| Lead Female Actress or Actresses | Show Title | Opening Night on Broadway |
| Ethel Merman | |
| Rosalind Russell | |
| Mary Martin | |
| Carol Burnett | |
| Julie Andrews | |
| Nancy Walker | |
| Carol Channing | |
| Barbra Streisand | |
| Liza Minnelli | |
| Angela Lansbury | |
| Katharine Hepburn | |
| Lauren Bacall | |
| Chita Rivera and Gwen Verdon | |
| Andrea McArdle | |
| Madeline Kahn | |
| | Lead Female Actress or Actresses | Show Title | Opening Night on Broadway |
| Angela Lansbury | |
| Patti Lupone | |
| Betty Buckley | |
| Bernadette Peters | |
| Joanna Gleason | |
| Liliane Montevecchi | |
| Chita Rivera | |
| Donna Murphy and Marin Mazzie | |
| Glenn Close | |
| Alice Ripley and Emily Skinner | |
| Heather Headley and Sherie Rene Scott | |
| Sutton Foster | |
| Marissa Jaret Winokur | |
| Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel | |
| Sierra Boggess | |
|