35th Tony Awards

Eligibility

Shows that opened on Broadway during the 1980–1981 season before May 14, 1981 are eligible.

;Original plays

• Amadeus
• The American Clock
• The Beautiful Mariposa
• Billy Bishop Goes to War
• Division Street
• Fifth of July
• The Floating Light Bulb
• Fools
• Frankenstein
• Heartland
• Inacent Black
• It Had to Be You
• I Won't Dance
• A Lesson from Aloes
• A Life
• Lolita
• Louie and the Elephant
• Lunch Hour
• Mixed Couples
• Of the Fields, Lately
• Passionate Ladies
• Passione
• Piaf
• Quick Change
• Rose
• Sort of an Adventure
• The Suicide
• The Survivor
• To Grandmother's House We Go
• Tricks of the Trade ;Original musicals
• Banjo Dancing
• Bring Back Birdie
• Broadway Follies
• Charlie and Algernon
• Copperfield
• Fearless Frank
• 42nd Street
• It's So Nice to Be Civilized
• Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music
• The Moony Shapiro Songbook
• One Night Stand
• Onward Victoria
• Perfectly Frank
• A Reel American Hero
• Shakespeare's Cabaret
• Sophisticated Ladies
• Tintypes
• Woman of the Year ;Play revivals
• The Bacchae
• Emlyn Williams as Charles Dickens
• The Father
• John Gabriel Borkman
• The Little Foxes
• Macbeth
• The Man Who Came to Dinner
• The Philadelphia Story ;Musical revivals
• Brigadoon
• Camelot
• Can-Can
• The Five O'Clock Girl
• The Music Man
• The Pirates of Penzance

The ceremony

Presenters: Jane Alexander, Lucie Arnaz, Beatrice Arthur, Lauren Bacall, Zoe Caldwell, Diahann Carroll, Nell Carter, Colleen Dewhurst, José Ferrer, Phyllis Frelich, Julie Harris, Helen Hayes, Celeste Holm, Lena Horne, Judith Jamison, Marjorie Bradley Kellogg, Angela Lansbury, Jane Lapotaire, Michael Learned, Priscilla Lopez, Patti LuPone, Andrea McArdle, Carolyn Mignini, Ann Miller, Tharon Musser, Patricia Neal, Carole Bayer Sager, Ntozake Shange, Meryl Streep, Elizabeth Taylor, Lynne Thigpen, Mary Catherine Wright, Patricia Zipprodt.

Performers: Richard Chamberlain, José Ferrer, Robert Goulet, Robert Klein, Jack Klugman, Peter Nero, Tony Randall, Christopher Reeve, Jason Robards, Tony Roberts, Richard Thomas, Ben Vereen, Billy Dee Williams.

Musicals represented:

• A Chorus Line ("What I Did For Love" - Priscilla Lopez)
• Ain't Misbehavin' ("Honeysuckle Rose" - Nell Carter)
• Annie ("Tomorrow" - Andrea McArdle)
• Evita ("Buenos Aires" - Patti LuPone)
• 42nd Street ("Lullaby of Broadway" - Jerry Orbach and Company)
• Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music ("If You Believe" - Lena Horne)
• Piaf ("La Vie en Rose" - Jane Lapotaire)
• Sophisticated Ladies ("Rockin' in Rhythm" - Company)
• Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street ("By The Sea" - Angela Lansbury)
• Tintypes ("It's Delightful to be Married"/"Fifty-Fifty" - Company)
• Woman of the Year ("One of the Boys" - Lauren Bacall and Men)

Winners and nominees

Winners are in bold

Special awards

• Lena Horne for Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music
• Regional Theatre Award: Trinity Square Repertory Company, Providence, Rhode Island

Multiple nominations and awards

These productions had multiple nominations:

• 8 nominations: 42nd Street and Sophisticated Ladies
• 7 nominations: Amadeus and The Pirates of Penzance
• 6 nominations: Woman of the Year
• 5 nominations: Fifth of July and The Little Foxes
• 4 nominations: A Life
• 3 nominations: Brigadoon, Can-Can and Tintypes
• 2 nominations: Camelot, The Floating Light Bulb, Piaf, Rose and To Grandmother's House We Go

The following productions received multiple awards.

• 5 wins: Amadeus
• 4 wins: Woman of the Year
• 3 wins: The Pirates of Penzance
• 2 wins: 42nd Street and Sophisticated Ladies