Inside ‘The Masked Singer’ exhibit at NYC’s Paley Museum: ‘Some costumes wouldn’t fit through the doors’

A yeti, 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 in Midtown.

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 reality competition series.

“Eleven costumes for 11 seasons. It’s not 1 to 1; there’s not one costume from every season,” curator Jason Lynch told The Post. “The idea was to have an array of costumes that cover the scope of the entire run of the show.”

The Fox show — which airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. and is hosted by Nick Cannon — follows celebs who don elaborate costume disguises that obscure their identities as they perform songs.

Panelists Jenny McCarthy, Nicole Scherzinger, Ken Jeong, Robin Thicke and Rita Ora join the audience in trying 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 Parrish in Season 10), 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” which costumes are featured, Lynch explained. “A big one was that some of the costuming was so elaborate and so big, they wouldn’t actually fit into the museum doors.”

“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 & 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 Hawk, 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 in-the-room viewing]. Because when you see the show, yes, the costumes are interesting, but you’re more preoccupied by figuring out who’s underneath the costume and the [song and dance] numbers.”

He cited 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 costume for Yeti – worn by Omarion in Season 5 – is a showstopping part of the exhibit. While “it’s definitely over 6 feet tall,” he said, it’s striking for “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,” Lynch added. “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.”

“That one was a multiple-person affair.”

The costume for Gumball, Lynch said, “is pretty hefty.” He 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 celebrity 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.’”

He also noted that “The Masked Singer” costumes are singular because TV costumes generally have backups, and different versions of each outfit. But, not for this show.

“These are truly one-of-a kind creations. You’re not walking in and seeing multiple versions of Gumball. So these are more special and more unique, because each one is so individually crafted.”

The exhibit, Lynch said, is about “really appreciating the detail that goes into a show like this. You go into it and you’re thinking, ‘Well, I was trying to figure out which celebrities are under this, and deciphering the clues.’ But there is really an incredible production around all of these costumes. And I think that our exhibit really gives you new appreciation for all the work that goes into making the show so successful.”

“The Masked Singer” exhibit is running through May 19 at the The Paley Museum, 25 W. 52nd St. It’s open Wednesdays to Sundays, noon to 6:00 p.m.