It’s a pretty typical way to end the week. You go home from work, take off your tie, get out of your suit, cover yourself in blue makeup and go have cocktails with a guy who won’t stop screaming “Avast!”

Well, maybe it’s not so typical most of the year, but Halloween is just around the corner, so seeing what is usually your mild-mannered, buttoned-down boss wearing a nun’s habit is not out of the question.

“It is always a surprise to see the costumes,” said Rob McCullough, managing director and director of development for the Des Moines Playhouse. “These are the business people who run our city and they really let their hair down for Halloween. I’ve seen everything from Hugh Hefner and his Playboy bunnies to a group last year who came dressed as a theater floor.”

The Playhouse has thrown one of the biggest Halloween parties in town for the last four years. Its Hollywood Halloween party has grown every year, with more than 300 expected to attend this year’s event.

“This has become our signature event,” said Lee Ann Bakros, Playhouse public relations director. “It’s always fun to come out and try to guess who’s underneath the costume, and this year we are ready for around 330 people.”

One of those who’ll be in attendance is Gerry Neugent. By day, he is president of Knapp Properties Inc. But on Oct. 28, the day of the Playhouse’s party, he and his wife will be going as Gomez and Morticia Addams.

“Last year we went as the Mad Hatter and the Queen of Hearts,” he said. “And one year, eight of us went as a swarm of bees. This is always such a great party; we go every year.”

Neugent said he is always surprised by what people come up with for costumes.

“You’re surrounded by business leaders and they are dressed in these bizarre costumes,” he said. “I’m always surprised and it is always an awful lot of fun.”

The party will start with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres at 6:30 p.m., with dinner served at 7 p.m. During dinner, Playhouse performers will provide entertainment. A live and “not-so-silent” auction, which will have cast members from the Playhouse production of “High School Reunion” acting as spokespeople for auction items, will take place after dinner, as well as dancing and the announcement of individual, best couple and best group costume contest winners.

“People have really embraced this,” Bakros said. “They spend all week sitting in a suit, but for just one night, they get to dress like Batman and no one knows.”

Bakros said Hollywood Halloween is one of the Playhouse’s most important fund-raisers of the year, bringing in more than $100,000 last year, or about 20 percent of the organization’s yearly fund-raising total. And according to Neugent, making sure the Playhouse stays afloat and contributing to the community is something everyone should care about.

“There has been a big push for quality-of-life issues in this community,” he said. “And places like the Playhouse bring so much in the way of culture to us. So I think supporting them is very important.”

Bakros said many people see the value of the Playhouse even if they don’t personally participate by going to shows.

The funds raised Saturday will support the Playhouse’s children’s theater and educational programs. The Playhouse is Iowa’s oldest and largest producing theater, producing a full season of shows since 1919.

Hollywood Halloween will take place Saturday from 6:30 p.m. to midnight at Scottish Rite Masonic Center, 519 Park St. Tickets are $150 per person or $1,500 for a table of 10. To purchase tickets, call the Playhouse at 974-5358.

“This really is a fantastic party,” McCullough said. “People are inventive and outrageous, and almost everyone is in a costume. If they aren’t, at least they had a great story.”