They rip their prom wear straight from the headlines.
The tabloid headlines. Or maybe the Onion's headlines.
That's because this isn't any old prom. It's the Groundhog Prom, and some people have been planning their irreverent outfits for weeks. (Of course, others plan for mere minutes.)
This is the 32nd year for the satirical ball, which started as an event for people who had lousy high school proms. It grew into Omaha's version of Mardi Gras. And like those elaborate New Orleans floats, the costumes are more extreme every year.
Omaha Lynn Sanchez plans to attend. She's taking the “groundhog” thing seriously — for good reason, she says.
She claims she's carrying Punxsutawney Phil's love child.
“I can't talk about it right now,” she joked. “He lied through his buck teeth and I have the texts to prove it.”
Sanchez will wear a voluptuous white “maternity” minidress, her knock on the Tiger Woods sex scandals.
There's a dress code of sorts for the prom: The more atrocious and crude the outfit, the better.
Monica Lewinsky in a blue dress with stains. Terri Schiavo in a wheelchair surrounded by protesters. “Grannies Gone Wild” toting a beer can and a walker. Anna Nicole's mystery sperm and Michael Phelps in swimming briefs, carrying a bong.
The event pokes fun at Omaha's Ak-Sar-Ben Coronation Ball with a coronation ceremony for best costume and a sash that has been handed down from queen to queen — males and females.
Sanchez was crowned last year for her interpretation of infamous British singer Amy Winehouse. She wore fake tattoos, a pile of ratted hair, lots of makeup and too-tight heels. She walked crooked and her speech was slurred.
“If you can guarantee tasteless, rude and kind of dirty humor,” she said, “that's what wins the prize.”
Judges scour the prom for the best characters and pick the queen finalists. Once you're selected, the judges ask you a few unorthodox questions about your costume and current events. If you pass, you move on to the next round on stage. The audience then picks the queen.
While on stage, Sanchez had to answer a question about Nebraska's safe haven law: “What would you do for all the groundhog children being left at local hospitals?”
“I was at a complete loss,” Sanchez said.
She thought about what Amy Winehouse would do. She'd be out of it, incoherent and obnoxious. She wouldn't answer the question. She'd ramble about something else.
So when Sanchez took the stage, she cursed the announcer and fell over. The crowd went wild. Sanchez got a bouquet and the queen's sash. People snapped photos as a guy placed her on a dolly and wheeled her off stage. She waved, blew kisses and hugged her fans.
A “Star Wars” stormtrooper stopped her on the way out.
“I just loved ‘Back to Black,'” he told Sanchez. “I love your work.”
She giggled. It was a total Groundhog prom moment.
“I had rock-star status,” she said. “Among those thousand or so people, you're it.”
Promgoers invest time and money in their costumes, from Octomom to homeless CEOs.
News events of the past year provide themes. The late Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett will hit big this year. So will Balloon Boy and “Avatar.”
“I always marvel at the creativity that goes into these costumes,” Sanchez said. “People get political or pull events from the news. One year a guy came dressed as Sonny Bono with a tree stuck through his head. It was wrong, but funny.”
People are very passionate about their Groundhog Prom.
It started with about 75 people, dressed mostly in tacky prom wear, on Groundhog Day 1979 at the Florence Building on North 30th Street.
Since then, it's had several locations.
In 2006, it moved to the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs.
“People were upset about it,” said Omahan Jason Sutterfield, 28. “Many protested that it was an Omaha thing and should stay there.”
Many Groundhog Prom fans have attended faithfully for 10 to 20 years, he said. Tonight's dance will be Sutterfield's third.
He plans to dress as the crime-fighting superhero Robin in a pair of black Chuck Taylors. His friend will play Batman.
“When I first went, I thought it was a circus act and I loved it,” he said. “It's totally Halloween, but in February.”
Omahan Beth Moore is in her sixth year. She's been Tinkerbell, She-rah and the white cone-nosed spy from the “Spy vs. Spy” cartoon in Mad magazine.
“That costume took a lot of work,” she said. “We made bomb purses that took some thought.”
Moore, 28, goes for the eccentric atmosphere and the eclectic people. The hardest part for her each year is waiting for the next.
“It's on everyone's calendar and you can't wait for it,” she said. “It's hard to explain what the event is and why it's such a good time.”
Sanchez shared her sentiments.
“Every year I look out at the crowd,” she said. “And I think to myself, where have these people been all year. There's this whole underground scene with interesting people in this city — people willing to purchase body glitter and wear it all night.”
Contact the writer:
444-1075, j.loza@owh.com
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