1981 Tony Awards results (35th) – Winners & nominees

This page lists the winners and nominees of the 35th Tony Awards, held on June 7, 1981. The 1981 Tony Award for Best Musical went to 42nd Street.

Best musical

• 42nd Street

• Sophisticated Ladies
• Tintypes
• Woman of the Year

Best play

• Amadeus

• A Lesson From Aloes
• A Life
• Fifth of July

Best book of a musical

• Peter Stone (Woman of the Year)

• Michael Stewart, Mark Bramble (42nd Street)
• Monty Norman, Julian More (The Moony Shapiro Songbook)
• Mary Kyte (Tintypes)

Best original score

• John Kander, Fred Ebb (Woman of the Year)

• Charles Strouse, David Rogers (Charlie and Algernon)
• Al Kasha, Joel Hirschhorn (Copperfield)
• Lance Mulcahy (The Shakespearean Cabaret)

Best revival

• The Pirates of Penzance

• Brigadoon
• The Little Foxes
• The Pirates of Penzance

Best performance by a leading actor in a play

• Ian McKellen (Amadeus)

• Tim Curry (Amadeus)
• Roy Dotrice (A Life)
• Jack Weston (The Floating Light Bulb)

Best performance by a leading actress in a play

• Jane Lapotaire (Piaf)

• Glenda Jackson (Rose)
• Eva Le Gallienne (To Grandmother’s House We Go)
• Elizabeth Taylor (The Little Foxes)

Best performance by a leading actor in a musical

• Kevin Kline (The Pirates of Penzance)

• Gregory Hines (Sophisticated Ladies)
• George Rose (The Pirates of Penzance)
• Martin Vidnovic (Brigadoon)

Best performance by a leading actress in a musical

• Lauren Bacall (Woman of the Year)

• Meg Bussert (Brigadoon)
• Chita Rivera (Bring Back Birdie)
• Linda Ronstadt (The Pirates of Penzance)

Best performance by a featured actor in a play

• Brian Backer (The Floating Light Bulb)

• Tom Aldredge (The Little Foxes)
• Adam Redfield (A Life)
• Shepperd Strudwick (To Grandmother’s House We Go)

Best performance by a featured actress in a play

• Swoosie Kurtz (Fifth of July)

• Maureen Stapleton (The Little Foxes)
• Jessica Tandy (Rose)
• Zoë Wanamaker (Piaf)

Best performance by a featured actor in a musical

• Hinton Battle (Sophisticated Ladies)

• Tony Azito (The Pirates of Penzance)
• Lee Roy Reams (42nd Street)
• Paxton Whitehead (Camelot)

Best performance by a featured actress in a musical

• Marilyn Cooper (Woman of the Year)

• Phyllis Hyman (Sophisticated Ladies)
• Wanda Richert (42nd Street)
• Lynne Thigpen (Tintypes)

Best scenic design in a play

• John Bury (Amadeus)

• John Lee Beatty (Fifth of July)
• Santo Loquasto (The Suicide)
• David Mitchell (Can-Can)

Best costume design in a play

• Willa Kim (Sophisticated Ladies)

• Theoni V. Aldredge (42nd Street)
• John Bury (Amadeus)
• Franca Squarciapino (Can-Can)

Best lighting design in a play

• John Bury (Amadeus)

• Tharon Musser (42nd Street)
• Dennis Parichy (Fifth of July)
• Jennifer Tipton (Sophisticated Ladies)

Best direction of a play

• Peter Hall (Amadeus)

• Marshall W. Mason (Fifth of July)
• Austin Pendleton (The Little Foxes)

Best direction of a musical

• Wilford Leach (The Pirates of Penzance)

• Gower Champion (42nd Street)
• Robert Moore (Woman of the Year)
• Michael Smuin (Sophisticated Ladies)

Best choreography

• Gower Champion (42nd Street)

• Graciela Daniele (The Pirates of Penzance)
• Henry LeTang, Donald McKayle, Michael Smuin (Sophisticated Ladies)
• Roland Petit (Can-Can)

Regional theatre Tony Award

• Trinity Square Repertory Company
• Providence, Rhode Island

Special Tony Award

• Lena Horne

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