Tony Award for Best Original Score
| Tony Award for Best Original Score | |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | Best Original Score |
| Location | United States New York City |
| Country | United States of America |
| Presented by | American Theatre Wing The Broadway League |
| Currently held by | Lin-Manuel Miranda for Hamilton (2016) |
| Official website | TonyAwards.com |
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
1940s
| Year | Musical | Music | Lyrics |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1947 1st Tony Awards | |||
| Street Scene | Kurt Weill | Langston Hughes | |
| 1948 2nd Tony Awards |
N/A | ||
| 1949 3rd Tony Awards | |||
| Kiss Me, Kate | Cole Porter | ||
1950s
| Year | Musical | Music | Lyrics |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 4th Tony Awards | |||
| South Pacific | Richard Rodgers | Oscar Hammerstein II | |
| 1951 5th Tony Awards | |||
| Call Me Madam | Irving Berlin | ||
| 1952 – 1959 | N/A | ||
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
Award Records
Multiple Wins
|
|
Multiple Nominations
|
|