Rumi from KPop Demon Hunters takes on Broadway.

Thursday, October 30th. Halloween Eve. I knew who I was going to cosplay, but I had not been able to put the cosplay together yet. I was going to be Rumi from KPop Demon Hunters (KPDH). I picked up my purple wig and eyeliners for my demon patterns from the Mail Center. I went back to my dorm and took my wig out of the package and tried it on. It looked nice but very wavy. 

I decided to brush out the wig with my hairbrush and my fingers. However, the wig soon became very tangled. There were many tangles hidden within the hair that were not visible on the surface. I have never worked this much on a wig before. My previous wigs were more or less set from the start. The wig looked quite rough after I had brushed it out, and it was still quite tangled. I took a break from the frustration by attending John Jay’s Halloween Costume Competition. I wore my Jinu cosplay that I put together for Otakon over the summer.

I continued to work on the wig that night and the next day. I had to push through, even though it kept getting tangled and frustrated me. I watched a video on making Rumi’s dragon braid and did my best to separate the hair into even divisions with rubber bands to maintain the clumps. Then, I split the bundles in half and started threading them around each other to make the braids, securing each with a small rubber band. I had to loosen the hair at some point because the base of the wig was extremely exposed. 

Finally, I was able to finish the wig. Some of my sideburn hair still showed, but it was good enough for me. Now, I had to figure out the rest of the cosplay. Luckily, I had all of the materials. I wore a spaghetti strap white shirt and a pink-grey jacket with floral patterns, mimicking some of the outfits Rumi wore in KPDH. I wore tan pants and used some golden gift ribbon and a golden string for the belt, and I wore white sneakers. I also added my earrings and necklace from my old Howl cosplay from Howl’s Moving Castle. I completed the look by drawing her patterns on my face and hands with purple and white eyeliner. 

I got to thinking what I wanted to do that night. I could go to the NYC Village Halloween Parade, or I could join the standby list for Beetlejuice (the musical) with Columbia’s Urban NY. I decided that, if I didn’t get a ticket to Beetlejuice, I would go to the parade. 

And with that, I went to Lerner 515 to join standby. It didn’t feel like many students were there. I wore my cosplay, and a few other students were also in costume. When it finally came time for the drawing, it turned out there were seven tickets left! And there were only six of us on standby! HOORAY!

Soon, we were on the subway traveling to 50th St. I saw many people dressed in costumes all around us. I saw Stitch and the Mad Hatter! I took some photos along the way to memorialize Rumi being near Times Square. 

We finally reached our destination! 

We got our tickets scanned and headed inside. I saw several people wearing costumes, and I was absolutely thrilled! I wasn’t sure whether people would actually wear their costumes into a Broadway theater, but it was Halloween, so why not! Naturally, I saw tons of Betelgeuse cosplayers, but I even saw a Yuji and Shego inside the theater. 

Soon, the show started. I’ll limit the spoilers so you can see it on your own time, but as someone who has never watched Beetlejuice (1988) before, I had an absolute BLAST! Justin Collette, who starred as Betelgeuse, was brilliant. He showed up on stage and screamed, “Happy Halloween!” and the crowd went WILD. The jokes during the show were hilarious and completely unhinged. Delia even made a 6-7 joke, which I still don’t understand, but we all laughed. Needless to say, this is a show about death *wink wink*. Isabella Esler KILLED it as Lydia, especially when singing “Dead Mom.” What more can I say? I’m a fan now. 

During intermission, I saw a man dressed exactly like the movie Betelgeuse. Then, a kid pointed at me and said, “I see Rumi!” That made me so happy. Soon after, I found a group of three Betelgeuse cosplayers and asked for a photo with them. One of them asked for a photo with ME! Then Glinda complimented my cosplay. Everything was perfect. Things were even more perfect after I saw Act II. 

After the show, I checked out the merch but decided that I need a huge Sandworm for my room rather than a little one for my shelf. I headed out to wait at the stage door to see the actors. Many of the actors exited, including Jesse Sharp (Charles), Sharone Sayegh (Maxine Dean and Juno), and Isabella Esler herself! 

Then came the main attraction: Justin Collette! He was an absolute sweetheart chatting with the crowd, signing, and taking photos. When he came around to my corner, I just had to say something as he took my Playbill. I said, “Sir, you are an absolute treasure!” No sooner had I said this the crowd burst into laughter, and Collette stared at me dumbfounded and unsure of how to respond for about a minute before mustering a “Thank you!” I followed with, “Can I get a photo with you?” He answered, still a bit shocked, “Well, yeah! After that comment!” 

I finally left to find the subway and passed by more cosplayers on my way over. I saw a Daki and Power and just had to get photos with them! Then a couple of kids on the subway recognized my Rumi cosplay, and I felt so touched that I made their day.

I took some more photos on campus before checking out for the night.

This is a Halloween I’ll never forget!

All photos via Author