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 ("Beat Me Daddy Eight to the Bar" - Company); Song & Dance ("Unexpected Song" - Bernadette Peters); Tango Argentino (Dance Excerpts - Company); and The Mystery of Edwin Drood ("There You Are"/"Don't Quit While You're Ahead" - George Rose and Company).

Winners and nominees

Winners are in bold

Special award

Multiple nominations and awards

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