Best Musical Show Album

Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album
Awarded for	quality musical theater cast recordings
Country	United States
Presented by	National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
First awarded	1959
Currently held by	The Color Purple (2017)
Official website	grammy.com

The Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album has been awarded since 1959. The award was given only to the album producer, and to the composer and lyricist who wrote at least 51% of the music which had not been recorded previously.

Over the years, the qualifications for the individual nominees has fluctuated with principal artists, composers, and producers at one point being the sole eligible nominee, to the more recent standard which includes those whose contributions accounted for the majority of the album. As of 2012, the award description is as follows: "Award to the principal vocalist(s) and the album producer(s) of 51% or more playing time of the album. The lyricist(s) and composer(s) of a new score are eligible for an Award if they have written and/or composed a new score which comprises 51% or more playing time of the album." Therefore, composers and lyricists are ineligible when recordings contain a majority of previously released material (revivals, collected works). Also, while they are not listed among the nominees, since 2001 the Recording Academy has awarded an official Grammy to the engineers/mixers of the winning Album.

Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were handed out, for music released in the previous year. As of 2008, the current eligibility year is defined by the Recording Academy as beginning October 1, and ending the following September 30. Awards are given in February following the eligibility period.

This award has had several minor name changes:

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