Halloween Treat: A How-To Guide to Broadway-Themed Costumes

Is there a holiday more theatrical than Halloween? Sure, Christmas has its pageantry, Passover has its symbols and Independence Day has spectacle, but let’s face it, Halloween is the holiday for us theater people. When else can we well, the non-working actors among us gorge on sugary treats while wearing body makeup and a wig? Yes, the fun of Halloween is dressing up, and any theater geek worth his or her salt is dreaming up the perfect Broadway-inspired costume. Broadway.com is here to help! In addition to what we call the hair gel costumes gel up your hair and either add a leather jacket to be Danny Zuko in Grease, or knickers and a microphone for Moritz in Spring Awakening or bring together three of your buddies in matching jackets to go as Frankie Valli in Jersey Boys, we’ve created a handy guide, organized by degree of difficulty. We’ve kept ourselves limited to characters you’ll find on Broadway this season. Try these on for size. Happy Halloween!

URSULA, THE LITTLE MERMAID
Let’s say you’re the crafty type who DVRs every Martha Stewart appearance, has a lot of time on your hands and adores a garish shade of blue: You’re in luck! The costume for Ursula, the evil sea-witch glamorously embodied in Broadway’s The Little Mermaid by diva Sherie Rene Scott, features a curvy strapless dress—tentacles think embellished full-length gloves, ghoulish yet glamorous make-up and a Medusa-esque wig… oh, did we mention the spidery cape?
MATERIALS NEEDED
A platinum wig, a curling iron, proficiency with a sewing machine how do you think those tentacles are going to be attached? and oodles of patience.
DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY
Very advanced. You’ll be the hit of any children’s party, but if you haven’t started working on your Ursula costume yet, you’re going to face the last days of October as a “poor, unfortunate soul.”

SHREK, SHREK THE MUSICAL
For years, guys hankering to go Broadway on All Hallow’s Eve dressed up as the title character from The Phantom of the Opera. We get why. Hello? Gothic + horror + romance = perfect costume. But if you don’t want to spend another Halloween adjusting your mask every time you pop a candy corn, new musical Shrek offers an alternative: Go green! That’s right, we suggest you dress as a grumpy, swamp-dwelling ogre.
MATERIALS NEEDED
You’ll need some baggy trousers, a sack-like tunic, a gallon of green make-up and larger-than-life gloves—don’t forget those adorable monster ears! Extra credit if you have Shrek star Brian d’Arcy James’ trademark bushy eyebrows, impeccable comic timing and lovely tenor voice.
DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY
Advanced. Can you hold a glass of punch with those big ogre hands? Better start practicing.

ELPHABA, WICKED
Speaking of green, it just isn’t Halloween on Broadway without the Wicked witch. If you spent your trick-or-treating years dressed in a long black dress with a pointy hat, it’s time to graduate to a costume worthy of Broadway’s favorite emerald-hued leading lady.
MATERIALS NEEDED
First of all, you gotta greenify! Head to the makeup counter and pick up a MAC’s Chromacake in Landscape Green. Yes, this is what they really use in the show. Contour your eyes and cheekbones before adding the green stuff and finish with a dash of MAC’s Golden Olive for extra oomph. Decide on which era of Elphaba you’d like to portray: Shiz student with round spectacles and knit cap? Or the gravity-defying rebel in full-length boots and textured dress?
DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY
Intermediate. It all depends on how much you want to Elphie-ize yourself!

IGOR, YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN
So you’re not inspired to go all out and be Shrek, you’ve done the Phantom thing and even went as King Arthur in Spamalot one year. What’s a Broadway-loving man to do? Walk this way. Dressing as Igor from Young Frankenstein offers you the opportunity for silly sight gags bring a jar with a fake brain, of course and one-liners “What hump?”.
MATERIALS NEEDED
Shade your eyes with a little gray makeup and put on a long black hoodie, big belt, skinny trousers and tall boots. Oh, and that hump. If you have the zaniness and self-deprecating sweetness of Young Frankenstein’s Christopher Fitzgerald, you’ll definitely get offered a lot of candy.
DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY
Advanced beginner. You probably won’t be able to throw this together five minutes before your Halloween party, but you should be able to do it within 24 hours or so.

