FACES ON DISPLAY
‘The Masked Singer’ exhibit at The Paley Museum
AYETI, a leopard and a seahorse walk into a room…
It sounds like the beginning of a joke, but it’s “The Masked Singer” exhibit at The Paley Museum. Running through May 19, the exhibit (called “The Masked Singer: Behind the Mask! Spotlighting the Show and the Costumes That Captivated America”) features 11 costumes from the hit Fox reality competition series.
“Eleven costumes for 11 seasons. It’s not 1 to 1; there’s not one costume from every season. But … the idea was to have an array of costumes that cover the scope of the entire run of the show,” curator Jason Lynch told The Post.
The Fox show (Wednesdays at 8 p.m.) is hosted by Nick Cannon, and follows celebs who don elaborate costume disguises that obscure their identities as they perform songs.
The audience and panelists – including Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg, Nicole Scherzinger, Ken Jeong, Robin Thicke and Rita Ora – try to guess who’s beneath the mask.
The 11 costumes in the exhibit are Miss Monster (which was worn by Chaka Khan in Season 3), Yeti (Omarion in Season 5), Mummy (“Brady Bunch” actors Barry Williams, Christopher
Knight and Mike Lookinland in Season 8), Gazelle (Janelle Par10), rish in Season Flamingo (Adrienne Bailon-Houghton in Season 2), Leopard (Seal in Season 2), Rottweiler (Chris Daughtry in Season 2), Mushroom (Aloe Blacc in Season 4), Seahorse (Tori Kelly in Season 4), Chameleon (Wiz Khalifa in Season 5) — and Gumball, which is being performed in on the now-airing Season 11, so its wearer hasn’t been revealed.
“There were a lot of factors that went into determining what [costumes are featured]. A big one was that some of the costuming was so elaborate and so big, they wouldn’t actually fit into the museum doors,” Lynch explained. “There were a few that were immediately off the table. Hydra was one of them,” he said, citing the costume worn by celeb magician duo Penn and Teller in Season 7. “There was a Hawk costume in Season 10 that has wings. The wingspan literally would not have fit through the door,” he added, referring to the costume worn by “Teen Wolf ” star Tyler Posey.
“Certainly what is most striking — seeing them in person — is how elaborate they are. So, we did lean a little bit more toward [selecting them for visuals]. Because when you see the show, yes, the customers are interesting. But, you’re more preoccupied by figuring out who’s underneath the costume, and the [song and dance] numbers.” He cited the Leopard, worn by Seal, as a favorite.
“That one is very elaborate, it’s got this Elizabethan elegance to it, and these piercing green eyes. It’s one of those things that you don’t appreciate until you really see it in person. Also Gazelle has this cape with hundreds of delicate flowers. It’s just something you really need to appreciate in person. So those, to me, are the standouts. But every one in their own way is really interesting. Some of these… I can’t even imagine getting into them to try them on, much less singing and dancing.”
He added, “They really have to be seen to be believed.”
Lynch noted that the Yeti costume worn by Omarion in Season 5 is a show-stopping part of the exhibit.
“It’s definitely over 6 feet tall. Also, it’s not just the height but its overall stature . . . These things are so big and cumbersome that it’s not possible for a celebrity to take them off themselves. So, something like the Yeti…it’s hard to even fathom one person getting into that and operating it.”
He cited the Yeti costume as one that couldn’t be transported into the exhibit by one person because of its “sheer size.”
And the Gumball costume “is pretty hefty.” Lynch noted that the exhibit “actually had to switch to a different mannequin whose legs were made out of more rigid material” to display it, “Because that costume is so heavy, it’s harder to support it.”
Seeing the costumes in person also gives visitors a sense of how tall or short some celebs are, he said.
“Size wise, they’re tailored to whoever the ce- lebrity is … One example is Miss Monster. That is incredibly elaborate, but it’s also on the shorter side. On camera, everybody looks enormous. And it’s not until you see these things up close, you’re like, ‘Oh, that’s interesting, [this celebrity] is so much shorter or taller than I am.”
“The Masked Singer” exhibit is currently running through May 19 at the Paley Museum (25 West 52nd. St.) and is open Wednesdays to Sundays, 12:00 to 6:00 p.m.