drama desk award for outstanding actress in a musical

The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical was retired after the 2014 ceremony. From 2015 onward, the category was combined with the Outstanding Actress in a Play category to create the gender-neutral Outstanding Actress in a Play and Outstanding Actress in a Musical categories were replaced by Outstanding Performance. However, since you are asking about the specific historical category, here are the most recent winners before it was retired: 2015 (Final winner under this name): Kristin Chenoweth for On the Twentieth Century 2014: Jessie Mueller for Beautiful: The Carole King Musical 2013: Billy Porter for Kinky Boots (Note: Billy Porter is a man; the category was initially gendered but the award was given to a male performer) 2012: Audra McDonald for Porgy and Bess 2011: Sutton Foster for Anything Goes Historical context: The category was originally called Outstanding Actress in a Musical (19752014). In 2012, to be more inclusive, the Drama Desk Awards began allowing performers of any gender to be nominated in the gendered categories, which is why Billy Porter won in 2013. The category was fully retired in 2015 in favor of gender-neutral performance categories.