1986 Tony Awards results (40th) – Winners & nominees

On this page, you’ll find a complete list of winners and nominees from the 40th Tony Awards, held on June 1, 1986. The Best Musical of 1986 was “The Mystery of Edwin Drood.”

Best musical

• The Mystery of Edwin Drood

• Big Deal
• Song & Dance
• Tango Argentino

Best play

• I’m Not Rappaport

• Benefactors
• Blood Knot
• The House of Blue Leaves

Best book of a musical

• Rupert Holmes (The Mystery of Edwin Drood)

• Bob Fosse (Big Deal)
• Betty Comden, Adolph Green (Singin’ in the Rain)
• Jane Iredale (The Wind in the Willows)

Best original score

• Rupert Holmes (The Mystery of Edwin Drood)

• Paul Schierhorn (The News)
• Andrew Lloyd Webber, Don Black, Richard Maltby, Jr. (Song & Dance)
• William Perry, Roger McGough (The Wind in the Willows)

Best revival

• Sweet Charity

• Hay Fever
• The Iceman Cometh
• Loot

Best performance by a leading actor in a play

• Judd Hirsch (I’m Not Rappaport)

• Hume Cronyn (The Petition)
• Ed Harris (Precious Sons)
• Jack Lemmon (Long Day’s Journey Into Night)

Best performance by a leading actress in a play

• Glenn Close (Death and the Maiden)

• Jane Alexander (The Visit)
• Stockard Channing (Four Baboons Adoring the Sun)
• Judith Ivey (Park Your Car in Harvard Yard)

Best performance by a leading actor in a musical

• George Rose (The Mystery of Edwin Drood)

• Don Correia (Singin’ in the Rain)
• Cleavant Derricks (Big Deal)
• Maurice Hines (Uptown… It’s Hot!)

Best performance by a leading actress in a musical

• Bernadette Peters (Song & Dance)

• Debbie Allen (Sweet Charity)
• Cleo Laine (The Mystery of Edwin Drood)
• Chita Rivera (Jerry’s Girls)

Best performance by a featured actor in a play

• John Mahoney (The House of Blue Leaves)

• Peter Gallagher (Long Day’s Journey Into Night)
• Charles Keating (Loot)
• Joseph Maher (Loot)

Best performance by a featured actress in a play

• Swoosie Kurtz (The House of Blue Leaves)

• Stockard Channing (The House of Blue Leaves)
• Bethel Leslie (Long Day’s Journey Into Night)
• Zoe Wanamaker (Loot)

Best performance by a featured actor in a musical

• Michael Rupert (Sweet Charity)

• Christopher d’Amboise (Song & Dance)
• John Herrera (The Mystery of Edwin Drood)
• Howard McGillin (The Mystery of Edwin Drood)

Best performance by a featured actress in a musical

• Bebe Neuwirth (Sweet Charity)

• Patti Cohenour (The Mystery of Edwin Drood)
• Jana Schneider (The Mystery of Edwin Drood)
• Elisabeth Welch (Jerome Kern Goes to Hollywood)

Best scenic design in a play

• Tony Walton (The House of Blue Leaves)

• Ben Edwards (The Iceman Cometh)
• David Mitchell (The Boys of Winter)
• Beni Montresor (The Marriage of Figaro)

Best costume design in a musical

• Patricia Zipprodt (Sweet Charity)

• Willa Kim (Song & Dance)
• Beni Montresor (The Marriage of Figaro)
• Ann Roth (The House of Blue Leaves)

Best lighting design in a play

• Pat Collins (I’m Not Rappaport)

• Jules Fisher (Song & Dance)
• Paul Gallo (The House of Blue Leaves)
• Thomas R. Skelton (The Iceman Cometh)

Best direction of a play

• Jerry Zaks (The House of Blue Leaves)

• Jonathan Miller (Long Day’s Journey Into Night)
• Jose Quintero (The Iceman Cometh)
• John Tillinger (Loot)

Best direction of a musical

• Wilford Leach (The Mystery of Edwin Drood)

• Bob Fosse (Big Deal)
• Richard Maltby, Jr. (Song & Dance)
• Claudio Segovia and Hector Orezzoli (Tango Argentino)

Best choreography

• Bob Fosse (Big Deal)

• Graciela Daniele (The Mystery of Edwin Drood)
• Peter Martins (Song & Dance)
• Tango Argentino Dancers (Tango Argentino)

Regional theatre Tony Award

• American Repertory Theater
• Cambridge, Massachusetts

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