Top 20 Best Tony Award Performances of All Time 

TO THIS DAY I can’t listen or watch or think about The Color Purple without tearing up and melting into an emotional mess. The power of the human voice y’all.

Ten years later and Sutton Foster is again doing it eight times a week, no big deal. Legend.

The amount of times I’ve watched Sutton fosters anything goes performance is astounding

Of course "And I am telling you" is nº 1 on the list. It is PERFECT.

Just saying, Waitress should be higher on this list for the fact that Jessie Mueller literally had LARYNGITIS and still belted like a QUEEN!!!

It should be noted that Bernadette was incredibly ill during that year’s Tony performance - and STILL showed such passion and force as Rose. That is a true performer!

Gentleman’s Guide & Defying Gravity absolutely deserved to be on this list, not just as honorable mentions…

No surprise that Jennifer Holliday is #1. And I'm Telling You is absolutely legendary. I read that crowds went wild every show and she received constant standing ovations throughout the shows run. No one had heard a voice like that before! No wonder she won the Tony and Grammy for that song. Wish I was alive then to witness it all.

Cynthia Erivo’s performance has left me sobbing uncontrollably over and over.

Drinking Game: every time Andrew Rannells licks his lips during “I Believe”

Cynthia’s performance of I’m here never fails to make me cry. It’s just absolutely beautiful and uplifts my soul every time.

There really was only one choice for number 1. I mean...Almost 40 years later and still chills.

Daniel Radcliffe and the cast of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying would like a word with you.

I can't believe Andrew is here twice and he hasn't won a tony yet

Patti literally screaming with perfect pitch through Evita and to an unsurprising and extremely deserving Tony... LEGEND. Cynthia is pure perfection. GIVE HER MORE ROLES NOW.

Where is Patti LuPone with her "Everything's Coming Up Roses"? It got a full standing ovation that evening! 🌹

I’m convinced people go out of their way to not mention Once on This Island in videos like this! That tony performance was AMAZING!!!

Once on This Island doesn’t get enough love! Their Tony performance always gives me chills!!

Miss Saigon doesn’t get the love it deserves. I saw it a few years ago and it was one of the best shows I’ve seen. Also I LOVED Beetlejuice. It got snubbed. It should have won best lighting and Adam Brightman should have won actor with the way he sang and everything.

BILLY PORTER SINGING EVERYTHING’S COMING UP ROSES IN THE COMMERCIAL BREAK!!!!! So amazing

I'm still thinking of Gia Gun asking 🤔 "what's a Tony?" 🏆🤭🤣🤣

You featured the incomparable, Patti Lupone, in the video's opening sequence...but not in the countdown at all! Her (and Mandy Patikin's) performance of A New Argentina from Evita, truly deserves to be in the top 10!!!

The Color Purple's performance is breathtaking. I have watched it countless times

Sobbing at Michael Jeter's speech. That performance was absolutely amazing.

Josh Groban opens his mouth and I get chills. Doesn't matter what he sings. Every, single, time. ❤️💖

Patti not on this list is a crime!

Alan Cummings performing Cabaret reignited my passion for these shows. I was blown away by that!

Raul Esparza singing Being Alive is my personal favorite. I can’t believe he sang like that 8 times a week.

Being Alive from Company...with Raúl Esparza performing!!!???? That was a powerful performance.

Betty Buckley performing Memory from Cats didn't make the cut? That's incredibly odd. I called that either it or Holiday would be number one with the other being number two.

Do Top Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Broadway performances this November

Yes, so agree with your #1. But of the list should have been on the honorable mentions. 2 of the numbers you showed in the preview… Betty Buckley performance in Cats (are you kidding me… 100% untouchable by any belter of the past or present! It’s literally a laser that is also HUGE) and Patti Lupone Evita, I am completely stunned at those two. Frankly LuPone’s Mamma Rose is much better. Bernadette & Mandy Patinkin and Sunday the park with George? Secret Garden, in Lillys eyes? Will Rogers Follies or 42ns St. These are not only iconic but haven’t been out done to date. LaCage should have gotten honorable mention as well as Sweeney Todd! Jerome Robins Broadway “West Side” brings tears. Baby should have had honorable mention, as well! I can go on but you top 20 was really off from my perspective

My favorite is "Sunday" from the original Sunday in the Park With George. Gave me goosebumps. So incredible how they slowly made the actors become a painting on stage.

Ragtime is one of the most underrated musicals of all time. It’s rare for that show not to move me to tears.

