Actor Tony Vierling could not have chosen a worse day to ignore the Guthrie Theater's wardrobe guidance. The veteran Twin Cities dancer and singer was playing a buccaneer and policeman in the ensemble of 2004's "The Pirates of Penzance," a dance-heavy, physically demanding production.
"For modesty and protection, they gave us these dance belts, which are like G-strings, and some black biker shorts to wear over them," Vierling recalled. "But the shorts were kind of uncomfortable."
For one performance, he went partly commando. As he executed an acrobatic number in the show, rolling over on his back and throwing his legs in the air in a split, Vierling and everyone else heard a loud RRRRIP!
"My costume completely split — the whole crotch gone," Vierling recalled. "My entire white rear end made its Guthrie debut."
The costume catastrophe occurred at the top of the first act, so Vierling had to keep going, even if it got a little breezy down there.
"In the thrust [stage], there are people on three sides of the stage, so I tried to keep my back to the fourth side, but I was completely exposed," said Vierling, also a regular at Chanhassen Dinner Theatres. "There was a lot of giggling that particular performance as about eight boys danced along in navy blue and one with this shiny rear end that showed every time."
Singers Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake arguably were involved in the most famous wardrobe malfunction of all time during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show. Timberlake peeled off Jackson's costume, exposing a shielded nipple to a live audience of tens of millions.
Costume mishaps happen in the theater frequently. Wigs and petticoats fall off during a dance. Mustaches and beards slide off faces while people are talking. And zippers regularly get caught in fabric. Besides, a pregnancy belly may fall out of place or an ingénue might unwittingly walk out of her dress. The question is: What does a performer do when she or he has a costume fail?