Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical
Home Page | Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical
The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical was an annual award presented by Drama Desk in recognition of achievements in theatre across collective Broadway, off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway productions in New York City. The award was one of eight new acting awards first presented in 1975, when Drama Desk retired an earlier award that had made no distinction between work in plays and musicals, nor between actors and actresses, nor between lead performers and featured performers.
Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress
Awarded for
Outstanding Actress in a Musical
Location
New York City
Country
United States
Presented by
Drama Desk
First award
1975
Final award
2022
Website
dramadesk.org (defunct)
After the 2022 ceremony, all eight acting categories introduced in 1975 were retired. The award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical, along with Outstanding Actor in a Musical, were replaced in 2023 with the gender neutral category of Outstanding Lead Performance in a Musical.
Winners and nominees
Key
and bold indicates the winner.
1960s
Year
Actress
Musical
Character
1964
Imelda de Martin
The Amorous Flea
Agnes
1965–68
—N/a
—N/a
—N/a
1969
Dorothy Loudon
The Fig Leaves Are Falling
Lillian Stone
Bernadette Peters
Dames at Sea
Ruby
1970s
Year
Actress
Musical
Character
1970
Lauren Bacall
Applause †
Margo Channing
Sandy Duncan
The Boyfriend ‡
Maisie
Ethel Merman
Hello Dolly
Dolly Gallagher Levi
1971
Helen Gallagher
No, No, Nanette †
Lucille Early
Alexis Smith
Follies ‡
Phyllis Rogers Stone
1972
Jonelle Allen
The Two Gentlemen of Verona
Silvia
1973
Glynis Johns
A Little Night Music
Desiree Armfeldt
Michele Lee
Seesaw
Gittel Mosca
1974
Ruby Lynn Reyner
La Bohemia
Trilby
1975
Angela Lansbury
Gypsy
Mama Rose
Marcia McClain
Where's Charley?
Amy Spettigue
Stephanie Mills
The Wiz
Dorothy Gale
Bernadette Peters
Mack and Mabel
Mabel Normand
Ann Reinking
Goodtime Charley
Joan of Arc
1976
Kelly Bishop
A Chorus Line
Sheila Bryant
Donna McKechnie
A Chorus Line
Cassie Ferguson
Penny Fuller
Rex
Anne Boleyn / Elizabeth I
Patti LuPone
The Robber Bridegroom
Rosamund Musgrove
Virginia Seidel
Very Good Eddie
Elsie Darling
Elizabeth Wilson
The Threepenny Opera
Celia Peachum
1977
Clamma Dale
Porgy and Bess
Bess
Joan Copeland
Pal Joey
Vera Simpson
Catherine Cox
Music Is
Viola
Esther Hinds
Porgy and Bess
Bess
Julia McKenzie
Side by Side by Sondheim
Various Characters
Meryl Streep
Happy End
Lillian Holiday
1978
Nell Carter
Ain't Misbehavin
Nell
Carlin Glynn
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
Mona Stangley
Judy Kaye
On the Twentieth Century
Agnes
Angela Lansbury
The King and I
Anna Leonowens
Phyllis Newman
My Mother was a Fortune Teller
Phyllis
Charlayne Woodard
Ain't Misbehavin
Charlayne
1979
Angela Lansbury
Sweeney Todd
Mrs. Lovett
Lucie Arnaz
They're Playing Our Song
Sonia Walsk
Dorothy Loudon
Ballroom
Bea Asher
1980s
Year
Actress
Musical
Character
1980
Patti LuPone
Evita