Pippin's Tony performance made us want to run to Broadway. So disappointed that it isn't at least mentioned here. We were lucky enough to get first row, on the aisle seats and practically felt part of the show. Amazing and fantastic! Broadway at its best!

If Newsies wasn’t in here I was going to STRIKE. Jeremy Jordan deserves all good things for being a wonderful human It’s so crazy they thought the stage show would fail. Take that

Evita is criminally underrated

The addition of Dust and Ashes to "NP&Great Comet" was one of the greatest additions they could've made from off-broadway to broadway

Just found out from this video that Michael Jeter passed so long ago, but Im crying so hard at his acceptance speech.

“Ring of Keys” from Fun Home continues to be one of my favorite Tony moments.

As soon as I saw the list I knew what was going to be number 1. I am a musical theatre instructor and I show this video to my kids every year to show the amount of emotion that can be told in a song.

I'm so glad you included 'I've decided to Marry You' - the Tony Award Performance is actually better than the cast album!

I listen to phantom of the opera EVERYDAY under my welding hood... ... and i be deadass serious singing every lyric

the way the 2016 tony awards will forever be iconic

Sutton Foster makes everything she does seem so effortless- how is that possible?!?

Ahhhhh I remember literally “discovering” The Great Comet of 1812 through the Broadway cast album the day of its Tony’s & seeing them perform that night was MAGICALLY ELECTRIC!! ✨❤️ I really hope to see it one day live, it really left broadway far too soon! 🥺☄️

How is Angela Lansbury not even mentioned on this list! She performed Gypsy and Sweeney Todd, and not even Avenue Q was on this list!

Jennifer Holiday... the queen!!! There are Broadway shows and then there is DREAMGIRLS!!!

Saw "Les Miz in 1987. "Phantom" on Broadway in 1988. Michael Crawford was absolutely amazing! Also saw Patti LuPone in "Anything Goes" that same year. ❤️ Saw "Grand Hotel" in 1990. Being a theater student in the late 80's/early 90's in NYC and getting discounted student tickets meant I got to see a lot of amazing stuff. 😊 (A bit of trivia: The actor playing Zach in "A Chorus Line" is Robert LuPone, Patti's brother.)

Gosh, Josh Groban’s vocal range is so lovely!!! Such amazing range, and his deepest notes are just wonderfully rich and sonorous. Ugh so dang good!!

I got to see the Lion King live in New York in 1998, I remember having a crush the guy who played young Simba, and seeing all the animals in the aisles and floating in the air. I still have my poster and program to this day, absolutely stunning

Cynthia’s performance is going down in history the same way Jennifer Holiday’s has. Mark my words.

I’m so glad Sutton fosters face is on the photo for this video. Her anything goes Tony performance is the most amazing thing!!

Raul Esparza didn't pour his whole soul on stage while singing Being Alive for you to not mention him.

Grand Hotel (#11 - 14:15) should be MUCH higher on this list

I am sooooooooooo glad you included "We'll Take a Glass Together" from Grand Hotel. Such a wonderful moment in Broadway history. That said, there are so many wonderful performances throughout the years; it's impossible to keep it to a top 20.

Patti LuPone opening this video and NOT being on the list is TRAGIC!

You missed out 'Not The Boy Next Door' from The Boy From Oz - Hugh Jackman was incredible in that number, and won a well deserved Tony Award :)

Barbra Streisand funny girl, Jennifer Holliday Dreamgirls, Carol Channing Hello Dolly, Patti Lupone Evita, Audra McDonald Porgy & Bess, Fantasia then Cynthia Erivo The Color Purple, Mandy Patinkin Fiddler on the Roof, Bernadette Peters Gypsy/ anything from A Chorus Line/ Phantom of the Opera/ Hamilton/ THERE ARE JUST soooo many gifts from broadway! THANK YOU.

Watching Alice Ripley’s performance in “Next to Normal” on live tv MADE me go see the show! So glad she won Best Actress!

Hadestown, Come From Away and Fun Home's performances are some of my favourites. I wish they got an honourable mention.

Miss Saigon Musical is the Best and Lea Salonga is Queen of Broadway…😘

I’m disappointed that the oldest performance listed is from 1982, which really was beautiful. There are many wonderful ones since it was first televised in 1967.

I love seeing Next To Normal getting the respect it deserves

That Anything Goes performance should be top 10 AT LEAST.

I’m glad A Chorus Line was honorably mentioned, because it’s one of my absolute favorites, the film as well!

