1950s

• 1950: South Pacific – Oscar Hammerstein and Joshua Logan
• 1951: Guys and Dolls – Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows

1960s

• 1960: no award
• 1961: no award
• 1964: Hello, Dolly! – Michael Stewart
• 1965: Fiddler on the Roof – Joseph Stein
• 1966: no award
• 1967: no award
• 1968: no award
• 1969: no award

1970s

• 1970: no award
• 1971: Company – George Furth
• 1972: Two Gentlemen of Verona – John Guare and Mel Shapiro
• 1973: A Little Night Music – Hugh Wheeler
• 1974: Candide – Hugh Wheeler
• 1975: Shenandoah – James Lee Barrett, Peter Udell, and Phillip Rose
• 1976: A Chorus Line – James Kirkwood, Jr. and Nicholas Dante
• 1977: Annie – Thomas Meehan
• 1978: On The Twentieth Century – Betty Comden and Adolph Green
• 1979: Sweeney Todd – Hugh Wheeler

• 1980: Evita – Tim Rice
• 1981: Woman of the Year – Peter Stone
• 1982: Dreamgirls – Tom Eyen
• 1983: Cats – T. S. Eliot
• 1984: La Cage aux Folles – Harvey Fierstein
• 1985: Big River – William Hauptman
• 1986: The Mystery of Edwin Drood – Rupert Holmes

• 1987: Les Misérables – Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg
  • Me and My Girl – L. Arthur Rose, Douglas Furber, Stephen Fry and Mike Ockrent
  • Rags – Joseph Stein
  • Smile – Howard Ashman
• 1988: Into the Woods – James Lapine
  • The Gospel at Colonus – Lee Breuer
  • The Phantom of the Opera – Richard Stilgoe and Andrew Lloyd Webber
  • Romance/Romance – Barry Harman
• 1989: no award

• 1990: City of Angels – Larry Gelbart
  • Aspects of Love – Andrew Lloyd Webber
  • Grand Hotel – Luther Davis
  • Meet Me in St. Louis – Hugh Wheeler

• 1991: The Secret Garden – Marsha Norman
  • Miss Saigon – Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg
  • Once on This Island – Lynn Ahrens
  • The Will Rogers Follies – Peter Stone

• 1992: Falsettos – William Finn and James Lapine
  • Crazy for You – Ken Ludwig
  • Five Guys Named Moe – Clarke Peters
  • Jelly's Last Jam – George C. Wolfe

• 1993: Kiss of the Spider Woman – Terrence McNally
  • Anna Karenina – Peter Kellogg
  • Blood Brothers – Willy Russell
  • The Who's Tommy – Pete Townshend and Des McAnuff

• 1994: Passion – James Lapine
  • Beauty and the Beast – Linda Woolverton
  • Cyrano: The Musical – Koen van Kijk
  • A Grand Night for Singing – Walter Bobbie

• 1995: Sunset Boulevard – Don Black and Christopher Hampton

• 1996: Rent – Jonathan Larson
  • Big – John Weidman
  • Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk – Reg E Gaines
  • Chronicle of a Death Foretold – Graciela Daniele, Jim Lewis, and Michael John LaChiusa

• 1997: Titanic – Peter Stone
  • Jekyll & Hyde – Leslie Bricusse
  • The Life – David Newman, Ira Gasman, and Cy Coleman
  • Steel Pier – David Thompson

• 1998: Ragtime – Terrence McNally
  • The Lion King – Roger Allers and Irene Mecchi
  • The Scarlet Pimpernel – Nan Knighton
  • Side Show – Bill Russell

• 1999: Parade – Alfred Uhry
  • Footloose – Dean Pitchford and Walter Bobbie
  • It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues – Charles Bevel, Lita Gaithers, Randal Myler, Ron Taylor, and Dan Wheetman
  • Marlene – Pam Gems

• 2000: James Joyce's The Dead – Richard Nelson
  • Contact – John Weidman
  • Marie Christine – Michael John LaChiusa
  • The Wild Party – Michael John LaChiusa and George C. Wolfe

• 2001: The Producers – Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan
  • A Class Act – Linda Kline and Lonny Price
  • The Full Monty – Terrence McNally
  • Jane Eyre – John Caird

• 2002: Urinetown – Greg Kotis
  • Mamma Mia! – Catherine Johnson
  • Sweet Smell of Success – John Guare
  • Thoroughly Modern Millie – Richard Morris and Dick Scanlan

• 2003: Hairspray – Thomas Meehan and Mark O'Donnell
  • Amour – Didier Van Cauwelaert, Jeremy Sams (adaptation)
  • Flower Drum Song – David Henry Hwang
  • A Year With Frog and Toad – Willie Reale

• 2004: Avenue Q – Jeff Whitty
  • The Boy from Oz – Martin Sherman, Nick Enright
  • Caroline, or Change – Tony Kushner
  • Wicked – Winnie Holzman

• 2005: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee – Rachel Sheinkin
  • Dirty Rotten Scoundrels – Jeffrey Lane
  • The Light in the Piazza by Craig Lucas
  • Monty Python's Spamalot – Eric Idle

• 2006: The Drowsy Chaperone – Bob Martin and Don McKellar
  • The Wedding Singer – Chad Beguelin and Tim Herlihy
  • Jersey Boys by Marshall Brickman & Rick Elice
  • The Color Purple – Marsha Norman

• 2007: Spring Awakening – Steven Sater
  • Curtains – Rupert Holmes and Peter Stone
  • Grey Gardens – Doug Wright
  • Legally Blonde: The Musical – Heather Hach

• 2008: Passing Strange – Stew
  • Cry-Baby – Thomas Meehan and Mark O'Donnell
  • In the Heights – Quiara Alegría Hudes
  • Xanadu by Douglas Carter Beane