# 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.

## Winners and nominees
### 1940s

| Year | Production | Author |
| 1949 (3rd) |
| 1949 (3rd) | Kiss Me, Kate | Bella and Samuel Spewack |

### 1950s

| Year | Production | Author |
| 1950 (4th) |
| 1950 (4th) | South Pacific | Oscar Hammerstein II and Joshua Logan |

### 1960s

| Year | Production | Author |
| 1962 (16th) |
| 1962 (16th) | How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying | Abe Burrows, Willie Gilbert and Jack Weinstock |
| 1962 (16th) | Carnival! | Helen Deutsch and Michael Stewart |
| 1963 (17th) |
| 1963 (17th) | A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum | Larry Gelbart and Burt Shevelove |
| 1963 (17th) | Little Me | Neil Simon |
| 1963 (17th) | Oliver! | Lionel Bart |
| 1963 (17th) | Stop the World – I Want to Get Off | Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley |
| 1964 (18th) |
| 1964 (18th) | Hello, Dolly! | Michael Stewart |
| 1964 (18th) | The Girl Who Came to Supper | Noël Coward and Harry Kurnitz |
| 1964 (18th) | High Spirits | Timothy Gray and Hugh Martin |
| 1964 (18th) | She Loves Me | Joe Masteroff |
| 1965 (19th) |
| 1965 (19th) | Fiddler on the Roof | Joseph Stein |
| 1965 (19th) | Baker Street | Jerome Coopersmith |
| 1965 (19th) | Ben Franklin in Paris | Sidney Michaels |
| 1965 (19th) | Half a Sixpence | Beverley Cross |

### 1970s

| Year | Production | Author |
| 1971 (25th) |
| 1971 (25th) | Company | George Furth |
| 1971 (25th) | The Me Nobody Knows | Robert H. Livingston and Herb Schapiro |
| 1971 (25th) | The Rothschilds | Sherman Yellen |
| 1972 (26th) |
| 1972 (26th) | Two Gentlemen of Verona | John Guare and Mel Shapiro |
| 1972 (26th) | Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death | Melvin Van Peebles |
| 1972 (26th) | Follies | James Goldman |
| 1972 (26th) | Grease | Warren Casey and Jim Jacobs |
| 1973 (27th) |
| 1973 (27th) | A Little Night Music | Hugh Wheeler |
| 1973 (27th) | Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope | Micki Grant |
| 1973 (27th) | Don't Play Us Cheap | Melvin Van Peebles |
| 1973 (27th) | Pippin | Roger O. Hirson |
| 1974 (28th) |
| 1974 (28th) | Candide | Hugh Wheeler |
| 1974 (28th) | Raisin | Robert Nemiroff and Charlotte Zaltzberg |
| 1974 (28th) | Seesaw | Michael Bennett |
| 1975 (29th) |
| 1975 (29th) | Shenandoah | James Lee Barrett, Philip Rose and Peter Udell |
| 1975 (29th) | The Lieutenant | Gene Curty, Nitra Scharfman and Chuck Strand |
| 1975 (29th) | Mack and Mabel | Michael Stewart |
| 1975 (29th) | The Wiz | William F. Brown |
| 1976 (30th) |
| 1976 (30th) | A Chorus Line | Nicholas Dante and James Kirkwood Jr. |
| 1976 (30th) | Chicago | Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse |
| 1976 (30th) | Pacific Overtures | John Weidman |
| 1976 (30th) | The Robber Bridegroom | Alfred Uhry |
| 1977 (31st) |
| 1977 (31st) | Annie | Thomas Meehan |
| 1977 (31st) | Happy End | Michael Feingold and Elisabeth Hauptmann |
| 1977 (31st) | I Love My Wife | Michael Stewart |
| 1977 (31st) | Your Arms Too Short to Box with God | Vinnette Justine Carroll |
| 1978 (32nd) |
| 1978 (32nd) | On the Twentieth Century | Betty Comden and Adolph Green |
| 1978 (32nd) | A History of the American Film | Christopher Durang |
| 1978 (32nd) | Runaways | Elizabeth Swados |
| 1978 (32nd) | Working | Stephen Schwartz |
| 1979 (33rd) |
| 1979 (33rd) | Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street | Hugh Wheeler |
| 1979 (33rd) | Ballroom | Jerome Kass |
| 1979 (33rd) | The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas | Larry L. King and Peter Masterson |
| 1979 (33rd) | They're Playing Our Song | Neil Simon |

