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.

Awards and nominations

1950s

* 1950: "South Pacific" – Oscar Hammerstein and Joshua Logan
* 1951: "Guys and Dolls" – Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows

1960s

* 1960: "no award"
* 1961: "no award"
* 1964: "Hello, Dolly!" – Michael Stewart
* 1965: "Fiddler on the Roof" – Joseph Stein
* 1966: "no award"
* 1967: "no award"
* 1968: "no award"
* 1969: "no award"

1970s

* 1970: "no award"
* 1971: "Company" – George Furth
* 1972: "Two Gentlemen of Verona" – John Guare and Mel Shapiro
* 1973: "A Little Night Music" – Hugh Wheeler
* 1974: "Candide" – Hugh Wheeler
* 1975: "Shenandoah" – James Lee Barrett, Peter Udell, and Phillip Rose
* 1976: "A Chorus Line" – James Kirkwood, Jr. and Nicholas Dante
* 1977: "Annie" – Thomas Meehan
* 1978: "On The Twentieth Century" – Betty Comden and Adolph Green
* 1979: "Sweeney Todd" – Hugh Wheeler

1980s

* 1980: "Evita" – Tim Rice
* 1981: "Woman of the Year" – Peter Stone
* 1982: "Dreamgirls" – Tom Eyen
* 1983: "Cats" – T. S. Eliot
* 1984: "La Cage aux Folles" – Harvey Fierstein
* 1985: "Big River" – William Hauptman
* 1986: "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" – Rupert Holmes
* 1987: "Les Misérables" – Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg
** "Me and My Girl" – L. Arthur Rose, Douglas Furber, Stephen Fry and Mike Ockrent
** "Rags" – Joseph Stein
** "Smile" – Howard Ashman
* 1988: "Into the Woods" – James Lapine
** "The Gospel at Colonus" – Lee Breuer
** "The Phantom of the Opera" – Richard Stilgoe and Andrew Lloyd Webber
** "Romance/Romance" – Barry Harman
* 1989: "no award"

1990s

* 1990: "City of Angels" – Larry Gelbart
** "Aspects of Love" – Andrew Lloyd Webber
** "Grand Hotel" – Luther Davis
** "Meet Me in St. Louis" – Hugh Wheeler

* 1991: "The Secret Garden" – Marsha Norman
** "Miss Saigon" – Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg
** "Once on This Island" – Lynn Ahrens
** "The Will Rogers Follies" – Peter Stone

* 1992: "Falsettos" – William Finn and James Lapine
** "Crazy for You" – Ken Ludwig
** "Five Guys Named Moe" – Clarke Peters
** "Jelly's Last Jam" – George C. Wolfe

* 1993: "Kiss of the Spider Woman" – Terrence McNally
** "Anna Karenina" – Peter Kellogg
** "Blood Brothers" – Willy Russell
** "The Who's Tommy" – Pete Townshend and Des McAnuff

* 1994: "Passion" – James Lapine
** "Beauty and the Beast" – Linda Woolverton
** "" – Koen van Kijk
** "A Grand Night for Singing" – Walter Bobbie

* 1995: "Sunset Boulevard" – Don Black and Christopher Hampton

* 1996: "Rent" – Jonathan Larson
** "Big" – John Weidman
** "Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk" – Reg E Gaines
** "Chronicle of a Death Foretold" – Graciela Daniele, Jim Lewis, and Michael John LaChiusa

* 1997: "Titanic" – Peter Stone
** "Jekyll & Hyde" – Leslie Bricusse
** "The Life" – David Newman, Ira Gasman, and Cy Coleman
** "Steel Pier" – David Thompson

* 1998: "Ragtime" – Terrence McNally
** "The Lion King" – Roger Allers and Irene Mecchi
** "The Scarlet Pimpernel" – Nan Knighton
** "Side Show" – Bill Russell

* 1999: "Parade" – Alfred Uhry
** "Footloose" – Dean Pitchford and Walter Bobbie
** "It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues" – Charles Bevel, Lita Gaithers, Randal Myler, Ron Taylor, and Dan Wheetman
** "Marlene" – Pam Gems

2000s

* 2000: "James Joyce's The Dead" – Richard Nelson
** "Contact" – John Weidman
** "Marie Christine" – Michael John LaChiusa
** "The Wild Party" – Michael John LaChiusa and George C. Wolfe

* 2001: "The Producers" – Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan
** "A Class Act" – Linda Kline and Lonny Price
** "The Full Monty" – Terrence McNally
** "Jane Eyre" – John Caird

* 2002: "Urinetown" – Greg Kotis
** "Mamma Mia!" – Catherine Johnson
** "Sweet Smell of Success" – John Guare
** "Thoroughly Modern Millie" – Richard Morris and Dick Scanlan

* 2003: "Hairspray" – Thomas Meehan and Mark O'Donnell
** "Amour" – Didier Van Cauwelaert, Jeremy Sams (adaptation)
** "Flower Drum Song" – David Henry Hwang
** "A Year With Frog and Toad" – Willie Reale

* 2004: "Avenue Q" – Jeff Whitty
** "The Boy from Oz" – Martin Sherman, Nick Enright
** "Caroline, or Change" – Tony Kushner
** "Wicked" – Winnie Holzman

* 2005: "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" – Rachel Sheinkin
** "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" – Jeffrey Lane
** "The Light in the Piazza " by Craig Lucas
** "Monty Python's Spamalot" – Eric Idle

* 2006: "The Drowsy Chaperone" – Bob Martin and Don McKellar
** "The Wedding Singer" – Chad Beguelin and Tim Herlihy
** "Jersey Boys " by Marshall Brickman & Rick Elice
** "The Color Purple" – Marsha Norman

* 2007: "Spring Awakening" – Steven Sater
** "Curtains" – Rupert Holmes and Peter Stone
** "Grey Gardens" – Doug Wright
** "" – Heather Hach

* 2008: "Passing Strange" – Stew
** "Cry-Baby" – Thomas Meehan and Mark O'Donnell
** "In the Heights" – Quiara Alegría Hudes
** "Xanadu by Douglas Carter Beane

Award records

*3 awards: Hugh Wheeler, Thomas Meehan, and James Lapine
*2 awards: Terrence McNally, Larry Gelbart, Peter Stone, and Michael Stewart