Eva Perón
Sandy Duncan
Peter Pan
Peter Pan
Ann Miller
Sugar Babies
Ann
Sigourney Weaver
Das Lusitania Songspiel
Unknown
1981
Lena Horne
Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music
Herself
Chita Rivera
Bring Back Birdie
Rosie Alvarez
1982
Jennifer Holliday
Dreamgirls
Effie White
Sheryl Lee Ralph
Dreamgirls
Deena Jones
1983
Natalia Makarova
On Your Toes
Vera Barnova
Mara Beckerman
Charlotte Sweet
Charlotte Sweet
Betty Buckley
Cats
Grizabella
Ellen Greene
Little Shop of Horrors
Audrey
Twiggy
My One and Only
Edith Herbert
1984
Chita Rivera
The Rink
Anna
Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine on Broadway
Herself
Liza Minnelli
The Rink
Angel
Bernadette Peters
Sunday in the Park with George
Dot / Marie
Alyson Reed
Marilyn
Marilyn Monroe
1985
—N/a
—N/a
—N/a
1986
Bernadette Peters
Song and Dance
Emma
Debbie Allen
Sweet Charity
Charity Hope Valentine
Patti Cohenour
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Miss Deirdre Peregrine / Rosa Bud
Terri Klausner
Goblin Market
Laura
Cleo Laine
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Angela Prysock / The Princess Puffer
Ann Morrison
Goblin Market
Lizzie
1987
Teresa Stratas
Rags
Rebecca Hershkowitz
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
The Knife
Jenny
Lonette McKee
Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill
Billie Holiday
Maryann Plunkett
Me and My Girl
Sally Smith
1988
Patti LuPone
Anything Goes
Reno Sweeney
Sarah Brightman
The Phantom of the Opera
Christine Daaé
Judy Kuhn
Chess
Florence Vassy
Bernadette Peters
Into the Woods
The Witch
1989
Toni diBuono
Forbidden Broadway
Various Characters
Beth Fowler
Sweeney Todd
Mrs. Lovett
Debbie Shapiro Gravitte
Jerome Robbins' Broadway
Various Characters
Roxie Lucas
Forbidden Broadway
Various Characters
Faith Prince
Jerome Robbins' Broadway
Ma / Tessie / Company
1990s
Year
Actress
Musical
Character
1990
Tyne Daly
Gypsy
Mama Rose
Debby Boone
The Sound of Music
Maria von Trapp
Lynne Wintersteller
Closer Than Ever
Various Characters
1991
Lea Salonga
Miss Saigon
Kim
June Angela
Shogun
Lady Mariko
Daisy Eagan
The Secret Garden
Mary Lennox
LaChanze
Once on This Island
Ti Moune
1992
Faith Prince
Guys and Dolls
Miss Adelaide
Sophie Hayden
The Most Happy Fella
Rosabella
Donna Murphy
Song of Singapore
Rose
1993
Chita Rivera
Kiss of the Spider Woman
Aurora / Spider Woman
Laura Bell Bundy
Ruthless!
Tina Denmark
Donna English
Ruthless!
Judy Denmark / Ginger Del Marco
Helen Schneider
Frida
Frida Kahlo
Linda Stephens
Wings
Emily Stilson
1994
Donna Murphy
Passion
Fosca
Susan Egan
Beauty and the Beast
Belle
Melissa Errico
My Fair Lady
Eliza Doolittle
Margaret Illman
The Red Shoes
Victoria Page
1995
Glenn Close
Sunset Boulevard
Norma Desmond
Candy Buckley
The Petrified Prince
Queen Katarina
Julie Johnson
Das Barbecü
Various Characters
Lonette McKee
Show Boat
Julie LaVerne
Elaine Stritch
Show Boat
Parthy Ann Hawks
1996
Julie Andrews
Victor/Victoria
Victoria Grant
Terri Klausner
Bed and Sofa
Ludmilla
Crista Moore
Big
Susan Lawrence
Donna Murphy
The King and I
Anna Leonowens
Daphne Rubin-Vega
Rent
Mimi Marquez
Karen Ziemba
I Do! I Do!
