Broadway dressing rooms are space-intensive
Principal cast and celebrities may have a dressing room of their own to warm up and prepare for a show. Their dressing rooms may be big enough to accommodate guests after a show and be decorated with luxurious interior design. But the ensemble usually won’t have that amount of space. The dressing room space is at a premium in many theaters. Ensemble cast and many other roles share a dressing room.
They fight for space in the mirror, smack into each other during costume changes, and grab the wrong makeup tube. It can be crowded, chaotic, with countertops full of makeup, hairdressing gear, coffee cups, and personal mementos, but it can also be a place of fun and camaraderie. This backstage image from Oklahoma! shows principals Joan Roberts (Laurey) and Celeste Holm (Ado Annie) slipping out of their character shoes and tending their feet in a backstage dressing room.
