List of Asian Tony Award winners and nominees

This is a list of Tony Award winners and nominees who are of Asian descent or native to an Asian country. As of the 75th Tony Awards, which were presented on June 12, 2022, there are 14 individual Asian Tony Award winners, including 13 competitive award winners. The first Asian to win a Tony Award was Willa Kim in 1981 when she won the Tony Award for Best Costume Design in a Musical for Sophisticated Ladies.

Show and technical

Best Musical

Best Musical
Year	Recipient	Show	Status	Milestone / Notes	Ref(s)
2011	Yasuhiro Kawana	Catch Me If You Can	Nominated	(Shared with Margo Lion, Hal Luftig, Stacey Mindich, Scott & Brian Zeilinger, The Rialto Group, The Araca Group, Michael Watt, Barbara & Buddy Freitag, Jay & Cindy Gutterman/Pittsburgh CLO, Elizabeth Williams, Johnny Roscoe Productions/Van Dean, Fakston Productions/Solshay Productions, Patty Baker/Richard Winkler, Nederlander Presentations, Inc., Warren Trepp, Remmel T. Dickinson, Paula Herold/Kate Lear, Stephanie P. McClelland, Jamie deRoy, Barry Feirstein, Rainerio J. Reyes, Rodney Rigby, Loraine Boyle, Amuse Inc., Joseph & Matthew Deitch/Cathy Chernoff, Joan Stein/Jon Murray, and The 5th Avenue Theatre.)
2013	Yasuhiro Kawana	Kinky Boots	Won	First Asian to win for Best Musical. (Shared with Daryl Roth, Hal Luftig, James L. Nederlander, Terry Allen Kramer, Independent Presenters Network, CJ E&M, Jayne Baron Sherman, Just for Laughs Theatricals/Judith Ann Abrams, Jane Bergère, Allan S. Gordon & Adam S. Gordon, Ken Davenport, Hunter Arnold, Lucy & Phil Suarez, Bryan Bantry, Ron Fierstein & Dorsey Regal, Jim Kierstead/Gregory Rae, BB Group/Christina Papagjika, Michael DeSantis/Patrick Baugh, Brian Smith/Tom & Connie Walsh, Warren Trepp, and Jujamcyn Theaters.)	^[1]
2014	Jhett Tolentino	A Gentlemen’s Guide to Love and Murder	Won	Second Asian to win for Best Musical. (Shared with Joey Parnes, S.D. Wagner, John Johnson, 50 Church Street Productions, Joan Raffe, Jay Alix & Una Jackman, Catherine & Fred Adler, Rhoda Herrick, Kathleen K. Johnson, Megan Savage, ShadowCatcher Entertainment, Ron Simons, True Love Productions, Jamie deRoy, Four Ladies & One Gent, John Arthur Pinckard, Greg Nobile, Stewart Lane & Bonnie Comley, Exeter Capital/Ted Snowdon, Ryan Hugh Mackey, Cricket-CTM Media/Mano-Horn Productions, Dennis Grimaldi/Margot Astrachan, Hello Entertainment/Jamie Bendell, Michael T. Cohen/Joe Sirola, Joseph & Carson Gleberman/William Megevick, Green State Productions, The Hartford Stage, and The Old Globe.)	^[2]
2017	Raymond Poliquit	Dear Evan Hansen	Won	Third Asian to win for Best Musical.	^[3]

Best Revival of a Musical

Best Revival of a Musical
Year	Recipient	Show	Status	Milestone / Notes	Ref(s)
2012	Yasuhiro Kawana	Evita	Nominated	(Shared with Hal Luftig, Scott Sanders Productions, Roy Furman, Allan S. Gordon/Adam S. Gordon, James L. Nederlander, Terry Allen Kramer, Gutterman Fuld Chernoff/Pittsburgh CLO, Thousand Stars Productions, Adam Blanshay, Adam Zotovich, Robert Ahrens, Stephanie P. McClelland, Carole L. Haber, Richardo Hornos, Carol Fineman, Brian Smith, and Warren & Jâlé Trepp.)

