A yeti, a leopard and a seahorse walk into a area …
It appears like the starting of a joke, but it’s the “Masked Singer” exhibit at the Paley Museum in Midtown.
Managing through May well 19, the show (identified as “The Masked Singer: Driving the Mask! Spotlighting the Show and the Costumes That Captivated America”) functions 11 costumes from the hit actuality levels of competition sequence.
“Eleven costumes for 11 seasons. It is not 1 to 1 there is not 1 costume from every single period,” curator Jason Lynch told The Publish. “The notion was to have an array of costumes that address the scope of the total operate of the clearly show.”
The Fox demonstrate — which airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. and is hosted by Nick Cannon — follows celebs who don elaborate costume disguises that obscure their identities as they perform tracks.
Panelists Jenny McCarthy, Nicole Scherzinger, Ken Jeong, Robin Thicke and Rita Ora join the audience in attempting to guess who’s beneath the mask.
The 11 costumes in the show are Overlook Monster (which was worn by Chaka Khan in Season 3), Yeti (Omarion in Period 5), Mummy (“Brady Bunch” actors Barry Williams, Christopher Knight and Mike Lookinland in Year 8), Gazelle (Janelle Parrish in Season 10), Flamingo (Adrienne Bailon-Houghton in Time 2), Leopard (Seal in Season 2), Rottweiler (Chris Daughtry in Season 2), Mushroom (Aloe Blacc in Period 4), Seahorse (Tori Kelly in Period 4), Chameleon (Wiz Khalifa in Season 5) — and Gumball, which is currently being executed in on the now-airing Time 11, so its wearer has not been unveiled.
“There have been a good deal of elements that went into determining” which costumes are showcased, Lynch explained. “A large one particular was that some of the costuming was so elaborate and so large, they wouldn’t in fact match into the museum doorways.”
“There were a several that were promptly off the desk. Hydra was one of them,” he mentioned, citing the costume worn by celeb magician duo Penn & Teller in Time 7.
“There was a hawk costume in Year 10 that has wings. The wingspan practically would not have in shape as a result of the doorway,” he extra, referring to Hawk, worn by “Teen Wolf” star Tyler Posey.
“Certainly what is most placing — looking at them in human being — is how elaborate they are. So, we did lean a tiny little bit additional towards [selecting them for in-the-room viewing]. Due to the fact when you see the display, yes, the costumes are appealing, but you’re extra preoccupied by figuring out who’s underneath the costume and the [song and dance] figures.”
He cited Leopard, worn by Seal, as a most loved.
“That 1 is extremely elaborate. It is got this Elizabethan magnificence to it, and these piercing eco-friendly eyes. It’s 1 of these issues that you really don’t appreciate until eventually you truly see it in man or woman. Also Gazelle has this cape with hundreds of sensitive flowers. It’s just something you actually will need to take pleasure in in human being. So people, to me, are the standouts. But every a person in their individual way is seriously intriguing. Some of these … I cannot even visualize acquiring into them to test them on, significantly fewer singing and dancing.”
He added, “They genuinely have to be noticed to be thought.”
Lynch observed that the costume for Yeti – worn by Omarion in Season 5 – is a showstopping portion of the exhibit. While “it’s definitely around 6 toes tall,” he said, it is placing for “not just the peak but its all round stature.”
“These matters are so massive and cumbersome that it’s not achievable for a celebrity to consider them off by themselves,” Lynch included. “So one thing like the Yeti … It is really hard to even fathom a person individual having into that and working it.”
He cited the Yeti costume as one particular that could not be transported into the show by a person human being for the reason that of its “sheer dimension.”
“That one was a multiple-particular person affair.”
The costume for Gumball, Lynch said, “is quite significant.” He observed that the exhibit “actually experienced to switch to a unique mannequin whose legs ended up manufactured out of far more rigid material” to display it, “because that costume is so heavy, it is tougher to aid it.”
Seeing the costumes in particular person also presents people a perception of how tall or quick some celebs are, he explained.
“Size sensible, they’re customized to whoever the superstar is … One particular instance is Overlook Monster. That is extremely elaborate, but it is also on the shorter side. On camera, everybody seems to be enormous. And it’s not right until you see these matters up close, you’re like, ‘Oh, that’s fascinating, [this celebrity] is so significantly shorter or taller than I am.’”
He also pointed out that “The Masked Singer” costumes are singular because Television costumes usually have backups, and distinctive variations of every single outfit. But, not for this show.
“These are truly just one-of-a sort creations. You are not walking in and looking at several versions of Gumball. So these are extra special and additional unique, because just about every just one is so individually crafted.”
The show, Lynch explained, is about “really appreciating the depth that goes into a clearly show like this. You go into it and you are pondering, ‘Well, I was seeking to figure out which stars are under this, and deciphering the clues.’ But there is genuinely an extraordinary manufacturing about all of these costumes. And I feel that our exhibit actually provides you new appreciation for all the operate that goes into earning the show so successful.”
“The Masked Singer” show is jogging via Could 19 at the The Paley Museum, 25 W. 52nd St. It is open Wednesdays to Sundays, midday to 6:00 p.m.