### 1980s

| Year | Production | Author |
| 1980 (34th) |
| 1980 (34th) | Evita | Tim Rice |
| 1980 (34th) | Barnum | Mark Bramble |
| 1980 (34th) | A Day in Hollywood / A Night in the Ukraine | Dick Vosburgh |
| 1980 (34th) | Sugar Babies | Ralph G. Allen and Harry Rigby |
| 1981 (35th) |
| 1981 (35th) | Woman of the Year | Peter Stone |
| 1981 (35th) | 42nd Street | Mark Bramble and Michael Stewart |
| 1981 (35th) | Tintypes | Mary Kyte |
| 1981 (35th) | The Moony Shapiro Songbook | Julian More and Monty Norman |
| 1982 (36th) |
| 1982 (36th) | Dreamgirls | Tom Eyen |
| 1982 (36th) | The First | Martin Charnin and Joel Siegel |
| 1982 (36th) | Nine | Arthur Kopit |
| 1982 (36th) | Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat | Tim Rice |
| 1983 (37th) |
| 1983 (37th) | Cats | T. S. Eliot |
| 1983 (37th) | A Doll's Life | Betty Comden and Adolph Green |
| 1983 (37th) | Merlin | Richard Levinson and William Link |
| 1983 (37th) | My One and Only | Timothy S. Mayer and Peter Stone |
| 1984 (38th) |
| 1984 (38th) | La Cage aux Folles | Harvey Fierstein |
| 1984 (38th) | Baby | Sybille Pearson |
| 1984 (38th) | Sunday in the Park with George | James Lapine |
| 1984 (38th) | The Tap Dance Kid | Charles Blackwell |
| 1985 (39th) |
| 1985 (39th) | Big River | William Hauptman |
| 1985 (39th) | Grind | Fay Kanin |
| 1985 (39th) | Harrigan 'N Hart | Michael Stewart |
| 1985 (39th) | Quilters | Barbara Damashek and Molly Newman |
| 1986 (40th) |
| 1986 (40th) | The Mystery of Edwin Drood | Rupert Holmes |
| 1986 (40th) | Big Deal | Bob Fosse |
| 1986 (40th) | Singin' in the Rain | Betty Comden and Adolph Green |
| 1986 (40th) | Wind in the Willows | Jane Iredale |
| 1987 (41st) |
| 1987 (41st) | Les Misérables | Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg |
| 1987 (41st) | Me and My Girl | Stephen Fry, Douglas Furber, Mike Ockrent and L. Arthur Rose |
| 1987 (41st) | Rags | Joseph Stein |
| 1987 (41st) | Smile | Howard Ashman |
| 1988 (42nd) |
| 1988 (42nd) | Into the Woods | James Lapine |
| 1988 (42nd) | The Gospel at Colonus | Lee Breuer |
| 1988 (42nd) | The Phantom of the Opera | Richard Stilgoe and Andrew Lloyd Webber |
| 1988 (42nd) | Romance/Romance | Barry Harman |

### 1990s

| Year | Production | Author |
| 1990 (44th) |
| 1990 (44th) | City of Angels | Larry Gelbart |
| 1990 (44th) | Aspects of Love | Andrew Lloyd Webber |
| 1990 (44th) | Grand Hotel | Luther Davis |
| 1990 (44th) | Meet Me in St. Louis | Hugh Wheeler |
| 1991 (45th) |
| 1991 (45th) | The Secret Garden | Marsha Norman |
| 1991 (45th) | Miss Saigon | Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg |
| 1991 (45th) | Once on This Island | Lynn Ahrens |
| 1991 (45th) | The Will Rogers Follies | Peter Stone |
| 1992 (46th) |
| 1992 (46th) | Falsettos | William Finn and James Lapine |
| 1992 (46th) | Crazy for You | Ken Ludwig |
| 1992 (46th) | Five Guys Named Moe | Clarke Peters |
| 1992 (46th) | Jelly's Last Jam | George C. Wolfe |
| 1993 (47th) |
| 1993 (47th) | Kiss of the Spider Woman | Terrence McNally |
| 1993 (47th) | Anna Karenina | Peter Kellogg |
| 1993 (47th) | Blood Brothers | Willy Russell |
| 1993 (47th) | The Who's Tommy | Des McAnuff and Pete Townshend |
| 1994 (48th) |
| 1994 (48th) | Passion | James Lapine |
| 1994 (48th) | Beauty and the Beast | Linda Woolverton |
| 1994 (48th) | Cyrano: The Musical | Koen van Dijk |
| 1994 (48th) | A Grand Night for Singing | Walter Bobbie |
| 1995 (49th) |
| 1995 (49th) | Sunset Boulevard | Don Black and Christopher Hampton |
| 1996 (50th) |
| 1996 (50th) | Rent | Jonathan Larson |
| 1996 (50th) | Big | John Weidman |
| 1996 (50th) | Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk | Reg E. Gaines |
| 1996 (50th) | Chronicle of a Death Foretold | Graciela Daniele, Michael John LaChiusa and Jim Lewis |
| 1997 (51st) |
| 1997 (51st) | Titanic | Peter Stone |
| 1997 (51st) | Jekyll & Hyde | Leslie Bricusse |
| 1997 (51st) | The Life | Cy Coleman, Ira Gasman and David Newman |
| 1997 (51st) | Steel Pier | David Thompson |
| 1998 (52nd) |
| 1998 (52nd) | Ragtime | Terrence McNally |
| 1998 (52nd) | The Lion King | Roger Allers and Irene Mecchi |
| 1998 (52nd) | The Scarlet Pimpernel | Nan Knighton |
| 1998 (52nd) | Side Show | Bill Russell |
| 1999 (53rd) |
| 1999 (53rd) | Parade | Alfred Uhry |
| 1999 (53rd) | Footloose | Walter Bobbie and Dean Pitchford |
| 1999 (53rd) | It Ain't Nothin' but the Blues | Charles Bevel, Lita Gaithers, Randal Myler, Ron Taylor and Dan Wheetman |
| 1999 (53rd) | Marlene | Pam Gems |

