Pulitzer Prize for Drama encyclopedia topics

Musicals

Only seven musicals have won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama -- roughly, about one per decade from the 1930s to the 1990s. They are as follows: Gershwin's Of Thee I Sing (1932)¹, Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific (1950), Bock & Harnick's Fiorello! (1960), Frank Loesser's How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1962), Michael Bennett's A Chorus Line (1976), Stephen Sondheim's and James Lapine's Sunday in the Park with George (1985), and Jonathan Larson's Rent (1996).

The award goes to the playwright, although production of the play is also taken into account. In the case of a musical being awarded the prize, the composer, lyricist and story author are generally the recipients. An exception to this was the very first Pulitzer ever awarded to a musical: when Of Thee I Sing won in 1932, book authors George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind, as well as lyricist Ira Gershwin were cited as the winners, while composer George Gershwin's contribution was overlooked by the committee. The reason given was that the Pulitzer Prize for Drama is a dramatic award, and not a musical one. However, by 1950 the Pulitzer committee included composer Richard Rodgers as a recipient when South Pacific won the award, realizing by this time that music is, indeed, an integral and very important part of the theatrical experience.

_{¹Years given indicate the year that the Pulitzer Prize was won and not necessarily the year that musical had its New York opening.}

Awards and nominations

True West – Sam Shepard

1984: Glengarry Glen Ross – David Mamet

Fool for Love – Sam Shepard
Painting Churches – Tina Howe

1985: Sunday in the Park with George – James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim

The Gospel at Colonus – Lee Breuer, Bob Telson
The Dining Room – A. R. Gurney

1986: no award
1987: Fences – August Wilson

Broadway Bound – Neil Simon
A Walk in the Woods – Lee Blessing

1988: Driving Miss Daisy – Alfred Uhry

Boy's Life – Howard Korder
Talk Radio – Eric Bogosian

1989: The Heidi Chronicles – Wendy Wasserstein

M. Butterfly – David Henry Hwang
Joe Turner's Come and Gone – August Wilson

1990s

1990: The Piano Lesson – August Wilson

And What of the Night? – María Irene Fornés
Love Letters – A. R. Gurney

1991: Lost in Yonkers – Neil Simon

Prelude to a Kiss – Craig Lucas
Six Degrees of Separation – John Guare

1992: The Kentucky Cycle – Robert Schenkkan

Miss Evers' Boys – David Feldshuh
Conversations With My Father – Herb Gardner
Two Trains Running – August Wilson
Sight Unseen – Donald Margulies

1993: Angels in America: Millennium Approaches – Tony Kushner

Fires in the Mirror – Anna Deavere Smith
The Destiny of Me – Larry Kramer

1994: Three Tall Women – Edward Albee

Keely and Du – Jane Martin
A Perfect Ganesh – Terrence McNally

1995: The Young Man From Atlanta – Horton Foote

Seven Guitars – August Wilson
The Cryptogram – David Mamet

1996: Rent – Jonathan Larson

A Fair Country – Jon Robin Baitz
Old Wicked Songs – Jon Marans

1997: no award

Collected Stories – Donald Margulies
The Last Night of Ballyhoo – Alfred Uhry
Pride's Crossing – Tina Howe

1998: How I Learned to Drive – Paula Vogel

Three Days of Rain – Richard Greenberg
Freedomland – Amy Freed

1999: Wit – Margaret Edson

Running Man – Cornelius Eady and Diedre Murray
Side Man – Warren Leight

2000s

2000: Dinner with Friends – Donald Margulies

King Hedley II – August Wilson
In the Blood – Suzan-Lori Parks

2001: Proof – David Auburn

The Play About the Baby – Edward Albee
The Waverly Gallery – Kenneth Lonergan

2002: Topdog/Underdog – Suzan-Lori Parks

The Glory of Living – Rebecca Gilman
Yellowman – Dael Orlandersmith

2003: Anna in the Tropics – Nilo Cruz

Take Me Out – Richard Greenberg
The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? – Edward Albee

2004: I Am My Own Wife – Doug Wright

Man from Nebraska – Tracy Letts
Omnium Gatherum – Theresa Rebeck and Alexandra Gersten-Vassilaros

2005 Doubt: A Parable – John Patrick Shanley

The Clean House – Sarah Ruhl
Thom Pain (Based on Nothing) – Will Eno

2006: no award

Miss Witherspoon – Christopher Durang
The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow – Rolin Jones
Red Light Winter – Adam Rapp

2007: Rabbit Hole – David Lindsay-Abaire

Bulrusher – Eisa Davis
Orpheus X – Rinde Eckert
Elliot, a Soldier's Fugue – Quiara Alegría Hudes

2008 August: Osage County – Tracy Letts

Yellow Face – David Henry Hwang
Dying City – Christopher Shinn

Multiple winners

Only a few playwrights have been awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama more than once.

Eugene O'Neill has won the prize four times-- more than any other playwright. He won in 1920, 1922, 1928, and 1957.
George S. Kaufman won the award twice, once in 1932 and once in 1937. Both times he won the award for a collaborative work.
Robert E. Sherwood won the award in 1936, 1939, and 1941.
Thornton Wilder won in 1938 and 1943.
Tennessee Williams won the award in 1948 and 1955.
August Wilson won the award in 1987 and 1990.
Edward Albee won the award in 1967, 1975 and 1994. He is the last repeat winner to win, although August Wilson is the last playwright to become a repeat winner.