To prove who's the biggest virtue signaling Karen in the neighborhood. It's a way for people to still get attention, even when they're too lousy and untalented even for community theater.
I graduated from high school in 1972. My generation was the first to try this sort of crap. I thought it was crap at the time but it was fun and it gave me a chance to talk to girls.
One time we had an event to “feel the pain” of those less fortunate than yourself. We were to do it by dressing up as a person of lesser means to “feel their pain”. I dressed up as a black janitor, complete with blackface. My mom helped me with the whole outfit. I got an A.
But I thought it was stupid and still think so. It cracked me up when my kids did that nonsense in school. And some are still at it even in adulthood.