### 2000s

| Year | Production | Author |
| 2000 (54th) |
| 2000 (54th) | James Joyce's The Dead | Richard Nelson |
| 2000 (54th) | Contact | John Weidman |
| 2000 (54th) | Marie Christine | Michael John LaChiusa |
| 2000 (54th) | The Wild Party | Michael John LaChiusa and George C. Wolfe |
| 2001 (55th) |
| 2001 (55th) | The Producers | Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan |
| 2001 (55th) | A Class Act | Linda Kline and Lonny Price |
| 2001 (55th) | The Full Monty | Terrence McNally |
| 2001 (55th) | Jane Eyre | John Caird |
| 2002 (56th) |
| 2002 (56th) | Urinetown | Greg Kotis |
| 2002 (56th) | Mamma Mia! | Catherine Johnson |
| 2002 (56th) | Sweet Smell of Success | John Guare |
| 2002 (56th) | Thoroughly Modern Millie | Richard Morris and Dick Scanlan |
| 2003 (57th) |
| 2003 (57th) | Hairspray | Thomas Meehan and Mark O'Donnell |
| 2003 (57th) | Amour | Jeremy Sams and Didier Van Cauwelaert |
| 2003 (57th) | Flower Drum Song | David Henry Hwang |
| 2003 (57th) | A Year with Frog and Toad | Willie Reale |
| 2004 (58th) |
| 2004 (58th) | Avenue Q | Jeff Whitty |
| 2004 (58th) | The Boy from Oz | Nick Enright and Martin Sherman |
| 2004 (58th) | Caroline, or Change | Tony Kushner |
| 2004 (58th) | Wicked | Winnie Holzman |
| 2005 (59th) |
| 2005 (59th) | The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee | Rachel Sheinkin |
| 2005 (59th) | Dirty Rotten Scoundrels | Jeffrey Lane |
| 2005 (59th) | The Light in the Piazza | Craig Lucas |
| 2005 (59th) | Monty Python's Spamalot | Eric Idle |
| 2006 (60th) |
| 2006 (60th) | The Drowsy Chaperone | Bob Martin and Don McKellar |
| 2006 (60th) | The Color Purple | Marsha Norman |
| 2006 (60th) | Jersey Boys | Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice |
| 2006 (60th) | The Wedding Singer | Chad Beguelin and Tim Herlihy |
| 2007 (61st) |
| 2007 (61st) | Spring Awakening | Steven Sater |
| 2007 (61st) | Curtains | Rupert Holmes and Peter Stone |
| 2007 (61st) | Grey Gardens | Doug Wright |
| 2007 (61st) | Legally Blonde | Heather Hach |
| 2008 (62nd) |
| 2008 (62nd) | Passing Strange | Stew |
| 2008 (62nd) | Cry-Baby | Thomas Meehan and Mark O'Donnell |
| 2008 (62nd) | In the Heights | Quiara Alegría Hudes |
| 2008 (62nd) | Xanadu | Douglas Carter Beane |
| 2009 (63rd) |
| 2009 (63rd) | Billy Elliot the Musical | Lee Hall |
| 2009 (63rd) | Next to Normal | Brian Yorkey |
| 2009 (63rd) | Shrek the Musical | David Lindsay-Abaire |
| 2009 (63rd) | | Hunter Bell |

