Love – Andrew Lloyd Webber
  • Grand Hotel – Luther Davis
  • Meet Me in St. Louis – Hugh Wheeler

• 1991: The Secret Garden – Marsha Norman
  • Miss Saigon – Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg
  • Once on This Island – Lynn Ahrens
  • The Will Rogers Follies – Peter Stone

• 1992: Falsettos – William Finn and James Lapine
  • Crazy for You – Ken Ludwig
  • Five Guys Named Moe – Clarke Peters
  • Jelly's Last Jam – George C. Wolfe

• 1993: Kiss of the Spider Woman – Terrence McNally
  • Anna Karenina – Peter Kellogg
  • Blood Brothers – Willy Russell
  • The Who's Tommy – Pete Townshend and Des McAnuff

• 1994: Passion – James Lapine
  • Beauty and the Beast – Linda Woolverton
  • Cyrano: The Musical – Koen van Kijk
  • A Grand Night for Singing – Walter Bobbie

• 1995: Sunset Boulevard – Don Black and Christopher Hampton
  • No nominees

• 1996: Rent – Jonathan Larson
  • Big: The Musical – John Weidman
  • Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk – Reg E. Gaines
  • Chronicle of a Death Foretold – Graciela Daniele, Jim Lewis and Michael John LaChiusa

• 1997: Titanic – Peter Stone
  • Jekyll & Hyde – Leslie Bricusse
  • The Life – David Newman, Ira Gasman and Cy Coleman
  • Steel Pier – David Thompson

• 1998: Ragtime – Terrence McNally
  • The Lion King – Roger Allers and Irene Mecchi
  • The Scarlet Pimpernel – Nan Knighton
  • Side Show – Bill Russell

• 1999: Parade – Alfred Uhry
  • Footloose – Dean Pitchford and Walter Bobbie
  • It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues – Charles Bevel, Lita Gaithers, Randal Myler, Ron Taylor and Dan Wheetman
  • Marlene – Pam Gems

2000s

• 2000: James Joyce's The Dead – Richard Nelson
  • Contact – John Weidman
  • Marie Christine – Michael John LaChiusa
  • The Wild Party – Michael John LaChiusa and George C. Wolfe

• 2001: The Producers – Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan
  • A Class Act – Linda Kline and Lonny Price
  • The Full Monty – Terrence McNally
  • Jane Eyre – John Caird

• 2002: Urinetown – Greg Kotis
  • Mamma Mia! – Catherine Johnson
  • Sweet Smell of Success – John Guare
  • Thoroughly Modern Millie – Richard Morris and Dick Scanlan

• 2003: Hairspray – Thomas Meehan and Mark O'Donnell
  • Amour – Didier Van Cauwelaert and Jeremy Sams
  • Flower Drum Song – David Henry Hwang
  • A Year With Frog and Toad – Willie Reale

• 2004: Avenue Q – Jeff Whitty
  • The Boy from Oz – Martin Sherman and Nick Enright
  • Caroline, or Change – Tony Kushner
  • Wicked – Winnie Holzman

• 2005: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee – Rachel Sheinkin
  • Dirty Rotten Scoundrels – Jeffrey Lane
  • The Light in the Piazza – Craig Lucas
  • Monty Python's Spamalot – Eric Idle

• 2006: The Drowsy Chaperone – Bob Martin and Don McKellar
  • The Wedding Singer – Chad Beguelin and Tim Herlihy
  • Jersey Boys – Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice
  • The Color Purple – Marsha Norman

• 2007: Spring Awakening – Steven Sater
  • Curtains – Rupert Holmes and Peter Stone
  • Grey Gardens – Doug Wright
  • Legally Blonde – Heather Hach

• 2008: Passing Strange – Stew
  • Cry-Baby – Thomas Meehan and Mark O'Donnell
  • In the Heights – Quiara Alegría Hudes
  • Xanadu – Douglas Carter Beane

• 2009: Billy Elliot the Musical – Lee Hall
  • Next to Normal – Brian Yorkey
  • Shrek the Musical – David Lindsay-Abaire
  • [title of show] – Hunter Bell

2010s

• 2010: Memphis – Joe DiPietro
  • Everyday Rapture – Dick Scanlan and Sherie Rene Scott
  • Fela! – Jim Lewis and Bill T. Jones
  • Million Dollar Quartet – Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux

• 2011: The Book of Mormon – Trey Parker, Robert Lopez and Matt Stone
  • Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson – Alex Timbers
  • The Scottsboro Boys – David Thompson
  • Sister Act – Cheri Steinkellner, Bill Steinkellner and Douglas Carter Beane

Award records

3 Wins

• Hugh Wheeler
• Thomas Meehan
• James Lapine

2 Wins

• Terrence McNally
• Larry Gelbart
• Peter Stone
• Michael Stewart

External links

• Tony Awards Official site
• Tony Awards at Internet Broadway database Listing
• Tony Awards at broadwayworld.com