Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical

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."

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; the change was made by the awards committee to "have a greater impact on theatregoers".

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
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Most wins
• Norbert Leo Butz
 * 2 wins

• John Cullum

• Richard Kiley

• Nathan Lane

• Zero Mostel

• James Naughton

• Robert Preston

• George Rose

• Phil Silvers

Most nominations
• ;4 nominations

• John Cullum

• Brian d'Arcy James

• Raul Julia

• ;3 nominations

• Len Cariou

• Michael Cerveris

• Alfred Drake

• Joel Grey

• George Hearn

• Gregory Hines

• Richard Kiley

• Nathan Lane

• Brian Stokes Mitchell

• Robert Morse

• Robert Preston

• George Rose

• Phil Silvers

• ;2 nominations

• Herschel Bernardi

• Ray Bolger

• Christian Borle

• Barry Bostwick

• Alex Brightman

• Matthew Broderick

• Danny Burstein

• Norbert Leo Butz

• David Carroll

• Brent Carver

• Jack Cassidy

• Gavin Creel

• Tim Curry

• Jim Dale

• Santino Fontana

• Victor Garber

• Josh Groban

• Jonathan Groff

• Joshua Henry

• Hugh Jackman

• Andy Karl

• John Lithgow

• Terrence Mann

• Rob McClure

• John McMartin

• Lin-Manuel Miranda

• Zero Mostel

• James Naughton

• Jerry Orbach

• Mandy Patinkin

• David Hyde Pierce

• Ben Platt

• Martin Short

• Robert Weede

• Patrick Wilson

• Tom Wopat

Character win total

 * 3 wins
 * Pseudolus from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum


 * 2 wins
 * Albin from La Cage aux Folles
 * Emile de Becque from South Pacific
 * J. Pierrepont Finch from How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

Character nomination total
• ; 5 nominations

• Tevye from Fiddler on the Roof

• ; 4 nominations

• Sweeney Todd from Sweeney Todd

• ; 3 nominations

• Albin from La Cage aux Folles

• Noble Eggleston / Val du Val / Fred Poitrine from Little Me †

• Harold Hill from The Music Man

• Henry Higgins from My Fair Lady

• Pseudolus from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

• ; 2 nominations

• Billy Flynn from Chicago

• Bobby from Company

• Charley Wykeham from Where's Charley?

• Chuck Baxter from Promises, Promises

• Curly McLain from Oklahoma!

• Don Quixote / Cervantes from Man of La Mancha

• Dr. Pangloss from Candide

• Emile de Becque from South Pacific

• Fagin from Oliver!

• Georg Nowack from She Loves Me

• George from La Cage aux Folles

• Georges from Sunday in the Park with George

• Guido Contini from Nine

• Horace Vandergelder from Hello, Dolly!

• J. Pierrepont Finch from How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

• Jean Valjean from Les Misérables

• Jerry/Daphne from Sugar and Some Like It Hot

• Leo Frank from Parade

• Master of Ceremonies from Cabaret

• The King of Siam from The King and I

• Marvin from Falsettos

• Mr. Applegate from Damn Yankees

• Nathan Detroit from Guys and Dolls

• Amos Pinchley / Otto Schnitzler / Prince Cherney / Noble Junior from  Little Me †

• Porgy from Porgy and Bess

• Tony from The Most Happy Fella

† – 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 • Damn Yankees – Ray Walston and Stephen Douglass

• Take Me Along – Jackie Gleason, Robert Morse and Walter Pidgeon

• Two Gentlemen of Verona – Clifton Davis and Raul Julia

• My Fair Lady – George Rose and Ian Richardson

• The Pirates of Penzance – Kevin Kline and George Rose

• La Cage aux Folles – George Hearn and Gene Barry

• Les Misérables – Terrence Mann and Colm Wilkinson

• Jerome Robbins' Broadway – Jason Alexander and Robert La Fosse

• Starmites – Gabriel Barre and Brian Lane Green (Jerome Robbins' Broadway and Starmites were competing in the same year)

• City of Angels – James Naughton and Gregg Edelman

• Show Boat – Mark Jacoby and John McMartin

• Ragtime – Peter Friedman and Brian Stokes Mitchell

• The Producers – Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick

• Dirty Rotten Scoundrels – Norbert Leo Butz and John Lithgow

• Monty Python's Spamalot – Hank Azaria and Tim Curry (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Monty Python's Spamalot were competing in the same year)

• Billy Elliot the Musical – David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik and Kiril Kulish (joint winners)

• La Cage aux Folles – Douglas Hodge and Kelsey Grammer (the second time this show received two nominations)

• The Book of Mormon – Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells

• Follies – Danny Burstein and Ron Raines

• Kinky Boots – Billy Porter and Stark Sands

• A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder – Jefferson Mays and Bryce Pinkham

• Hamilton – Lin-Manuel Miranda and Leslie Odom Jr.

• Some Like It Hot – Christian Borle and J. Harrison Ghee

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:
 * 1963 – Zero Mostel
 * 1972 – Phil Silvers
 * 1996 – Nathan Lane
 * In 1989, Jason Alexander won the award for portraying several characters in Jerome Robbins' Broadway, amongst them, the role of Pseudolus.
 * Three other male roles have produced multiple Tony Award winners: J. Pierrepont Finch in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying:
 * 1962 – Robert Morse
 * 1995 – Matthew Broderick
 * Emile de Beque in South Pacific:
 * 1950 – Ezio Pinza
 * 2008 – Paulo Szot
 * and Albin in La Cage Aux Folles:
 * 1984 – George Hearn
 * 2010 – Douglas Hodge
 * Gary Beach, who played Albin in the 2005 revival, was nominated but lost the award to Norbert Leo Butz in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
 * Two actors have won for their performances in My Fair Lady, each for a different character:
 * 1957 – Rex Harrison, playing Henry Higgins
 * 1976 – George Rose, playing Alfred P. Doolitle
 * Ian Richardson and Harry Hadden-Paton, who played Henry Higgins in 1976 and 2018, respectively, were also nominated.
 * The lead role with most nominations is Tevye, in Fiddler on the Roof. Five actors have been nominated for their portrayals, with one win:
 * 1965 – Zero Mostel (winner)
 * 1982 – Herschel Bernardi
 * 1991 – Chaim Topol
 * 2004 – Alfred Molina
 * 2016 – Danny Burstein
 * In 1989, Jason Alexander won the award for portraying several characters in Jerome Robbins' Broadway, amongst them, the role of Tevye.
 * 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 Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street 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.