After the final bows and the goodbyes, the closing of most Broadway shows ends the same way: with the sets getting tossed out. But one New York-based brand is turning that theatrical afterlife into something far more stylish.
For nearly a decade, Scenery Bags has rescued discarded backdrops, scrims and stage materials and transformed them into limited-edition handbags, accessories and even jewelry. The result? One-of-a-kind pieces that double as wearable theatre history.
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“Everything that we have collected was going to a landfill,” founder Jennifer Kahn tells Time Out New York. “We’ve collected almost 40,000 pounds of theatrical waste, so I’m really proud of that.”
Kahn, a former Broadway stage manager, launched the company after seeing firsthand how much artistry gets discarded when a production closes. Now, Scenery Bags has evolved into a full-fledged operation, with shows regularly reaching out to donate materials. “I get probably once a month people asking, ‘Hey, we’re closing the show… these are the things that are headed to a landfill. Do you want them?’” Kahn says.
The process is painstaking: after picking up the material (or paying the shipping costs), Kahn and her team clean the materials and then reinforce and reimagine them into everything from rings to evening clutches. And while early designs leaned simple, the brand has grown more ambitious. “We’ve come a long way from our first little zipper pouches,” Kahn says. “Now we have really beautiful evening bags.”
Among the shows with which Scenery Bags has worked are monster hits like Wicked, The Lion King and Kinky Boots, turning iconic elements into covetable keepsakes. Kahn tries to keep that magic accessible. “I don’t want anyone to get priced out of a memory,” she says of her approach to offering products at multiple price points whenever possible. And Scenery Bags donates 10% of all profits to Theatre Development Fund; in 2025, they hit the $100,000 donation mark.
Beyond sustainability, the emotional pull is what keeps fans coming back. “We’ve been able to give people back a piece of the show where they proposed to their wife… or the last show they ever saw with their mom,” Kahn says. “Being part of this bigger story… that’s so much bigger than what I thought this company was going to be.”
The idea that, while theatre is fleeting, the memories don’t have to be is central to the brand’s appeal. “It is like lightning in a bottle,” Kahn says of live performance. “So to say, here is a tangible piece of this finite moment you had, we don’t get that a lot.”
In honor of Earth Month, Scenery Bags is spotlighting that mission, with new drops planned from shows including Wicked and Suffs next month. Each release is limited by design and dictated by how much material can be salvaged from a given production.
And if you spot someone carrying one of the bags around the city, don’t be surprised if it comes with a story. As Kahn says: “I always joke, ‘Icebreakers free with every purchase.’”
For more information about Scenery Bags, click here.