Best, Best Musical Tony Losers?? — Page 2

Far and away the biggest for me - Ragtime (over Lion King)

Honorable mention(s) - Matilda (over Kinky Boots) and Wicked (over Avenue Q)

The most egregious to me are:

  -- Follies losing to 2 Gentlemen (an overpraised bore, although a lot of folks would say that was also true of Follies)

  -- Gypsy losing to SOM (at least SO had an incredible score, if not in the same league as Gypsy)

  -- Ragtime losing to The Lion King (I wonder what would have happened if Circle of Life had not opened the show...a great opening to an incredibly well-staged show with a lousy score)

  -- Chicago losing to A Chorus Line.  I admit that I never thought ACL was a great musical, just a very professional one; I thought the Fosse Chicago was considerably better than the current version, although I am delighted that it ended up  with the recognition it should have had 20 years earlier

The Most Happy Fella
Gypsy
Sunday in the Park With George
Into the Woods
Black and Blue
Falsettos
Tommy
Parade
Jane Eyre
Urinetown
The Drowsy Chaperone
Grey Gardens
American Idiot
Matilda
Great Comet

UGH West Side Story loosing to The Music Man in 1958 baffles me.....

Perhaps it should have been tighter.  At any rate, The Music Man is quite possibly the most perfect musical ever written.  West Side Story was innovative and it's score and choreography made up for what was lacking in the book, but it didn't really hit its stride until the film.