Tony Award for Best Original Score
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 in that year. The score consists of music and 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 five years have non-musical plays been nominated for Tony Awards in this category: Much Ado About Nothing in 1973, The Song of Jacob Zulu in 1993,Twelfth Night in 1999, Enron and Fences in 2010, and Peter and the Starcatcher and One Man, Two Guvnors in 2012.
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 77 when he won for The Will Rogers Follies. If T. S. Eliot were alive when he won for Cats, he would have been 95. 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
1950s
1960s
1970s
| Year |
Musical |
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 |
Block |
| 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 |
| 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 |
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
1990s
| Year |
Musical |
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 |
George Forrest, Robert Wright, & Maury Yeston |
| Meet Me in St. Louis |
Ralph Blane & Hugh Martin |
1991
45th Tony Awards |
| 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 |
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
2010s
Award records
Multiple wins
Multiple nominations
- 11 Nominations
- 9 Nominations
- 7 Nominations
- 5 Nominations
- 4 Nominations
- 3 Nominations
|
- 2 Nominations
|
References
External links
|
|---|
| 1947–1975 | |
|---|
| 1976–2000 | |
|---|
| 2001–present | |
|---|
- Complete list
- (1947–1975)
- (1976–2000)
- (2001–2025)
|
|
|---|
|
| Play | |
|---|
| Musical | |
|---|
| Special (non-competitive) | |
|---|
| Retired | |
|---|
| Ceremonies | |
|---|
