Posted: 5/27/21 at 12:55pm
It doesn't bother me one way or the other as long as when the lights go down your experience becomes a shared one between the performers, the audience, and yourself.
Updated On: 5/27/21 at 12:55 PM
Posted: 5/31/21 at 5:17pm
Personally I think it's fun to dress in the style of the show or have elements that are a bit of an homage. My partner and I wore ostentatious jewelry and fun fancy clothes to Great Comet, for example. Not enough that you look like a member of the ensemble, but enough that you fit it. Or matching silver bangles to Hadestown as a reference to one of Hades' lyrics, or a little red ascot. Or wearing pink to Mean Girls.
Full on cosplay strikes me as weird and out of place. There's a time and a place for cosplay, and the average broadway show is not it. The exceptions being
1. As far as I'm concerned, kids under 10 or so have full permission to wear costumes whenever they want and it's automatically adorable.
2. When a show explicitly invites such a thing. I remember the Beetlejuice musical really encouraging it, for one. Or broadwaycon. Love seeing cosplays at broadwaycon.
Otherwise, obvious cosplaying at a broadway show gives off the impression that the person isn't aware of or doesn't care about social norms, which can make people uncomfortable (often unconsciously). Besides, it's more creative to work out a look that is inspired by a show rather than copying anyways.
Posted: 5/31/21 at 5:56pm
I always love dressing a little bit "in costume" when I go see a show - it makes me feel like a part of the show. Obviously, it isn't enough to be distracting or impeding to the cast or other viewers - but it's like, wearing a folksy outfit with flowers to Hadestown, or a blue dress to Dear Evan Hansen, or flannel to Oklahoma, or a star on your shirt at Hamilton (which are all outfits I've worn seeing shows) - that's totally fine. For me in particular, I feel like it helps set apart the experience as a fun opportunity that would allow me to wear something I wouldn't wear in everyday life - it heightens the "theatre"-ness of the show for me.