DONNA SHERIDAN, MAMMA MIA!
Got Spandex? OK, even if you can’t fill out a pair of glam-rock bell bottoms in the same way as Mamma Mia!’s luscious Carolee Carmello, you can still find your inner dancing queen by slathering on the self-tanner and transforming yourself into the free-spirited, Greek-Island-dwelling Donna Sheridan.
MATERIALS NEEDED
If you can swing the lime green Lycra with ruffled hem and wide white belt, then you are definitely a super trouper. But if you are getting decked out for Halloween on the fly, consider throwing on a pair of Donna-worthy faded overalls, a peasant blouse and a pair of sandals that would be at home at any hideaway beachside villa. Grab a hairdryer-as-microphone prop, and you’ll be on your way.
DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY
Advanced beginner. The name of the game here is to be lusty, relaxed and sun-kissed.

LOOKING FOR EASIER COSTUMES? CLICK HERE!

RICHARD HANNAY, THE 39 STEPS
Who hasn’t wanted to be a dashing hero? How about a dashing Hitchcockian hero in a spy caper? Here’s a costume that’s sure to inspire you to be debonair, curious and adventurous. And if you play your cards right, you might even end up handcuffed to the comely young damsel who double-crossed you.
MATERIALS NEEDED
Skills such as cocking your eyebrow at the right moment, giving chase on the Flying Scotsman or crossing the Forth Bridge will come in handy. Don a tweed three-piece suit, a fedora and a raincoat. A moustache and pipe are mandatory. If you actually handcuff yourself to a friend, you get points for authenticity.
DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY
Advanced beginner. Moustaches and pipes are easy to come by, but you might need to dig around for that WWI-era three-piece suit.

VIOLET WESTON, AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY
Got a last-minute invitation and need a costume in a hurry? Go as the ultimate acid-tongued, pill-popping mother from hell this side of Mommie, Dearest: Violet Weston. Spew vicious barbs at your loved ones, act totally out of it and make mealtime sting by picking at everyone around you until they cry, scream or stare ahead wordlessly fuming; it’s part of your character. Enjoy!
MATERIALS NEEDED
Keep it simple with pajamas, a cigarette and a scowl. If you really want to do it up right, carry around a recording of Eric Clapton’s “Lay Down, Sally” and dance wildly to it at inappropriate moments. You may also want to stumble now and then to keep it accurate.
DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY
Beginner. If you can summon up being in a very bad mood, you’re in good shape.

VELMA KELLY, CHICAGO
Did you also decide to head out to a Halloween party at the last minute, but you want to play it a little sexier, riskier and, er, younger than August: Osage County’s Violet Weston? Well, we have one word for you: Hotcha! Come on, babe, why don’t you paint the town as the merriest murderess in the Cook County Jail? Velma Kelly!
MATERIALS NEEDED
Black leotard? Check. Sheer black stockings? Check. Short, dark wig? Check. Red lipstick? Check. Silver shoes? Check. Congratulations, you are ready to shimmy till your garters break. You will be the hit of the bash if you rouge your knees and roll your stockings down—not to mention if you can start the car using Fosse choreography. Whoopee!
DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY
Beginner. You know you have a lot of black clothing in your closet and all that jazz.

USNAVI, IN THE HEIGHTS
To find inspiration to dress as Usnavi, the gentle soul at the center of the energetic In the Heights, played onstage by the musical’s creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, just look around. Is there a bodega near you? If you answered in the affirmative, you’ll see that gathering the materials necessary for this costume will take less time than buying a café con leche—light and sweet, natch.
MATERIALS NEEDED
A cap, a shirt, a pair of pants, a lottery ticket and a deli cup of coffee. Seriously, you might even look like Usnavi right now without even trying. It really helps if you also have a sense of rhythm.
DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY
Beginner. You could easily pick up your costume on the way to the party—or from the floor of your bedroom.

ALAN STRANG, EQUUS
You knew we would end up here, didn’t you? After all, this list is by level of difficulty, and what’s easier than dressing up as tortured, equine-obsessed Alan Strang in the psychodrama Equus? Nothing. And by nothing, we mean, you are already wearing your costume, which requires nothing except perhaps, a handsome young friend wearing a horse’s head and hooves. Yes, nothing. If you are a bit shyer than Broadway’s Daniel Radcliffe, you could alternatively wear nothing… except a pair of Levi’s but what fun is that?.
MATERIALS NEEDED
Um… the words to the “Milky Bar” song? Otherwise, nothing.
DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY
Pre-beginner. ‘Nuff said.