1970 Tony Awards results (24th) – Winners & nominees

This page lists the winners from the 24th Tony Awards ceremony, held on April 19, 1970. The Tony Award for Best Musical in 1970 went to “Applause.”

Best musical

• Applause

• Coco
• Purlie

Best play

• Borstal Boy

• Child’s Play
• Indians
• Last of the Red Hot Lovers

Best performance by a leading actor in a play

• Fritz Weaver (Child’s Play)

• James Coco (Last of the Red Hot Lovers)
• Frank Grimes (Borstal Boy)
• Stacy Keach (Indians)

Best performance by a leading actress in a play

• Tammy Grimes (Private Lives)

• Geraldine Brooks (Brightower)
• Helen Hayes (Harvey)

Best performance by a leading actor in a musical

• Cleavon Little (Purlie)

• Len Cariou (Applause)
• Robert Weede (Cry for Us All)

Best performance by a leading actress in a musical

• Lauren Bacall (Applause)

• Katharine Hepburn (Coco)
• Dilys Watling (Georgy)

Best performance by a featured actor in a play

• Ken Howard (Child’s Play)

• Joseph Bova (The Chinese and Dr. Fish)
• Dennis King (A Patriot for Me)

Best performance by a featured actress in a play

• Blythe Danner (Butterflies Are Free)

• Alice Drummond (The Chinese and Dr. Fish)
• Eileen Heckart (Butterflies Are Free)
• Linda Lavin (Last of the Red Hot Lovers)

Best performance by a featured actor in a musical

• René Auberjonois (Coco)

• Brandon Maggart (Applause)
• George Rose (Coco)

Best performance by a featured actress in a musical

• Melba Moore (Purlie)

• Bonnie Franklin (Applause)
• Penny Fuller (Applause)
• Melissa Hart (Georgy)

Best scenic design

• Jo Mielziner (Child’s Play)

• Howard Bay (Cry for Us All)
• Ming Cho Lee (Billy)
• Robert Randolph (Applause)

Best costume design in a play

• Cecil Beaton (Coco)

• Ray Aghayan (Applause)
• W. Robert LaVine (Jimmy)
• Freddy Wittop (A Patriot for Me)

Best lighting design in a play

• Jo Mielziner (Child’s Play)

• Tharon Musser (Applause)
• Thomas Skelton (Indians)

Best direction of a play

• Joseph Hardy (Child’s Play)

• Milton Katselas (Butterflies Are Free)
• Tomas MacAnna (Borstal Boy)
• Robert Moore (Last of the Red Hot Lovers)

Best direction of a musical

• Ron Field (Applause)

• Michael Benthall (Coco)
• Philip Rose (Purlie)

Best choreography

• Ron Field (Applause)

• Michael Bennett (Coco)
• Grover Dale (Billy)
• Louis Johnson (Purlie)

Special Tony Award

• Sir Noël Coward
• Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne
• New York Shakespeare Festival
• Barbra Streisand

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