Every night is ladies' night on Broadway, thanks to a cluster of new stars who are revitalizing the Diva tradition. By Adam Feldman

Historians of the Broadway musical, from the academy to the piano bar, agree on one thing: The archetypal Broadway star is a woman. Merman, Martin, Verdon, Channing?legendary ladies such as these were the bulbs that lit the Broadway marquee in the Golden Age, and they still dominate the mythology of the genre. Great dames have become rarer, but the past Broadway sea-son offers hope to show-tune fans everywhere: The divas are back. In recent years, audiences could consider themselves lucky when a season offered a single first-rate, tell-your-friends diva turn. This one has had four: Donna Murphy in Wonderful Town, Tonya Pinkins in Caroline, or Change, and Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel in Wicked. All of these performers carry their shows, and have enjoyed unanimously rapturous reviews; in nearly any other year, any one of them would be a shoo-in for a Tony Award. "Stand-out performances, no doubt about it," says Gerald Schoenfeld, chair-man of the Shubert Organization, the city's largest theater owner.

There will certainly be no shortage of drama at Sunday's Tonys, where the quartet will compete in the strongest Leading Actress in a Musical race in decades. (The category's fifth nominee is the de-lightful Stephanie D'Abruzzo, who gives a warm and engaging per-formance as two principal puppets in the ensemble show Avenue Q.) "I've never really seen a year like this," says Stephen Schwartz, the composer of Wicked, Pippin and GodspeU. "Obviously, I'm root-ing for my girls, but one could be entirely justified in voting for any one of those performers."

What the four divas have in common is that ineffable snap of charisma: the kind that forces audiences to watch them, and spurs Tonya Pinkins: the spiritualist
Tonya Pinkins devastating portrayal of the title character in Caroline, or Change, a miserable black maid in 1963 Louisiana, does not reach out for audience sympathy the way most Broadway star turns do. "The arch of the character is Greek in proportion," Pinkins says. "Our empathy for her is ultimately our empathy for ourselves, which may be why so many people say it's transformative."

Tonya's and incredible intelligent and fearless actor," says George C. Wolfe, Pinkins's director in Caroline as well as 2000's The Wild Party and 1992's Jelly's Last Jam (for which she won a Tony for Best Featured Actress in a Musical). "It's one thing to run all over the stage; it's another thing to stand still and have the entire house be rivet-ed to your every nuance. Tonya takes the effort out brilliantly, so there's nothing standing between the audience and her emotions."

Pinkins, 42, who describes herself as "a very spiritual person," considers her talents a blessing. "A diva, if there is such a thing, is going to stop the show in whatever role you put her in," she says. "You can't learn that in school: No matter how great your pirouettes are, no matter how many octaves you have, that is a gift. That's an anointing that is upon you." But Caroline differs from her previous diva roles: "I've gotten to be entertaining and fabulous and have it be about me, but Caroline ultimately isn't about me," she says. "People don't walk around saying, 'Hey, come sing that song about the Jews burning in hell!''

What makes Caroline, or Change so satisfying, she says, is the pro-found impact it has had on audiences. "They go away thinking of their own lives," she observes. "Caroline ends up being a holy experience?it feels like missionary work. I've never had that in the theater."