Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical

Tony Award

The Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress 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 actresses for quality featured 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 Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured or Supporting Role in a Musical. It was first presented to Juanita Hall at the 4th Tony Awards for her portrayal of Bloody Mary in South Pacific. 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] The category was renamed to its current title in 1976.

Judy Kaye, Andrea Martin and Audra McDonald share the record for having the most wins in this category, with a total of two. Carrie Pipperidge in Carousel and Marge MacDougall in Promises, Promises are the characters to take the award the most times, winning twice.

Winners and nominees

  indicates the winner

Juanita Hall won for South Pacific (1950)

Helen Gallagher won for Pal Joey (1952)

Gwen Verdon won for Can-Can (1954)

Edie Adams won for Lil' Abner (1957)

Barbara Cook won for The Music Man (1958)

Tammy Grimes won for The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1961)

Phyllis Newman won for Subways Are for Sleeping (1962)

Bea Arthur won for Mame (1966)

Melba Moore won for Purlie (1970)

Dee Dee Bridgewater won for The Wiz (1975)

Kelly Bishop won for A Chorus Line (1976)

Betty Buckley won for Cats (1983)

Lila Kedrova won for Zorba (1984)

Bebe Neuwirth won for Sweet Charity (1986)

Tonya Pinkins won for Jelly's Last Jam (1992)

Andrea Martin won twice: for My Favorite Year (1993) and Pippin (2013)

Audra McDonald won twice: for Carousel (1994) and Ragtime (1998)

Kristin Chenoweth won for You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown (1999)

Jane Krakowski won for Nine (2003)

Anika Noni Rose won for Caroline, or Change (2004)

Sara Ramirez won for Spamalot (2005)

Beth Leavel won for The Drowsy Chaperone (2006)

Laura Benanti won for Gypsy (2008)

Karen Olivo won for West Side Story (2009)

Katie Finneran won for Promises, Promises (2010)

Nikki M. James won for The Book of Mormon (2011)

Lena Hall won for Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2014)

Ruthie Ann Miles won for The King and I (2015)

Renée Elise Goldsberry won for Hamilton (2016)

Lindsay Mendez won for Carousel (2018)

Ali Stroker won for Oklahoma! (2019)

Lauren Patten won for Jagged Little Pill (2021)

Patti LuPone won for Company (2022)

Bonnie Milligan won for Kimberly Akimbo (2023)

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

Statistics

Most wins

2 wins

• Judy Kaye
• Andrea Martin
• Audra McDonald

Most nominations

5 nominations

• Andrea Martin

4 nominations

• Laura Benanti

3 nominations

• Victoria Clark
• Judy Kaye
• Jane Krakowski
• Patti LuPone
• Mary Testa
• Karen Ziemba

2 nominations

• Shoshana Bean
• Tammy Blanchard
• Gretha Boston
• Barbara Cook
• Helen Gallagher
• Jayne Houdyshell
• Cady Huffman
• Nikki M. James
• Patsy Kelly
• Judy Kuhn
• Marcia Lewis
• Priscilla Lopez
• Julienne Marie
• Millicent Martin
• Audra McDonald
• Lindsay Mendez
• Ruthie Ann Miles
• Bebe Neuwirth
• Mary Beth Peil
• Josephine Premice
• Chita Rivera
• Jennifer Simard
• Louise Troy
• Lillias White
• Mary Louise Wilson

Character win total

2 wins

• Carrie Pipperidge from Carousel
• Marge MacDougall from Promises, Promises

Character nomination total

5 nominations

• Louise from Gypsy

4 nominations

• Fraulein Schneider from Cabaret

3 nominations

• The Old Lady from Candide

2 nominations

• Anita from West Side Story
• Aunt Eller from Oklahoma!
• Berthe from Pippin
• Bloody Mary from South Pacific
• Carla Albanese from Nine
• Carrie Pipperidge from Carousel
• Gladys Bumps from Pal Joey
• Gladys Hotchkiss from The Pajama Game
• Hildy Esterhazy from On the Town and Jerome Robbins' Broadway
• Ilona Ritter from She Loves Me
• Jenny from The Threepenny Opera
• Lady of the Lake from Spamalot
• Liliane La Fleur from Nine
• Luisa Contini from Nine
• Madame Armfeldt from A Little Night Music
• Marge MacDougall from Promises, Promises
• Maria from West Side Story
• Nickie from Sweet Charity
• Peggy Sawyer from 42nd Street
• Queenie from Show Boat
• Sarah from Company
• Sofia Johnson from The Color Purple
• Trina from Falsettos