Best Direction of a Musical

Best Direction of a Musical
Year	Recipient	Show	Status	Milestone / Notes	Ref(s)
—	—	—	—	—

Best Book of a Musical

Best Book of a Musical
Year	Recipient	Show	Status	Milestone / Notes	Ref(s)
2003	David Henry Hwang	Flower Drum Song	Nominated	—
2011	Robert Lopez	The Book of Mormon	Won	First Asian to win for Best Book of a Musical. First Asian to win a third Tony Award. Second Asian to win a second Tony Award. (Shared with Trey Parker and Matt Stone.)

Best Original Score

Best Original Score
Year	Recipient	Show	Status	Milestone / Notes	Ref(s)
2004	Robert Lopez	Avenue Q	Won	First Asian to win for Best Original Score. (Shared with Jeff Marx.)
2011		The Book of Mormon	Won	First Asian to win a third Tony Award. Second Asian to win a second Tony Award. (Shared with Trey Parker and Matt Stone.)
2018		Frozen	Nominated	(Shared with Kristen Anderson-Lopez.)

Best Orchestrations

Best Orchestrations
Year	Recipient	Show	Status	Milestone / Notes	Ref(s)
—	—	—	—	—

Best Choreography

Best Choreography
Year	Recipient	Show	Status	Milestone / Notes	Ref(s)
—	—	—	—	—

Best Scenic Design in a Musical

Best Scenic Design in a Musical
Year	Recipient	Show	Status	Milestone / Notes	Ref(s)
1970	Ming Cho Lee	Billy	Nominated	—
2017	Mimi Lien	Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet Of 1812	Won	First Asian to win Best Scenic Design in a Musical.

Best Costume Design in a Musical

Best Costume Design in a Musical
Year	Recipient	Show	Status	Milestone / Notes	Ref(s)
1975	Willa Kim	Goodtime Charley	Nominated	—	^[4]
1978		Dancin'	Nominated	—
1981		Sophisticated Ladies	Won	First Asian to win a Tony Award. First Asian to win for Best Costume Design in a Musical.
1986		Song & Dance	Nominated	—
1989		Legs Diamond	Nominated	—
1991		The Will Rogers Follies	Won	First Asian to win a second Tony Award.
2014	Linda Cho	A Gentlemen's Guide to Love and Murder	Won	Second Asian to win for Best Costume Design in a Musical.
2017	Linda Cho	Anastasia	Nominated	—

Best Lighting Design in a Musical

Best Lighting Design in a Musical
Year	Recipient	Show	Status	Milestone / Notes	Ref(s)
—	—	—	—	—

Best Sound Design of a Musical

Best Sound Design of a Musical
Year	Recipient	Show	Status	Milestone / Notes	Ref(s)
2012	Kai Harada	Follies	Nominated
2018	Kai Harada	The Band's Visit	Won	First Asian to win for Best Sound Design of a Musical.

Best Play

Best Play
Year	Recipient	Show	Status	Milestone / Notes	Ref(s)
1988	David Henry Hwang	M. Butterfly	Won	First Asian to win for Best Play. (Shared with Stuart Ostrow and David Geffen.)
1998	David Henry Hwang	Golden Child	Nominated	(Shared with Benjamin Mordecai, Dori Berinstein, John Kao, Talia Shire, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, South coast Repertory, The Joseph Papp Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival, American Conservatory Theater.)
2013	Jhett Tolentino	Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike	Won	Second Asian to win for Best Play. (Shared with Christopher Durang, Joey Parnes, Larry Hirschhorn, Joan Raffe, Martin Platt & David Elliott, Pat Flicker Addiss, Catherine Adler, John O'Boyle, Joshua Goodman, Jamie deRoy/Richard Winkler, Cricket Hooper Jiranek/Michael Palitz, Mark S. Golub & David S. Golub, Radio Mouse Entertainment, ShadowCatcher Entertainment, Mary Cossette/Barbara Manocherian, Megan Savage/Meredith Lynsey Schade, Hugh Hysell/Richard Jordan, Cheryl Wiesenfeld/Ron Simons, S.D. Wagner, John Johnson, McCarter Theatre Center, and Lincoln Center Theater.)
2015	Jhett Tolentino	Hand to God	Nominated	(Shared with Robert Askins, Kevin McCollum, Broadway Global Ventures, CMC, Morris Berchard, Mariano V. Tolentino Jr., Stephanie Kramer, LAMS Productions, DeSimone/Winkler, Joan Raffe, Timothy Laczynski, Lily Fan, Ayal Miodovnik, Jam Theatricals, Ensemble Studio Theatre, and MCC Theater.)

