Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical explained
The Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical is an honor presented at the Tony Awards, a ceremony established in 1947 as the Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, to actors for quality leading roles in a musical play, whether a new production or a revival. The awards are named after Antoinette Perry, an American actress who died in 1946.
Honors in several categories are presented at the ceremony annually by the Tony Award Productions, a joint venture of The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing, to "honor the best performances and stage productions of the previous year."[1]
The award was originally called the Tony Award for Actors—Musical. It was first presented to Paul Hartman at the 2nd Tony Awards for his portrayal of various characters in Angel in the Wings. Before 1956, nominees' names were not made public;[2] the change was made by the awards committee to "have a greater impact on theatregoers".[3]
Nine actors hold the record for having the most wins in this category, with a total of two. John Cullum, Brian d'Arcy James and Raul Julia are tied with the most nominations, with a total of four. Pseudolus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is the character to take the award the most times, winning three times.
Winners and nominees
1940s
1950s
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
2020s
Statistics
Most wins
- 2 wins
Character win total
- 3 wins
- 2 wins
Character nomination total
† – Most of the leading male characters in Little Me are played by the same actor, but the actual roles vary. In the original 1962 Broadway production and the 1998 revival, Sid Caesar and Martin Short (respectively) played Noble Eggleston, Amos Pinchley, Val du Val, Fred Poitrine, Otto Schnitzler, and Prince Cherney. Caesar also played Noble Junior. In the 1981 revival, the lead roles were split among James Coco and Victor Garber with Garber playing Noble Eggleston, Val du Val, Fred Poitrine, and Noble Junior.
Productions with multiple nominations
boldface=winner
Multiple awards and nominations
- Actors who have been nominated multiple times in any acting categories
Facts
- The lead role of Pseudolus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum has earned the Tony Award for the three different actors who have performed the character:
- Three other male roles have produced multiple Tony Award winners: J. Pierrepont Finch in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying:
- Emile de Beque in South Pacific:
- and Albin in La Cage Aux Folles:
- Two actors have won for their performances in My Fair Lady, each for a different character:
- The lead role with most nominations is Tevye, in Fiddler on the Roof. Five actors have been nominated for their portrayals, with one win:
- Take Me Along is the only production to receive three nominations for the award – Jackie Gleason (winner), Robert Morse and Walter Pidgeon.
- The lead role of Sweeney Todd from has received 4 nominations, though only Len Cariou has won the award for playing the role, which he originated.
- Actors have won Tonys for both Best Actor in a Play and "Best Actor in a Musical" for playing Cyrano de Bergerac: Jose Ferrer in Cyrano de Bergerac and Christopher Plummer in Cyrano.
- Four roles have been nominated in this category that have also been classified in the category Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical. George Rose won the 1976 Best Actor Award for playing Alfred P. Doolittle in My Fair Lady whereas Stanley Holloway and Norbert Leo Butz were nominated in the featured category for playing the part in 1956 and 2018, respectively. Similarly, Lou Diamond Phillips and Ken Watanabe were nominated for Best Actor for playing the King of Siam in The King and I in 1996 and 2015, respectively, while Yul Brynner won the Best Featured Actor Tony for the same role in 1951. Alan Cumming won and Eddie Redmayne was nominated in Best Actor for playing the Master of Ceremonies in Cabaret in 1998 and 2024, respectively, while Joel Grey won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor for the role in 1966. Also, Jack Gilford was nominated for Best Actor for playing Herr Schultz in Cabaret, a role for which four actors have subsequently been nominated for Best Featured Actor.
- Harvey Fierstein was the first actor to win the award for portraying a female character, for his 2003 performance as Edna Turnblad in Hairspray. Neil Patrick Harris won in 2014 for his performance as Hedwig, a genderqueer woman in Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
- There have never been consecutive victories, and only four actors have managed, over the decades, to score consecutive nominations: Gregory Hines (1980/1981), George Hearn (1983/1984), Patrick Wilson (2001/2002) and Michael Cerveris (2006/2007).
- In 2009, David Álvarez, Trent Kowalik, and Kiril Kulish were jointly nominated for the award for their performances in Billy Elliot the Musical as the titular character. They won the award, marking the first time three actors have received it.
- The oldest performer to win in this category is Bert Lahr who was 68 when he won for Foxy in 1964. The youngest winner is Trent Kowalik who won for Billy Elliot at age 14. He shared the award with David Álvarez and Kiril Kulish – both 15 at the time.
