Bette Midler shows off glittering gown and potty mouth

Bette Midler is a true Broadway legend and now has the trophy to prove it.

The 71-year-old multi-talented performer just won herself a Tony Award but not without putting on a bit of a show of her own. And she looked fabulous doing it in a floor length silver print shimmering gown!

Her acceptance speech for best leading performance by an actress in a musical went so long she refused to leave the stage, even when the orchestra was giving her the hurry up she wasn’t perturbed. ‘Shut that crap off!” Bette said. And they did.

Bette began her acceptance speech by touting Hello, Dolly! as the cure for all ills.

“I just want to say that ‘revival’ is an interesting word. It means something was near death and was brought back to life. Hello, Dolly! never really went away. It’s in our DNA. It’s optimism. It’s democracy. It’s colour. It’s hilarity. This is a classic: come and see it. It’s not just me. This thing has the ability to life your spirits in these terrible, terrible times.”

“I can’t remember when I had so much smoke blown up my arse. It’s full. This is it. It’s the icing on the cake!” she said. “I’d like to thank all the Tony voters — many of whom I’ve actually dated.”

The whole speech went for over four minutes but it seems the crowd didn’t mind. They cheered. There were, however, lots of people asking why she never got to perform on stage as Dolly during the show. 

Speaking in the press-room Bette continued her speech with more thank you’s but with a final declaration. “Bette Midler for president.”

 
Do you think there are time limits for a reason, or was this a rule meant to be broken?