Photo Coverage: Go Inside the Gypsy Robe Ceremony for ESCAPE TO MARGARITAVILLE!

Escape to Margaritaville opened last week at the Marquis Theatre and BroadwayWorld at the Gypsy Robe ceremony before the production's opening night performance. We're taking you behind the scenes with recipient Matt Allen below!

Allen's credits include: Broadway: Escape to Margaritaville (u/s JD), Something Rotten (swing), Honeymoon in Vegas (u/s Buddy Rocky/Roy Bacon, Johnny Sandwich), The Wedding Singer (u/s Sammy), Oklahoma! (u/s Will Parker), Annie Get Your Gun (u/s Charlie Davenport). National Tours: Billy Elliot, Spamalot (u/s Patsy, Sir Robin, Prince Herbert), The Producers, Annie Get Your Gun, Jolson. Regional: LaJolla Playhouse: Escape to Margaritaville World Premiere ensemble,u/s JD), Paper Mill Playhouse: Honeymoon in Vegas, Disney's Little Mermaid (Scuttle), PCLO: Mermaid (Scuttle), KC Starlight: Mermaid (Scuttle), Dallas Summer Musicals: Mermaid (Scuttle), TUTS: Mermaid (Scuttle), Atlanta FOX: Mermaid (Scuttle), NCT: Mermaid (Scuttle), North Shore 2012 & 2013: A Christmas Carol (Jacob Marley- IRNE nomination), Ogunquit Playhouse: Buddy Holly (Hipockets Duncan/MC).

The Gypsy Robe began in 1950, when Bill Bradley, in the chorus of GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES, borrowed a dressing gown from Chorus member Florence Baum and sent it to a friend in CALL ME MADAM on opening night Oct 12, 1950 saying it was worn by all the Ziegfeld beauties and would "bless" the show. A cabbage rose from Ethel Merman's gown was added and the robe was passed along to the next Broadway musical on opening night. The tradition evolved so that the robe is now presented to the "gypsy" who has performed the most Broadway musicals on a chorus contract. Along the way, the robe is decorated, painted, patched, stitched, and signed by everyone in the show, becoming a fanciful patchwork for an entire Broadway season.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride