40th Tony Awards


The 40th Annual Tony Awards ceremony was held on June 1, 1986, at the Minskoff Theatre and was broadcast by CBS television.

The ceremony

The opening number was "Wanna Sing A Show Tune". The special number was "Forty Years of Broadway Show Music", which included songs from musicals including Annie, Big River, Finian's Rainbow, Hello, Dolly!, Fiddler on the Roof, La Cage aux Folles, and Sweet Charity. The finale was the company singing "Give My Regards to Broadway".
There were also vignettes from past Tony Award-winning plays.
The presenters and performers were: Debbie Allen, Susan Anton, Bea Arthur, Nell Carter, Agnes de Mille, José Ferrer, Sandy Duncan, Phyllis Frelich, Helen Hayes, Michael Kidd, Cleo Laine, Jack Lemmon, Hal Linden, John V. Lindsay, Dorothy Loudon, Karen Morrow, Bernadette Peters, Stefanie Powers, Juliet Prowse, Tony Randall, Lee Roy Reams, Ann Reinking, Lee Remick, Alfonso Ribeiro, Chita Rivera, John Rubinstein, Rex Smith, Marlo Thomas, Leslie Uggams, Lily Tomlin, Sam Waterston, Ben Vereen, David Wayne, Tom Wopat.
Musicals that performed were Big Deal ; Song & Dance ; Tango Argentino ; and Drood.

Winners and nominees

Winners are in bold
Best PlayBest Musical

  • Drood
  • *Big Deal
  • * Song and Dance
  • * Tango Argentino
    • Best RevivalBest Book of a Musical
  • Sweet Charity
  • * Hay Fever
  • * The Iceman Cometh
  • * Loot
  • Rupert Holmes - Drood
  • * Bob Fosse - Big Deal
  • * Betty Comden and Adolph Green - Singin' in the Rain
  • * Jane Iredale - Wind in the Willows
    • Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a PlayBest Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
  • Judd Hirsch – I'm Not Rappaport as Nat
  • * Hume Cronyn – The Petition as General Sir Edmund Milne
  • * Ed Harris – Precious Sons as Fred
  • * Jack Lemmon – Long Day's Journey into Night as James Tyrone
  • Lily Tomlin – The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe as Various Characters
  • * Rosemary Harris – Hay Fever as Judith Bliss
  • * Mary Beth Hurt – Benefactors as Sheila
  • * Jessica Tandy – The Petition as Lady Elizabeth Milne
    • Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a MusicalBest Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical
  • George Rose – Drood as Mayor Thomas Sapsea/Mr. William Cartwright
  • *Don Correia – Singin' in the Rain as Don Lockwood
  • * Cleavant Derricks – Big Deal as Charley
  • * Maurice Hines – Uptown…It's Hot! as Performer
  • Bernadette Peters – Song and Dance as Emma
  • * Debbie Allen – Sweet Charity as Charity
  • * Cleo Laine – Drood as The Princess Puffer/Miss Angela Prysock
  • * Chita Rivera – Jerry's Girls as Performer
    • Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a PlayBest Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play
  • John Mahoney – The House of Blue Leaves as Artie Shaughnessy
  • * Peter Gallagher – Long Day's Journey into Night as Edmund Tyrone
  • * Charles Keating – Loot as McLeavy
  • * Joseph Maher – Loot as Truscott
  • Swoosie Kurtz – The House of Blue Leaves as Bananas Shaughnessy
  • * Stockard Channing – The House of Blue Leaves as Bunny Flingus
  • * Bethel Leslie – Long Day's Journey into Night as Mary Cavan Tyrone
  • * Zoë Wanamaker – Loot as Fay
    • Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a MusicalBest Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
  • Michael Rupert – Sweet Charity as Oscar
  • * Christopher d'Amboise – Song and Dance as Joe
  • * John Herrera – Drood as Neville Landless/Mr. Victor Grinstead
  • * Howard McGillin – Drood as John Jasper/Mr. Clive Paget
  • Bebe Neuwirth – Sweet Charity as Nickie
  • * Patti Cohenour – Drood as Rosa Bud/Miss Deirdre Peregrine
  • * Jana Schneider – Drood as Helena Landless/Miss Janet Conover
  • * Elisabeth Welch – Jerome Kern Goes to Hollywood as Performer
    • Best Original Score Written for the TheatreBest Choreography
  • Drood – Rupert Holmes
  • * The News – Paul Schierhorn
  • * Song and Dance – Andrew Lloyd Webber, Don Black and Richard Maltby Jr.
  • * Wind in the Willows – William P. Perry and Roger McGough
  • Bob Fosse – Big Deal
  • * Graciela Daniele – Drood
  • * Peter Martins – Song and Dance
  • * Tango Argentino Dancers – Tango Argentino
    • Best Direction of a PlayBest Direction of a Musical
  • Jerry Zaks – The House of Blue Leaves
  • * Jonathan Miller – Long Day's Journey into Night
  • * José Quintero – The Iceman Cometh
  • * John Tillinger – Loot
  • Wilford Leach – Drood
  • * Bob Fosse – Big Deal
  • * Richard Maltby Jr. – Song and Dance
  • * Claudio Segovia and Hector Orezzoli – Tango Argentino
    • Best Scenic DesignBest Costume Design
  • Tony Walton – The House of Blue Leaves
  • * Ben Edwards – The Iceman Cometh
  • * David Mitchell – The Boys in Winter
  • * Beni Montresor – The Marriage of Figaro
  • Patricia Zipprodt – Sweet Charity
  • * Willa Kim – Song and Dance
  • * Beni Montresor – The Marriage of Figaro
  • * Ann Roth – The House of Blue Leaves
    • Best Lighting Design-
  • Pat Collins – I'm Not Rappaport
  • * Jules Fisher – Song and Dance
  • * Paul Gallo – The House of Blue Leaves
  • * Thomas R. Skelton – The Iceman Cometh
    		• -

    Special award

  • Regional Theatre Award - American Repertory Theater, Cambridge, Massachusetts

    Multiple nominations and awards

    • These productions had multiple nominations:
    The following productions received multiple awards.