Best Musical at the Tony Awards the Year You Were Born

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pipe Dream

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

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

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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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

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

Do Re Mi
Irma La Douce

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

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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

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

Funny Girl
High Spirits
She Loves Me

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

Mame
Skyscraper
Sweet Charity

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

I Do! I Do!
The Apple Tree
Walking Happy

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

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

Hair
Promises, Promises
Zorba

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

Coco
Purlie

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

The Me Nobody Knows
The Rothschilds

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

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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

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

Over Here!
Seesaw

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

Mack & Mabel
The Lieutenant
Shenandoah

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

Bubbling Brown Sugar
Chicago
Pacific Overtures

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

Happy End
I Love My Wife
Side by Side by Sondheim

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

Dancin’
On the Twentieth Century
Runaways

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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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

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

Sophisticated Ladies
Tintypes
Woman of the Year

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

Dreamgirls
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Pump Boys and Dinettes

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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

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

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

Grind
Leader of the Pack
Quilters

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

Big Deal
Song and Dance
Tango Argentino

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

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!

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

Black and Blue
Starmites

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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

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

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

Falsettos
Five Guys Named Moe
Jelly’s Last Jam

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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

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

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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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

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

Juan Darien
Steel Pier
The Life

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

Side Show
The Scarlet Pimpernel
Ragtime

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

James Joyce’s The Dead
Swing!
The Wild Party

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

A Class Act
The Full Monty
Jane Eyre

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

Mamma Mia!
Sweet Smell of Success
Urinetown

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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

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

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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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

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

Curtains
Grey Gardens
Mary Poppins

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

Cry-Baby
Passing Strange
Xanadu

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

American Idiot
Fela!
Million Dollar Quartet

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

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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

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

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

An American in Paris
Something Rotten!
The Visit

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

Bright Star
School of Rock
Shuffle Along
Waitress

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