Tony clip of the day

We've complied B-sides and rarities from the Tony Awards to celebrate the quirkier side of the Broadway's biggest night

Monday May 21 2012

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Theater and Dance Editor, Time Out USA

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As the Tony Awards loom on the horizon, what's a Broadway obsessive to do? Dig into the past, of course, to relive some of the most memorable moments from past telecasts. We've already compiled a list of the best performances by Best Musical nominees over the years—the Tonys' greatest hits. Now we turn our attention to the B-sides and rarities: a new video each day, all celebrating the quirkier side of the Tonys—the good, the bad and the campy.

RECOMMENDED: Complete Tony Awards coverage

Been there, done that? Think again, my friend.

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Tony Clip 1: "Welcome to the Theatre" (1970)

What better way to kick off our journey through Tony Awards history than with a spotlight-mad invocation from Lauren Bacall, in all her smokestack-voiced glamour?

If you feel like loving Elizabeth Taylor a little more today, watch as she enchantingly mangles her presentation of the 1981 Tony Award for Best Musical.

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Tony Clip 3: Beatrice Arthur (1974)

Musicals

Even the most ardent fans of the late Bea Arthur may well never have seen this ultra-obscure performance from the 1974 Tonys.

Musicals

Presenters make mistakes all the time, of course, but sometimes a flub is so uncanny, so inexplicable, so jaw-droppingly weird that it seems to exit the realm of error entirely to inhabit a rarefied world of perfect absurdist art. So it is with Robert Goulet.

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Tony Clip 5: Bette Midler in Fiddler on the Roof (1968)

Musicals

Bette Midler may seem to have emerged fully formed from the mists of the Continental Baths in the early 1970s, but the sassy singer-actor in fact paid her dues for years before that on the New York stage.

Musicals

If you like your musical numbers big, showy, silly and glitzy, then you've hit the jackpot, friend: They don't get much bigger, showier, sillier and glitzier than this Las Vegas–themed blowout from 1968's Golden Rainbow.

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Tony Clip 7: The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1979)

Musicals

No production number in Tony history has been bleeped as insistently as this rowdy locker-room hoedown from The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.

Musicals

Tony Clip 8: Carol Channing in Lorelei (1974)

Carol Channing gleamed her way to stardom singing "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" in 1949's Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, but it was rhinestones all the way in the 1974 musical Lorelei.

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Tony Clip 9: Broadway medley (1984)

Musicals

Liza Minnelli, Gwen Verdon, Chita Rivera, Dorothy Loudon and Raquel Welch in one fantastic medley? Say yes!

Musicals

Tony Clip 10: Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death

Garrett Morris, a go-go dancer, a giant phallic rat, a gruesomely extended death scene and a voodoo curse on the audience: Put them all together and you get the most shocking performance in the history of the Tonys.

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Tony Clip 11: Michael Jeter in Grand Hotel

Musicals

Musical theater doesn't get better than Michael Jeter's breathtakingly joyful and soulful performance in this 1990 number from Grand Hotel, and acceptance speeches don't get more touching than Jeter's either.

Been there, done that? Think again, my friend.

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Tony clip of the day

Tony Clip 1: "Welcome to the Theatre" (1970)

Tony Clip 2: Elizabeth Taylor (1981)

Tony Clip 3: Beatrice Arthur (1974)

Tony Clip 4: Robert Goulet (1982)

Tony Clip 5: Bette Midler in Fiddler on the Roof (1968)

Tony Clip 6: Golden Rainbow (1968)

Tony Clip 7: The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1979)

Tony Clip 8: Carol Channing in Lorelei (1974)

Tony Clip 9: Broadway medley (1984)

Tony Clip 10: Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death

Tony Clip 11: Michael Jeter in Grand Hotel