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
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
Tony Clip 1: "Welcome to the Theatre" (1970)
Tony Clip 2: Elizabeth Taylor (1981)
Tony Clip 3: Beatrice Arthur (1974)
Even the most ardent fans of the late Bea Arthur may well never have seen this ultra-obscure performance from the 1974 Tonys.
Tony Clip 4: Robert Goulet (1982)
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.
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
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.
Tony Clip 11: Michael Jeter in Grand Hotel
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.