Productions with multiple nominations

boldface=winner

• The Sound of Music – Patricia Neway and Lauri Peters, Kathy Dunn, Evanna Lien, Mary Susan Locke, Marilyn Robers, William Snowden & Joseph Stewart
• A Joyful Noise – Leland Palmer and Susan Watson
• Applause – Bonnie Franklin and Penny Fuller
• Company – Barbara Barrie and Pamela Myers
• A Little Night Music – Patricia Elliott and Hermione Gingold
• Candide – Maureen Brennan and June Gable
• A Chorus Line – Kelly Bishop and Priscilla Lopez
• Side by Side by Sondheim – Millicent Martin and Julia McKenzie
• Ain't Misbehavin' – Nell Carter and Charlayne Woodard
• The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas – Carlin Glynn and Joan Ellis
• West Side Story – Debbie Allen and Josie de Guzman
• Nine – Karen Akers, Liliane Montevecchi and Anita Morris
• Quilters – Evalon Baron and Lenka Peterson
• The Mystery of Edwin Drood – Patti Cohenour and Jana Schneider
• Les Misérables – Frances Ruffelle and Judy Kuhn
• Me and My Girl – Jane Connell and Jane Summerhays (Les Misérables and Me and My Girl were nominated the same year)
• Cabaret – Alyson Reed and Regina Resnik
• Jerome Robbins' Broadway – Debbie Gravitte, Jane Lanier and Faith Prince
• The Secret Garden – Daisy Eagan and Alison Fraser
• Smokey Joe's Cafe – Brenda Braxton, B.J. Crosby and DeLee Lively
• Contact – Deborah Yates and Karen Ziemba
• Swing! – Laura Benanti and Ann Hampton Callaway (Contact and Swing! were nominated the same year)
• 42nd Street – Kate Levering and Mary Testa
• Nine – Jane Krakowski, Mary Stuart Masterson and Chita Rivera (This is the second time the show had multiple nominations)
• The Boy from Oz – Beth Fowler and Isabel Keating
• The Color Purple – Felicia P. Fields and Elisabeth Withers
• Billy Elliot the Musical – Haydn Gwynne and Carole Shelley
• Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown – Laura Benanti and Patti LuPone
• Fun Home – Judy Kuhn, Sydney Lucas and Emily Skeggs
• Carousel – Renée Fleming and Lindsay Mendez
• Oklahoma! – Ali Stroker and Mary Testa
• Tootsie – Lilli Cooper and Sarah Stiles (Oklahoma! and Tootsie were nominated the same year)
• Jagged Little Pill – Kathryn Gallagher, Celia Rose Gooding and Lauren Patten
• Company – Patti LuPone and Jennifer Simard (This is the second time the show had multiple nominations)
• Hell's Kitchen – Shoshana Bean and Kecia Lewis

Multiple awards and nominations

Actresses who have been nominated multiple times in any acting categories

See also

• Theatre portal

• Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play
• Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play
• Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical
• Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical
• Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Performance in a Musical
• Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical
• List of Tony Award-nominated productions

References

1. Kirkley, Donald (April 21, 1968). "Operation Frenzy Before the Tony Awards". The Baltimore Sun. p. T2. Retrieved December 24, 2011. (subscription required)
2. Simons, Linda Keir (1994). The Performing Arts: a Guide to the Reference Literature. ABC-CLIO. p. 137. ISBN 978-0-87287-982-9. Archived from the original on 2013-06-22. Retrieved 2012-01-14.
3. Gelb, Arthur (April 1, 1956). "Popularizing the Tony Awards". The New York Times. Retrieved January 14, 2011. (subscription required)
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48. "2001 Tony Awards Nominees". American Theatre Wing. Retrieved August 11, 2023.
49. "2002 Tony Awards Nominees". American Theatre Wing. Retrieved August 11, 2023.
50. "2003 Tony Awards Nominees". American Theatre Wing. Retrieved August 11, 2023.
51. "2004 Tony Awards Nominees". American Theatre Wing. Retrieved August 11, 2023.
52. "2005 Tony Awards Nominees". American Theatre Wing. Retrieved August 11, 2023.
53. "2006 Tony Awards Nominees". American Theatre Wing. Retrieved August 11, 2023.
54. "2007 Tony Awards Nominees". American Theatre Wing. Retrieved August 11, 2023.
55. "2008 Tony Awards Nominees". American Theatre Wing. Retrieved August 11, 2023.
56. "2009 Tony Awards Nominees". American Theatre Wing. Retrieved August 11, 2023.
57. "2010 Tony Awards Nominees". American Theatre Wing. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
58. "2011 Tony Awards Nominees". American Theatre Wing. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
59. "2012 Tony Awards Nominees". American Theatre Wing. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
60. "2013 Tony Awards Nominees". American Theatre Wing. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
61. "2014 Tony Awards Nominees". American Theatre Wing. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
62. "Tony Nominations 2015: Full List". Variety. April 28, 2015. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
63. "2016 Tony Awards Nominees". American Theatre Wing. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
64. "2017 Tony Awards Nominees". American Theatre Wing. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
65. "2018 Tony Awards Nominees". American Theatre Wing. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
66. "2019 Tony Awards Nominees". American Theatre Wing. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
67. Garvey, Marianne (September 26, 2021). "See who won at the Tony Awards". CNN. Retrieved September 27, 2021.
68. "2022 Tony Awards Nominees". American Theatre Wing. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
69. "2023 Tony Awards Nominees". American Theatre Wing. May 2, 2023. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
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External links

• Internet Broadway Database Awards Archive
• Official Tony Awards Website Archive