### 2010s

| Year | Production | Author |
| 2010 (64th) |
| 2010 (64th) | Memphis | Joe DiPietro |
| 2010 (64th) | Everyday Rapture | Dick Scanlan and Sherie Rene Scott |
| 2010 (64th) | Fela! | Bill T. Jones and Jim Lewis |
| 2010 (64th) | Million Dollar Quartet | Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux |
| 2011 (65th) |
| 2011 (65th) | The Book of Mormon | Trey Parker, Robert Lopez and Matt Stone |
| 2011 (65th) | Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson | Alex Timbers |
| 2011 (65th) | The Scottsboro Boys | David Thompson |
| 2011 (65th) | Sister Act | Douglas Carter Beane, Bill and Cheri Steinkellner |
| 2012 (66th) |
| 2012 (66th) | Once | Enda Walsh |
| 2012 (66th) | Lysistrata Jones | Douglas Carter Beane |
| 2012 (66th) | Newsies | Harvey Fierstein |
| 2012 (66th) | Nice Work If You Can Get It | Joe DiPietro |
| 2013 (67th) |
| 2013 (67th) | Matilda the Musical | Dennis Kelly |
| 2013 (67th) | A Christmas Story: The Musical | Joseph Robinette |
| 2013 (67th) | Kinky Boots | Harvey Fierstein |
| 2013 (67th) | Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella | Douglas Carter Beane |
| 2014 (68th) |
| 2014 (68th) | A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder | Robert L. Freedman |
| 2014 (68th) | Aladdin | Chad Beguelin |
| 2014 (68th) | Beautiful: The Carole King Musical | Douglas McGrath |
| 2014 (68th) | Bullets Over Broadway | Woody Allen |
| 2015 (69th) |
| 2015 (69th) | Fun Home | Lisa Kron |
| 2015 (69th) | An American in Paris | Craig Lucas |
| 2015 (69th) | Something Rotten! | Karey Kirkpatrick and John O'Farrell |
| 2015 (69th) | The Visit | Terrence McNally |
| 2016 (70th) |
| 2016 (70th) | Hamilton | Lin-Manuel Miranda |
| 2016 (70th) | Bright Star | Steve Martin |
| 2016 (70th) | School of Rock | Julian Fellowes |
| 2016 (70th) | Shuffle Along, or, the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed | George C. Wolfe |
| 2017 (71st) |
| 2017 (71st) | Dear Evan Hansen | Steven Levenson |
| 2017 (71st) | Come from Away | David Hein and Irene Sankoff |
| 2017 (71st) | Groundhog Day | Danny Rubin |
| 2017 (71st) | Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 | Dave Malloy |
| 2018 (72nd) |
| 2018 (72nd) | The Band's Visit | Itamar Moses |
| 2018 (72nd) | Frozen | Jennifer Lee |
| 2018 (72nd) | Mean Girls | Tina Fey |
| 2018 (72nd) | SpongeBob SquarePants | Kyle Jarrow |
| 2019 (73rd) |
| 2019 (73rd) | Tootsie | Robert Horn |
| 2019 (73rd) | Ain’t Too Proud | Dominique Morisseau |
| 2019 (73rd) | Beetlejuice | Scott Brown and Anthony King |
| 2019 (73rd) | Hadestown | Anaïs Mitchell |
| 2019 (73rd) | The Prom | Chad Beguelin and Bob Martin |

### 2020s

| Year | Production | Author |
| 2020 (74th) |
| 2020 (74th) | Jagged Little Pill | Diablo Cody |
| 2020 (74th) | Moulin Rouge! | John Logan |
| 2020 (74th) | Tina: The Tina Turner Musical | Katori Hall, Frank Ketelaar and Kees Prins |
| 2022 (75th) |
| 2022 (75th) | A Strange Loop | Michael R. Jackson |
| 2022 (75th) | Girl from the North Country | Conor McPherson |
| 2022 (75th) | MJ | Lynn Nottage |
| 2022 (75th) | Mr. Saturday Night | Billy Crystal, Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel |
| 2022 (75th) | Paradise Square | Christina Anderson, Craig Lucas and Larry Kirwan |
| 2023 (76th) |
| 2023 (76th) | Kimberly Akimbo | David Lindsay-Abaire |
| 2023 (76th) | & Juliet | David West Read |
| 2023 (76th) | New York, New York | David Thompson and Sharon Washington |
| 2023 (76th) | Shucked | Robert Horn |
| 2023 (76th) | Some Like It Hot | Matthew Lopez and Amber Ruffin |
| 2024 (77th) |
| 2024 (77th) | Suffs | Shaina Taub |
| 2024 (77th) | Hell's Kitchen | Kristoffer Diaz |
| 2024 (77th) | The Notebook | Bekah Brunstetter |
| 2024 (77th) | The Outsiders | Justin Levine and Adam Rapp |
| 2024 (77th) | Water for Elephants | Rick Elice |