Honestly I love in Ragtime how you can just tell it’s Audra popping off that high note

I'm so thrilled to see some Next to Normal recognition. It's story is absolutely heartbreaking and it's one of my all time favorite musicals. I wish people talked about it more.

Mandy Patinkin and Bernadette Peters top my list as an exhilarating duo in Sunday in the Park with George. Will never forget it.

Jennifer Holliday is the epitome of Broadway

The choice for 1st place is the correct decision! My oh my is that amazing!

Great choices, but Julie Andrews was magnificent and unforgettable singing a medley of My Fair Lady and Camelot in 1991 and also if I am not mistaken a perfect Send in the Clowns at an 80's Tonys

My favorite Tony performance was Tyne Daly singing “Rose’s Turn” from GYPSY. WOW!

When I saw the Falsettos revival pop up I lost my mind. Didn't expect it to be on the list, but I am so frickin' glad it was!

With the recent passing of the great Stephen Sondheim, I want to include the 1994 performance of his musical Passion at the Tonys. Passion is a romantic and complex story of a love triangle in mid-1800's Italy. Donna Murphy (who is also Mother Gothel in Disney's Tangled) is amazing as Fosca, an unattractive woman who is weak in spirit and body. She falls for a soldier whose moment of kindness towards her sparks her obsession. The soldier is involved with a beautiful married woman and is uncomfortable and confused about Fosca's desperate obsession towards him. The songs are beautiful and beautifully sung. Passion would win several Tonys. It is currently a respected but still underrated musical. EDIT: I should also mention the 1984 Tony performance of Sondheim's Sunday In The Park With George. It's a look at the approach to painting and life of artist George Seurat. His most famous painting was Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. Sondheim's song, Sunday, depicts Seurat's final decisions as he finishes this painting in one of the most beautiful moments ever done on the stage.

I would add Sunday from Sunday in the Park With George from 1984.

Was I the only one that was moved beyond measure by Hadestown’s Tony performance? The performances, the choreography, the direction? STUNNING. It is something I go back and watch again and again. Not discrediting any of these performances but I’m shocked it’s not on the list. Maybe I’m crazy. Hahaha.

SO glad to see Great Comet and Newsies on this list! If you want to watch a show that'll have you grinning from the infectious energy from beginning to end, Newsies should be your go-to :)

Sutton Foster has always brought it and she proves time and time again she still can and I have HUGE respect for her

Raul Esparza’s Being Alive performance is something truly special. I love this list but it should have been included

i’m so glad y’all included next to normal. i feel this show needs a MAJOR spotlight now more than ever, especially with the pandemic and quarantine

As soon as they opened with THE QUEEN PATI LUPONE I just had to like it.

No wonder why "And I am telling you" is number 1! Best performance ever! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

my favourite is the deaf west production of spring awaking performance it's so touching.

How did the revival of Pippin not make the cut, at least as an honorable mention?

Only reason I’d live in NY is so I could have chance to see some of these amazing Musicals! I live for the Tony’s every year to get little taste of these pieces of Art! I have zero Musical or Dance Talent but little part me wants to be on one of these Stages! Lol little part!

"Lion King" is still one of the most breathtaking things Ive ever seen. Great list!

I still remember watching Jennifer Holiday perform on the Tony’s. Even on my small TV at college I was mesmerized! Definitely #1!

No Magic To Do/Corner of The Sky from Pippin’s revival? Choices

"History Has Its Eyes On You" deserves higher I get chills without fail

Where’s Don’t Break the Rules from Catch Me If You Can? Norbert Leo Butz deserved a Tony for that performance alone.

So excited to see Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba in the movie version of Wicked!!!

Patti didn’t even get an honorable mention!?

I 100% agree with your #1 choice. Jennifer Holliday's performance was nothing short of brilliant. I remember seeing her at the Imperial Theatre and she certainly did bring the house down. Your Top 2 are from my 2 favourite shows, Dreamgirls & Les Miz but from Les Miz I would have chosen I dreamed a Dream but all the numbers were great.

I remember seeing so many of these when they originally aired and just being knocked out by them and applauding in my living room!

I knew "And I am telling you" was going to be number one

I loved "It's a Musical" from "Something Rotten". I think a show stopper like that should at least have an honorable mention.

Coming here in 2022 to say that Joaquina Kalukango's Paradise Square performance is definitely among these greats!!!

Love love love this video. Perfect preferences from some of the best Performers in the theater business I could watch this video over and over and over and over and over again

Totally agree with your top pick, and delighted to see Great Comet and Ragtime are in the mix of all these great performances!