photo by: Sylas May/Journal-World

Costumer Jane Pennington strikes a pose in a turtle shell on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025, at Theatre Lawrence.

As someone who helps turn people into frogs, squirrels, hares and more, Jane Pennington might sound like a bit of a mad scientist.

And on Thursday, while preparing for Theatre Lawrence’s annual costume sale, she really looks the part — showing off a wild white wig, white coat and bug-eyed goggles that were used in the theater’s production of “Young Frankenstein” in 2024.

photo by: Sylas May/Journal-World

Costumer Jane Pennington models a mad scientist outfit from Theatre Lawrence’s production of “Young Frankenstein” on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025

Pennington, the theater’s costumer, said there will be “a whole menagerie of things” at Saturday’s sale at Theatre Lawrence. The annual sale, which is now in its third year, offers an eclectic selection of garments from Theatre Lawrence’s previous shows — including, this time around, “Cinderella,” “The Little Mermaid” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.”

You won’t find anything gory or frightening like at other Halloween costume emporiums, but some things might look a little spooky at first glance, when they’re on mannequins or racks instead of strutting across the stage. For instance, the black horse heads. After they were used in “Young Frankenstein,” they sat in storage in plastic bags with their manes in tight braids, making them look almost skeletal.

photo by: Sylas May/Journal-World

While in storage, these horse costumes at Theatre Lawrence had their manes tightly braided. This one is pictured Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025, just after being taken out of the bag it was being stored in.

But Pennington teases the braids apart and then puts the horse’s head on a volunteer, and it’s suddenly come back to life. (Buyers won’t have to worry about any assembly or prep like that, Pennington said; all of the items will be sold ready to wear.)

photo by: Sylas May/Journal-World

A volunteer poses with one of the horse heads on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025 at Theatre Lawrence. The heads are available in both black, from the theater’s production of “Young Frankenstein,” and white, from its production of “Cinderella.”

photo by: Sylas May/Journal-World

A volunteer poses with one of the horse heads on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025 at Theatre Lawrence.

Other costumes look more comical, like the seagulls and a pelican from “The Little Mermaid.” Pennington puts on a seagull hat with an orange foam bill that covers her face. It doesn’t have eyes, but the pelican does — huge googly eyes and a giant, unwieldy bill. Then there’s a mouse from “Cinderella” — “We have four white mice to go with four white horses,” Pennington notes. This time, the hat covers only half of her face.

“You can tell that there were little children who wore these,” she said.

photo by: Sylas May/Journal-World

This seagull costume, worn by costumer Jane Pennington on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025, at Theatre Lawrence, doesn’t have eyes.

photo by: Sylas May/Journal-World

… but this pelican costume, also worn by costumer Jane Pennington on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025, has huge googly eyes.

photo by: Sylas May/Journal-World

Costumer Jane Pennington shows off one of the mouse costumes from “Cinderella” on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025

While some of the costumes are headpieces or more conventional dresses and jackets, others can get quite elaborate.

There’s a squirrel costume made from a hooded jumpsuit with a bushy tail nearly the size of the wearer’s torso — “I was very proud of our tails,” Pennington notes — and it’s paired with an angular mask with big eye holes.

photo by: Sylas May/Journal-World

Two volunteers pose with squirrel masks on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025 at Theatre Lawrence.

photo by: Sylas May/Journal-World

The squirrel suit is pictured at Theatre Lawrence on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025, without its mask on

photo by: Sylas May/Journal-World

The squirrel suit is pictured at Theatre Lawrence on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025.

Then there are the Oompa-Loompa costumes from “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” that have a puppet attached to a black garment that the performer wears. Pennington said they take up a lot of storage space, and that it’s been hard to find someone who will put them to good use.

“We have tried to rent out the Oompa-Loompas and the Charlie stuff, and it hasn’t rented,” she said. But she envisions that show’s costumes being a great option for a family Halloween getup, say, with a parent dressed as Willy Wonka and a kid as Charlie.

“For a father-son duo, that would be a really fun costume,” she said.

photo by: Sylas May/Journal-World

Oompa-Loompa costumes hang on a rack on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025, at Theatre Lawrence ahead of the annual costume sale.

photo by: Sylas May/Journal-World

An Oompa-Loompa peeks out on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025 from a rack of clothes being prepared for Theatre Lawrence’s costume sale.

photo by: Sylas May/Journal-World

A purple Willy Wonka jacket is pictured on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025 at Theatre Lawrence ahead of the costume sale.

It’s a labor of love for the volunteers and the costume shop to create all of these things, of course, and so Pennington said the theater has “tried to accommodate our volunteers” when preparing to sell the costumes off.

“Most of the folks here know that we’re selling some of this stuff,” she said.

More folks in the community are finding out, too. The first year of the sale, Pennington said, maybe 50 people showed up. But last year, “it probably doubled.”

If you’re looking for the choicest costumes this year, Pennington advises that you get there early, because “The really fun things, in-demand things, go pretty quickly.” The sale runs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18, in the lobby at Theatre Lawrence, 4660 Bauer Farm Drive.

“Come out and have a good time playing with our fun things,” Pennington said.

photo by: Sylas May/Journal-World

Costumer Jane Pennington models a frog head on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025, at Theatre Lawrence.

photo by: Sylas May/Journal-World

Costumer Jane Pennington holds up a costume covered in flip-flops on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025 at Theatre Lawrence. This costume was used in the theater’s production of “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.”

photo by: Sylas May/Journal-World

A mannequin sports a March Hare costume on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025 at Theatre Lawrence.

photo by: Sylas May/Journal-World

Racks of colorful outfits are pictured Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025, ahead of the annual costume sale at Theatre Lawrence.