Best Revival of a Play

Best Revival of a Play
Year	Recipient	Show	Status	Milestone / Notes	Ref(s)
2014	Jhett Tolentino	A Raisin in the Sun	Won	First Asian to win for Best Revival of a Play. (Shared with Scott Rudin, Roger Berlind, Eli Bush, Jon B. Platt, Scott M. Delman, Roy Furman, Stephanie P. McClelland, Ruth Hendel, Sonia Friedman/Tulchin Bartner, The Araca Group, Heni Koenigsberg, Daryl Roth, Joan Raffe, Joey Parnes, S.D. Wagner, and John Johnson.)
2015	Jhett Tolentino	This Is Our Youth	Nominated	(Shared with Scott Rudin, Eli Bush, Roger Berlind, William Berlind, Jon B. Platt, Roy Furman, The Shubert Organization, Ruth Hendel, Scott M. Delman, Stephanie P. McClelland, Sonia Friedman, Tulchin Bartner, The Araca Group, Heni Koenigsberg, Daryl Roth, Joan Raffe, Catherine & Fred Adler, Joey Parnes, Sue Wagner, John Johnson, and Steppenwolf Theatre Company.)

Best Direction of a Play

Best Direction of a Play
Year	Recipient	Show	Status	Milestone / Notes	Ref(s)
—	—	—	—	—

Best Scenic Design in a Play

Best Scenic Design in a Play
Year	Recipient	Show	Status	Milestone / Notes	Ref(s)
1983	Ming Cho Lee	K2	Won	First Asian to win for Best Scenic Design in a Play.

Best Costume Design in a Play

Best Costume Design in a Play
Year	Recipient	Show	Status	Milestone / Notes	Ref(s)
—	—	—	—	—

Best Lighting Design in a Play

Best Lighting Design in a Play
Year	Recipient	Show	Status	Milestone / Notes	Ref(s)
2022	Jiyoun Chang	for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf	Nominated	—
2022	Yi Zhao	The Skin of Our Teeth	Nominated	—

Best Sound Design of a Play

Best Sound Design of a Play
Year	Recipient	Show	Status	Milestone / Notes	Ref(s)
—	—	—	—	—

Performance

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play
Year	Recipient	Show	Role	Status	Milestone / Notes	Ref(s)
—	—	—	—	—	—

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
Year	Recipient	Show	Role	Status	Milestone / Notes	Ref(s)
—	—	—	—	—	—

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play
Year	Recipient	Show	Role	Status	Milestone / Notes	Ref(s)
1988	BD Wong	M. Butterfly	Song Liling	Won	First Asian to win for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play.

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play
Year	Recipient	Show	Role	Status	Milestone / Notes	Ref(s)
—	—	—	—	—	—

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical
Year	Recipient	Show	Role	Status	Milestone / Notes	Ref(s)
1996	Lou Diamond Phillips	The King and I	King Mongkut of Siam	Nominated	—	^[5]
2015	Ken Watanabe	The King and I	King Mongkut of Siam	Nominated	First Japanese actor to be nominated in this category.	^[6]

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical
Year	Recipient	Show	Role	Status	Milestone / Notes	Ref(s)
1991	Lea Salonga	Miss Saigon	Kim	Won	First Asian actress to win a Tony Award. First Asian to win for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical.	^[7]
1991	June Angela	Shōgun: The Musical	Lady Mariko	Nominated	—
2016	Phillipa Soo	Hamilton	Eliza Hamilton	Nominated	—
2017	Eva Noblezada	Miss Saigon	Kim	Nominated	—
2019	Eva Noblezada	Hadestown	Eurydice	Nominated	—

