by Zach Raffio. @zachraffio.
BELLEVUE, Wash. - Local theatre fan Kaitlyn Womack expressed her outrage today after none of the co-workers at her company Halloween party understood her obscure, deep-cut theatre reference costume of Kate Prescott from Broadway’s short-lived 1986 musical Into The Light, sources have confirmed.
“It’s an iconic role,” noted Womack, donning a green sweater and grey skirt for the costume, even though that’s similar to what she wears most days. “I even wore a sun hat, just like Susan Bigelow did in the original production. I thought this was gonna kill, but now I think I’ll barely get third in the costume contest,” she added before placing last in the costume contest.
Womack’s co-workers noted that left-field, unrecognizable theatre costumes have been a trend for her in Halloween’s past.
“She always does this and then gets mad at us for not understanding,” noted company accountant Beatrice Suarez, dressed as a fun kangaroo. “Last year she went as Nomax from something called Five Guys Named Moe - I don’t know the show but could tell it was problematic. The year before she was the “literal fields” from The Fields of Ambrosia, which I don’t even think makes sense. Like… just go as Elphaba. We would get that.
Company VP Ben Horace, dressed with the other senior management as the kids from Stranger Things, had sympathy for Womack.
“I used to be like her. My first year, I came as Eddie Izzard’s character from the FX series The Riches. Nobody got it and I was furious, but I realized if I just keep my TV references to one’s everybody gets, I’ll be fine. I don’t know, maybe she should just go as Elphaba. I think we would all get that,” he added before splitting first prize in the costume contest with the other managers.
At press time, Womack was seen performing monologues from Into The Light, hoping it would spark some memories from her co-workers. She noted that next year, she would plan to go as a more mainstream theatre character, such as “Willie from The Tap Dance Kid” or “Hartula, from The Silversmith Sisters, a musical I made up in my head but haven’t written yet.”