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.

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	Michael R. Jackson for A Strange Loop (2022)
Website	TonyAwards.com

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	—
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	—

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 + 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!
	Katori Hall, Frank Ketelaar & Kees Prins	Tina: The Tina Turner Musical
2021 Ceremony not held	—
2022 75th Tony Awards
	Michael R. Jackson	A Strange Loop
	Conor McPherson	Girl from the North Country
	Lynn Nottage	MJ
	Billy Crystal, Lowell Ganz & Babaloo Mandel	Mr. Saturday Night
	Christina Anderson, Craig Lucas & Larry Kirwan	Paradise Square

Award records

3 Wins

• Hugh Wheeler (2 consecutive)
• Thomas Meehan
• James Lapine

2 Wins

• Terrence McNally
• Larry Gelbart
• Peter Stone

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

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