"Sweeney" Oddity

My husband and I saw a stage production of "Sweeney Todd" recently -- great show, by the way -- and noted before the production an older couple, mixed in with all of the other members of the audience, were dressed head to toe in 19th century garb. The man wore a suit like that James Gardner wore in the old "Maverick" TV show, and the woman wore a dressed that probably had her sweating by the end of the first act, since it looked like it was made out of velvet, and she had a large hat with feathers coming out of the top. I pity the person who sat behind her.

My first thought was that maybe they were part of the show, but, like my husband and me, they had balcony seats. Not that I go to big musical productions every week, but it's been my experience that when a cast member does pull a person from the audience, they generally stick to people who can get to the stage in a relatively quick manner.

So my second thought was that maybe they were dressed that way because there it is some kind of tradition, like when people sneak stuff into a cinema to see "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" (toast, lighters ... I can't remember what all they do.). But I didn't see anyone else dressed that way, so I have no clue why they did it. Maybe they were confused and thought it was 1909 instead of 2009.