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97 Tony Awards Survey 1

The first of a three-part program surveying twenty years of the Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence on Broadway, more commonly referred to as the Tonys... Read More

From the show: Anything Goes

29 mins
2/10/25

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The first of a three-part program surveying twenty years of the Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence on Broadway, more commonly referred to as the Tonys. In this program, Paul Lazarus and associate producer, Jeff Lunden build up anticipation for the 1984 Awards by playing and discussing music from the previous twenty Best Musical Tony winners, starting with 1964.

Featured songs: “Hello, Dolly,” “The Best of Times,” “Matchmaker, Matchmaker,” “Dulcinea”, “Why Should I Wake Up?” and “Hallelujah, Baby.”

Originally produced and broadcast in 1984. For more information go to AnythingGoesPL.com or BPN.FM/Anything Goes. Theme music arranged by Bruce Coughlin. Anything Goes – Backstage with Broadway’s Best – is produced and hosted by Paul Lazarus.

Transcript

This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Paul Lazarus: Hi, this is Paul Lazarus. In the 1980s, I produced and hosted a radio series called Anything Goes, a celebration of the American musical theater. Now the Broadway Podcast Network is bringing back these shows. This is the first of a three-part survey of the best musical Tony Award winners from the 20-year period between 1964 and 1984. This program originally aired on the day of the 1984 Tony Awards ceremony. That year, four shows were nominated, Baby, La Cage aux Folles, Sunday in the Park with George, and The Tap Dance Kid. This is Anything Goes. I'm Paul Lazarus, and very good afternoon to you. I'm here with Jeff Lunden today to survey the last 20 years of the Antoinette Perry Awards, which are taking place this evening in New York, and I'm sure you're all very excited about that, and we thought it might be fun to dip back 20 years into the history of musical theater and see what shows over the years have won. Back to 1964, and the musical that won that year was a little show by Jerry Herman called Hello, Dolly!

[1:31] ♪ Musical number: "Hello, Dolly!" — performed by Carol Channing ♪

[7:07] Paul Lazarus: I don't care what anybody says, that's pretty exciting stuff. That's Carol Channing, and the title song, of course, to Hello, Dolly. Twenty years later, Mr. Herman is nominated again this evening for his score to La Cage aux Folles.

[7:23] ♪ Musical number: "The Best of Times" — from La Cage aux Folles ♪

[12:46] Paul Lazarus: "The Best of Times," from La Cage aux Folles, by Jerry Herman, and that is, of course, a nominee for the Tony Awards tonight. Getting back to 1965, the musical that followed Hello, Dolly! as the Tony Award winner in 65 also had a plot about a matchmaker in it. It was, of course, Fiddler on the Roof.

[13:17] ♪ Musical number: "Matchmaker, Matchmaker" — from Fiddler on the Roof ♪

[14:16] ♪ Musical number: "Matchmaker, Matchmaker" — performed by Joanna Merlin, Julia Maganis, and Tanya Everett ♪

[17:08] Paul Lazarus: You're listening to songs from the Best Musical Tony Award winners from 1964 to 1984, hosted by Paul Lazarus and Jeff Lunden. We're up to 1966 with *Man of La Mancha*, and we decided to play Richard Kiley singing "Dulcinea."

[17:28] ♪ Musical number: "Dulcinea" — performed by Richard Kiley ♪

[20:09] Paul Lazarus: "Dulcinea," from *Man of La Mancha*, scored by Mitch Lee and Joe Darian. The Tony Award winning musical of 1966. In 1967, *Cabaret* was up for the Tony Award and won it. And it featured a score by John Kander and Fred Ebb, both of whom are nominated for a Tony Award with their score for *The Rink* tonight.

[20:40] ♪ Musical number: "Why Should I Wake Up?" — performed by Bert Convy ♪

[23:11] Paul Lazarus: The 1968 Tony Award winner was *Hallelujah, Baby!* with music by Jule Styne and lyrics by Comden and Green and book by Arthur Laurents, who again this evening is nominated for Tony for Best Direction.

[23:30] ♪ Musical number: "Hallelujah, Baby!" — performed by Leslie Uggams, Winston DeWitt Hemsley, and Alan Weeks ♪

[27:21] Paul Lazarus: And that ceremony takes place, of course, this evening, and that is why Jeff Lunden and I are featuring a survey of 20 years' worth of Tony Award-winning musicals. We started in 1964 and we're up to 1969. You've been listening to part one of a three-part survey of the Best Musical Tony Award winners from 1964 to 1984.

[27:59] Jeff Lunden: Anything Goes Backstage with Broadway's Best is produced and hosted by Paul Lazarus. For more information, visit anythinggoespl.com. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to rate and follow us. Thanks for listening.

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