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical
Year	Recipient	Show	Role	Status	Milestone / Notes	Ref(s)
—	—	—	—	—	—

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
Year	Recipient	Show	Role	Status	Milestone / Notes	Ref(s)
2015	Ruthie Ann Miles	The King and I	Lady Thiang	Won	First Asian to win for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical. Second Asian actress to win a Tony Award.	^[8]
2018	Ashley Park	Mean Girls	Gretchen Wieners	Nominated		[1]

Special awards

Special Tony Award / Lifetime Achievement Award

Special Tony Award / Lifetime Achievement Award
Year	Recipient	Status	Ref(s)
2013	Ming Cho Lee	Honoree

Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre

Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre
Year	Recipient	Status	Ref(s)
2022	Asian American Performers Action Coalition	Honoree

Isabelle Stevenson Award

Isabelle Stevenson Award
Year	Recipient	Status	Ref(s)
2017	Baayork Lee	Honoree

References

^ "NOMINATIONS (YASUHIRO KAWANA)". The American Theatre Wing's Tony Awards. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
^ "NOMINATIONS (JHETT TOLENTINO)". The American Theatre Wing's Tony Awards. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
^ Ang, Walter (July 15, 2017). "This Pinoy doctor and Zumba instructor now has a Tony–for coproducing 'Dear Evan Hansen'". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
^ "NOMINATIONS (WILLA KIM)". The American Theatre Wing's Tony Awards. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
^ "Lou Diamond Phillips Tony Awards Wins and Nominations". www.broadwayworld.com. Retrieved 2024-11-14.
^ "Ken Watanabe Tony Awards Wins and Nominations". www.broadwayworld.com. Retrieved 2024-11-14.
^ "NOMINATIONS (LEA SALONGA)". The American Theatre Wing's Tony Awards. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
^ "NOMINATIONS (RUTHIE ANN MILES)". The American Theatre Wing's Tony Awards. Retrieved November 21, 2022.

External links

Tony Awards Official Website

[1] "NOMINATIONS (YASUHIRO KAWANA)". The American Theatre Wing's Tony Awards. Retrieved November 21, 2022.

[2] "NOMINATIONS (JHETT TOLENTINO)". The American Theatre Wing's Tony Awards. Retrieved November 21, 2022.

[3] Ang, Walter (July 15, 2017). "This Pinoy doctor and Zumba instructor now has a Tony–for coproducing 'Dear Evan Hansen'". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved November 21, 2022.

[4] "NOMINATIONS (WILLA KIM)". The American Theatre Wing's Tony Awards. Retrieved November 21, 2022.

[5] "Lou Diamond Phillips Tony Awards Wins and Nominations". www.broadwayworld.com. Retrieved 2024-11-14.

[6] "Ken Watanabe Tony Awards Wins and Nominations". www.broadwayworld.com. Retrieved 2024-11-14.

[7] "NOMINATIONS (LEA SALONGA)". The American Theatre Wing's Tony Awards. Retrieved November 21, 2022.

[8] "NOMINATIONS (RUTHIE ANN MILES)". The American Theatre Wing's Tony Awards. Retrieved November 21, 2022.

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v t e Tony Awards
American Theatre Wing The Broadway League EGOT Triple Crown of Acting
Play	Best Play Revival Direction Leading Actor Leading Actress Featured Actor Featured Actress Costume Design Lighting Design Scenic Design Sound Design
Musical	Best Musical Revival Direction Leading Actor Leading Actress Featured Actor Featured Actress Book Choreography Costume Design Lighting Design Orchestrations Original Score Scenic Design Sound Design
Special (non-competitive)	Regional Theatre Tony Award Special Tony Award Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre Isabelle Stevenson Award
Retired	Author Conductor and Musical Director Costume Design* Director* Lighting Design* Newcomer Revival* Scenic Design* Special Theatrical Event Stage Technician
Ceremonies	1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020/21 2022 2023 2024 2025
By country	Philippines Asian Other countries
* Divided into separate awards for plays and musicals