Group makes ‘Wicked’ stir

So, 16 witches walk into a bar …

No, it’s not the first line of a joke. I saw it happen on Thursday evening at the Steelhead Bar and Grill. They had invited me along on their elaborately costumed excursion to see “Wicked,” so I walked with them right through downtown Spokane to the Steelhead before the show.

One awestruck pedestrian on Main shouted, “I want to know where I can join!”

“Get in line!” said a witch, over her shoulder.

The pedestrian, by the way, had gray hair and was a man.

These 16 women aren’t really witches, in the Wiccan sense. They are simply a group of Spokane friends – women age 21 to 63 – who go on an annual Girls Weekend Out excursion to places like Leavenworth’s Oktoberfest.

They soon discovered these excursions were more fun in costume. The first year, they dressed as hippies. They cut a swath through Oktoberfest and nicknamed themselves Bitchtoberfest. A couple of years ago, they discovered that witch costumes were the most fun of all. They changed their name to Witchtoberfest.

“People in Leavenworth went crazy,” said Debbie McCulley, aka The Head Witch, a Spokane hairstylist. “People treated us like rock stars. They were asking for our autographs.”

So when McCulley saw that the national tour of “Wicked” was coming to town, she knew that a local witch excursion was in order. She booked a few rooms at the Hotel Ruby, made reservations for 16 at the Steelhead and arranged for group show tickets.

Which is how 16 witches happened to walk into a bar …

Yes, they turned a few heads in the crowded restaurant. One woman, Shelley Prior, was dressed as Glinda the Good Witch. But the other 15 had clearly decided that good witches weren’t as much fun and had gone the more traditional route, with the sharply peaked hats and the robes. Many of the costumes were creatively feathered, fringed and caped. I can only describe it as Renaissance Faire meets Halloween Costume Ball.

McCulley designed and made several of the costumes, including her own. At the Steelhead, over dinner, I remarked that she was obviously a creative person. At which point she gestured to the paintings decorating the Steelhead’s walls. They were signed Debbie McCulley. She’s also an artist, whose works have been on display there for the past six months.

And who are the other 15 women? They’re a diverse group. Some are hairstylists at Shear Illusions, where McCulley works. Other professions include graphic design and school administration. The group includes a couple of mother-daughter pairs. They’re all linked by one tie – friendship with McCulley.

According to the witches I chatted with at the Steelhead, they’re a remarkably un-witchy bunch. They said they refrain from gossip, cattiness and pettiness. Some of them see each other only once a year, on their Oktoberfest excursions, and they simply enjoy each other’s company.

The complete list: Bert McCollum, Debbie Peterson, Barb Chimenti. Patsy Lancaster, Shelley Prior, Paula Pry, Debbie Vestal, Jesica Tollefsen, Melissa Pry, Anne Cline, Ann Cassel, Jane Somers, Theresa Kendall, Denise Swinney, Michelle Danielson and, of course, McCulley.

This year, they are busy planning their usual bus excursion to Leavenworth, but with a twist. Instead of just a plain-old-witch theme, they are going with a “Gaga Witch” theme, as in, I presume, Lady Gaga. I can’t wait to see that.

By the way, not just anybody gets to go (Sorry, Mr. Gray-Haired Pedestrian). In order to be part of Witchtoberfest, you must be personally invited by McCulley.

I happened to be a witness Thursday evening when McCulley formally invited Prior, for the first time, to be part of Witchtoberfest.

Prior started to cry. She seemed to be hyperventilating. She toasted McCulley and said she would begin work right away on her Academy Award-style acceptance speech.