She (Agnes)
1997
Bebe Neuwirth
Chicago
Velma Kelly
Linda Eder
Jekyll & Hyde
Lucy Harris
Pamela Isaacs
The Life
Queen
Lauren Ward
Violet
Violet Karl
Karen Ziemba
Steel Pier
Rita Racine
1998
Natasha Richardson
Cabaret
Sally Bowles
Melissa Errico
High Society
Tracy Samantha Lord
Marin Mazzie
Ragtime
Mother
Alice Ripley and Emily Skinner
Side Show
Violet and Daisy Hilton
1999
Carolee Carmello
Parade
Lucille Frank
Bernadette Peters
Annie Get Your Gun
Annie Oakley
Siân Phillips
Marlene
Marlene Dietrich
2000s
Year
Actress
Musical
Character
2000
Heather Headley
Aida
Aida
Toni Collette
The Wild Party
Queenie
Rebecca Luker
The Music Man
Marian Paroo
Marin Mazzie
Kiss Me Kate
Lilli Vanessi / Katherine
Audra McDonald
Marie Christine
Marie Christine L'Adrese
Julia Murney
The Wild Party
Queenie
2001
Marla Schaffel
Jane Eyre
Jane Eyre
Christine Ebersole
42nd Street
Dorothy Brock
Kaitlin Hopkins
Bat Boy: The Musical
Meredith Parker
LaChanze
The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin
Viveca
Sally Mayes
Pete 'n' Keely
Keely
Faith Prince
Bells Are Ringing
Ella Peterson
2002
Sutton Foster
Thoroughly Modern Millie
Millie Dillmount
Laura Benanti
Into the Woods
Cinderella
Garrett Long
The Spitfire Grill
Percy Talbott
Louise Pitre
Mamma Mia
Donna Sheridan
Sherie Rene Scott
The Last Five Years
Cathy Hyatt
Vanessa Williams
Into the Woods
The Witch
2003
Marissa Jaret Winokur
Hairspray
Tracy Turnblad
Stephanie D'Abruzzo
Avenue Q
Kate Monster / Lucy the Slut
Ann Duquesnay
Cookin' at the Cookery
Alberta Hunter / Various Characters
Wei Huang
La bohème
Mimi
Elizabeth Parkinson
Movin' Out
Brenda
Bernadette Peters
Gypsy
Mama Rose
2004
Donna Murphy
Wonderful Town
Ruth Sherwood
Kristin Chenoweth
Wicked
Glinda
Judy McLane
Johnny Guitar
Vienna
Idina Menzel
Wicked
Elphaba
Elaine Paige
Sweeney Todd
Mrs. Lovett
Tonya Pinkins
Caroline, or Change
Caroline Thibodeaux
2005
Victoria Clark
The Light in the Piazza
Margaret Johnson
Christina Applegate
Sweet Charity
Charity Hope Valentine
Sutton Foster
Little Women
Josephine 'Jo' March
LaChanze
Dessa Rose
Dessa Rose
Sherie Rene Scott
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Christine Colgate
Rachel York
Dessa Rose
Ruth
2006
Christine Ebersole
Grey Gardens
'Little Edie' Beale
Nancy Anderson
Fanny Hill
Fanny Hill
Sutton Foster
The Drowsy Chaperone
Janet Van De Graaff
Patti LuPone
Sweeney Todd
Mrs. Lovett
Idina Menzel
See What I Wanna See
Kesa / Wife / Actress
Kelli O'Hara
The Pajama Game
Catherine 'Babe' Williams
2007
Audra McDonald
110 in the Shade
Lizzie Curry
Donna Murphy
Lovemusik
Lotte Lenya
Laura Bell Bundy
Legally Blonde
Elle Woods
Ashley Brown
Mary Poppins
Mary Poppins
Kristin Chenoweth
The Apple Tree
Eve / Princess Barbara / Ella and Passionella
Lea Michele
Spring Awakening
Wendla Bergmann
2008
Patti LuPone
Gypsy
Mama Rose
Sierra Boggess
The Little Mermaid
Princess Ariel
Kelli O'Hara
South Pacific
Ensign Nellie Forbush
Faith Prince
A Catered Affair
Agnes 'Aggie' Hurley
Alice Ripley
Next to Normal
Diana Goodman
Jenna Russell
Sunday in the Park with George
Dot / Marie
2009
Allison Janney
9 to 5
Violet Newstead
Stephanie J. Block
9 to 5
Judy Bernly
Stockard Channing
Pal Joey
Vera Simpson
Sutton Foster
Shrek
Princess Fiona
Megan Hilty
9 to 5
Doralee Rhodes
Karen Murphy
My Vaudeville Man!
