The Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical is an honor presented at the Tony Awards, a ceremony established in 1947 as the Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, to actresses for quality featured roles in a musical play, whether a new production or a revival. The awards are named after Antoinette Perry, an American actress who died in 1946. Honors in several categories are presented at the ceremony annually by the Tony Award Productions, a joint venture of The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing, to "honor the best performances and stage productions of the previous year." The award was originally called the Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured or Supporting Role in a Musical. It was first presented to Juanita Hall at the 4th Tony Awards for her portrayal of Bloody Mary in South Pacific. Before 1956, nominees' names were not made public; the change was made by the awards committee to "have a greater impact on theatregoers". The category was renamed to its current title in 1976. Judy Kaye, Andrea Martin and Audra McDonald share the record for having the most wins in this category, with a total of two. Carrie Pipperidge in Carousel and Marge MacDougall in Promises, Promises are the characters to take the award the most times, winning twice.

Winners and nominees

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1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

Statistics

Most wins

Most nominations

• ; 5 nominations • Andrea Martin • ; 4 nominations • Laura Benanti • ; 3 nominations • Victoria Clark • Judy Kaye • Jane Krakowski • Patti LuPone • Mary Testa • Karen Ziemba • ; 2 nominations • Shoshana Bean • Tammy Blanchard • Gretha Boston • Barbara Cook • Helen Gallagher • Jayne Houdyshell • Cady Huffman • Nikki M. James • Patsy Kelly • Judy Kuhn • Marcia Lewis • Priscilla Lopez • Julienne Marie • Millicent Martin • Audra McDonald • Lindsay Mendez • Ruthie Ann Miles • Bebe Neuwirth • Mary Beth Peil • Josephine Premice • Chita Rivera • Jennifer Simard • Louise Troy • Lillias White • Mary Louise Wilson

Character win total

Character nomination total

• ; 5 nominations • Louise from Gypsy • ; 4 nominations • Fraulein Schneider from Cabaret • ; 3 nominations • The Old Lady from Candide • ; 2 nominations • Anita from West Side Story • Aunt Eller from Oklahoma! • Berthe from Pippin • Bloody Mary from South Pacific • Carla Albanese from Nine • Carrie Pipperidge from Carousel • Gladys Bumps from Pal Joey • Gladys Hotchkiss from The Pajama Game • Hildy Esterhazy from On the Town and Jerome Robbins' Broadway • Ilona Ritter from She Loves Me • Jenny from The Threepenny Opera • Lady of the Lake from Spamalot • Liliane La Fleur from Nine • Luisa Contini from Nine • Madame Armfeldt from A Little Night Music • Marge MacDougall from Promises, Promises • Maria from West Side Story • Nickie from Sweet Charity • Peggy Sawyer from 42nd Street • Queenie from Show Boat • Sarah from Company • Sofia Johnson from The Color Purple • Trina from Falsettos

Productions with multiple nominations

boldface=winner • The Sound of Music – Patricia Neway and Lauri Peters, Kathy Dunn, Evanna Lien, Mary Susan Locke, Marilyn Robers, William Snowden & Joseph Stewart • A Joyful Noise – Leland Palmer and Susan Watson • Applause – Bonnie Franklin and Penny Fuller • Company – Barbara Barrie and Pamela Myers • A Little Night Music – Patricia Elliott and Hermione Gingold • Candide – Maureen Brennan and June Gable • A Chorus Line – Kelly Bishop and Priscilla Lopez • Side by Side by Sondheim – Millicent Martin and Julia McKenzie • Ain't Misbehavin – Nell Carter' and Charlayne Woodard • The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas – Carlin Glynn and Joan Ellis • West Side Story – Debbie Allen and Josie de Guzman • Nine – Karen Akers, Liliane Montevecchi and Anita Morris • Quilters – Evalon Baron and Lenka Peterson • The Mystery of Edwin Drood – Patti Cohenour and Jana Schneider • Les Misérables – Frances Ruffelle and Judy Kuhn • Me and My Girl – Jane Connell and Jane Summerhays (Les Misérables and Me and My Girl were nominated the same year) • Cabaret – Alyson Reed and Regina Resnik • Jerome Robbins' Broadway – Debbie Gravitte, Jane Lanier and Faith Prince • The Secret Garden – Daisy Eagan and Alison Fraser • Smokey Joe's Cafe – Brenda Braxton, B.J. Crosby and DeLee Lively • Contact – Deborah Yates and Karen Ziemba • Swing! – Laura Benanti and Ann Hampton Callaway (Contact and Swing! were nominated the same year) • 42nd Street – Kate Levering and Mary Testa • Nine – Jane Krakowski, Mary Stuart Masterson and Chita Rivera (This is the second time the show had multiple nominations) • The Boy from Oz – Beth Fowler and Isabel Keating • The Color Purple – Felicia P. Fields and Elisabeth Withers • Billy Elliot the Musical – Haydn Gwynne and Carole Shelley • Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown – Laura Benanti and Patti LuPone • Fun Home – Judy Kuhn, Sydney Lucas and Emily Skeggs • Carousel – Renée Fleming and Lindsay Mendez • Oklahoma! – Ali Stroker and Mary Testa • Tootsie – Lilli Cooper and Sarah Stiles (Oklahoma! and Tootsie were nominated the same year) • Jagged Little Pill – Kathryn Gallagher, Celia Rose Gooding and Lauren Patten • Company – Patti LuPone and Jennifer Simard (This is the second time the show had multiple nominations) • Hell's Kitchen – Shoshana Bean and Kecia Lewis

Multiple awards and nominations