- The role of The Leading Player in Pippin holds the distinction of winning in both Best Leading Actor and Leading Actress categories. Ben Vereen won in 1972, while Patina Miller won in the leading actress category for the 2013 revival.
See also
External links
Notes and References
- News: Operation Frenzy Before the Tony Awards. Kirkley. Donald. April 21, 1968. The Baltimore Sun. T2. December 24, 2011.
- Book: Simons, Linda Keir. The Performing Arts: a Guide to the Reference Literature. 1994. ABC-CLIO. 137. 978-0-87287-982-9. 2012-01-14. https://web.archive.org/web/20130622021957/https://books.google.com/books?id=RBnpnURcDbMC. 2013-06-22. live.
- News: Popularizing the Tony Awards. Gelb. Arthur. April 1, 1956. The New York Times. January 14, 2011.
- Web site: 1956 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 11, 2023.
- Web site: 1957 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 11, 2023.
- Web site: 1958 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 11, 2023.
- Web site: 1959 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 11, 2023.
- Web site: 1960 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 11, 2023.
- Web site: 1961 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 11, 2023.
- Web site: 1962 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 11, 2023.
- Web site: 1963 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 11, 2023.
- Web site: 1964 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 11, 2023.
- Web site: 1965 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 11, 2023.
- Web site: 1966 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 11, 2023.
- Web site: 1967 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 11, 2023.
- Web site: 1968 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 11, 2023.
- Web site: 1969 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 11, 2023.
- Web site: 1970 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 11, 2023.
- Web site: 1971 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 11, 2023.
- Web site: 1972 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 11, 2023.
- Web site: 1973 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 11, 2023.
- Web site: 1974 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 11, 2023.
- Web site: 1975 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 11, 2023.
- Web site: 1976 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 11, 2023.
- Web site: 1977 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 11, 2023.
- Web site: 1978 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 11, 2023.
- Web site: 1979 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 11, 2023.
- Web site: 1980 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 11, 2023.
- Web site: 1981 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 11, 2023.
- Web site: 1982 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 11, 2023.
- Web site: 1983 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 11, 2023.
- Web site: 1984 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 11, 2023.
- The category was not given due to an insufficient number of musicals during the season.
- News: Winship. Frederick M.. 'Big River,' 'Biloxi Blues' win Tony Awards . 2016-12-03. UPI. 1985-06-03.
- Web site: 1986 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 11, 2023.
- Web site: 1987 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 11, 2023.
- Web site: 1988 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 11, 2023.
- Web site: 1989 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 11, 2023.
- Web site: 1990 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 11, 2023.
- Web site: 1991 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 11, 2023.
- Web site: 1992 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 11, 2023.
- Web site: 1993 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 11, 2023.
- Web site: 1994 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 11, 2023.
- Web site: 1995 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 11, 2023.
- Web site: 1996 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 11, 2023.
- Web site: 1997 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 11, 2023.
- Web site: 1998 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 11, 2023.
- Web site: 1999 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 11, 2023.
- Web site: 2000 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 11, 2023.
- Web site: 2001 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 11, 2023.
- Web site: 2002 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 11, 2023.
- Web site: 2003 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 11, 2023.
- Web site: 2004 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 11, 2023.
- Web site: 2005 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 11, 2023.
- Web site: 2006 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 11, 2023.
- Web site: 2007 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 11, 2023.
- Web site: 2008 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 11, 2023.
- Web site: 2009 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 11, 2023.
- Web site: 2010 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 10, 2023.
- Web site: 2011 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 10, 2023.
- Web site: 2012 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 10, 2023.
- Web site: 2013 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 10, 2023.
- Web site: 2014 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 10, 2023.
- Web site: Tony Nominations 2015: Full List. April 28, 2015. . Variety. August 10, 2023.
- Web site: 2016 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 10, 2023.
- Web site: 2017 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 10, 2023.
- Web site: 2018 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 10, 2023.
- Web site: 2019 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 10, 2023.
- News: See who won at the Tony Awards. Garvey. Marianne. September 26, 2021. September 27, 2021. CNN.
- Web site: 2022 Tony Awards Nominees. . American Theatre Wing. August 10, 2023.
- Web site: 2023 Tony Awards Nominees. . May 2, 2023. American Theatre Wing. August 10, 2023.
- News: Nordyke. Kimberly. Tony Awards: Winners List . June 17, 2024. The Hollywood Reporter. June 16, 2024.