Mud Donahue
2010s
Year
Actress
Musical
Character
2010
Montego Glover
Memphis
Felicia Farrell
Catherine Zeta-Jones
A Little Night Music
Desiree Armfeldt
Kate Baldwin
Finian's Rainbow
Sharon McLonergan
Jayne Houdyshell
Coraline
Coraline
Christiane Noll
Ragtime
Mother
Sherie Rene Scott
Everyday Rapture
Sherie Rene Scott
2011
Sutton Foster
Anything Goes
Reno Sweeney
Beth Leavel
Baby It's You!
Florence Greenberg
Patina Miller
Sister Act
Deloris Van Cartier
Donna Murphy
The People in the Picture
Bubbie / Raisel
Sherie Rene Scott
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
Pepa
2012
Audra McDonald
Porgy and Bess
Bess
Miche Braden
The Devil's Music
Bessie Smith
Jan Maxwell
Follies
Phyllis Rogers Stone
Kelli O'Hara
Nice Work If You Can Get It
Billie Bendix
Bernadette Peters
Follies
Sally Durant Plummer
Molly Ranson
Carrie
Carrie White
2013
Laura Osnes
Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella
Ella
Kate Baldwin
Giant
Leslie Lynnton Benedict
Stephanie J. Block
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Edwin Drood / Miss Alice Nutting
Carolee Carmello
Scandalous
Aimee Semple McPherson
Lindsay Mendez
Dogfight
Rose Fenny
Donna Murphy
Into the Woods
The Witch
Jenny Powers
Donnybrook!
Mary Kate Danaher
2014
Jessie Mueller
Beautiful: The Carole King Musical
Carole King
Sutton Foster
Violet
Violet Karl
Idina Menzel
If/Then
Elizabeth Vaughn
Kelli O'Hara
The Bridges of Madison County
Francesca Johnson
Margo Seibert
Tamar of the River
Tamar
Barrett Wilbert Weed
Heathers
Veronica Sawyer
2015
Kristin Chenoweth
On the Twentieth Century
Lily Garland / Mildred Plotka
Kate Baldwin
John & Jen
Jen
Leanne Cope
An American in Paris
Lise Dassin
Erin Davie
Side Show
Violet Hilton
Lisa Howard
It Shoulda Been You
Jenny Steinberg
Chita Rivera
The Visit
Claire Zachanassian
2016
Cynthia Erivo
The Color Purple
Celie Harris Johnson
Laura Benanti
She Loves Me
Amalia Balash
Carmen Cusack
Bright Star
Alice Murphy
Jessie Mueller
Waitress
Jenna Hunterson
Annette O'Toole
Southern Comfort
Robert Eads
2017
Bette Midler
Hello, Dolly!
Dolly Gallagher Levi
Christy Altomare
Anastasia
Anya
Christine Ebersole
War Paint
Elizabeth Arden
Sutton Foster
Sweet Charity
Charity Hope Valentine
Patti LuPone
War Paint
Helena Rubinstein
Laura Osnes
Bandstand
Julia Trojan
2018
Jessie Mueller
Carousel
Julie Jordan
Gizel Jiménez
Miss You Like Hell
Olivia
LaChanze
Summer
Diva Donna
Ashley Park
KPOP
MwE
Daphne Rubin-Vega
Miss You Like Hell
Beatriz
2019
Stephanie J. Block
The Cher Show
Star
Beth Leavel
The Prom
Dee Dee Allen
Rebecca Naomi Jones
Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma!
Laurey Williams
Anika Noni Rose
Carmen Jones
Carmen Jones
Stacey Sargeant
Rags Parkland Sings the Songs of the Future
Beaux Weathers
2020s
Year
Actress
Musical
Character
2020
Adrienne Warren
Tina: The Tina Turner Musical
Tina Turner
Tammy Blanchard
Little Shop of Horrors
Audrey
Beth Malone
The Unsinkable Molly Brown
Molly Brown
Saycon Sengbloh
The Secret Life of Bees
Rosaleen
Elizabeth Stanley
Jagged Little Pill
Mary Jane "M.J." Healy
2021
No awards: New York theatres shuttered, March 2020 to September 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City
Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical
wikipedia, wiki, encyclopedia, book, library, article, read, free download, Information about Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical, What is Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical? What does Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical mean?