Gary Monahan to play Harry Potter for a day

Costa Mesa City Councilman and restaurateur Gary “Skosh” Monahan is growing his hair out, dying it to remove the gray and shaving his beard and mustache to look like a 16-year-old.

He will be tending his bar dressed as fictional child wizard Harry Potter on Wednesday in recognition of the release of the newest movie in the popular fantasy series, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.”

Don’t worry, the image overhaul is not part of an underage drinking sting operation or an attempt to attract the 10-to-15-year-old demographic to the bar: Monahan’s children and their love of Harry Potter, coupled with the obvious novelty value of the stunt, were the motivation behind it, he said.

Waiters at Skosh Monahan’s Steakhouse & Irish Pub on the Eastside of Costa Mesa, next to the 55 Freeway, will dress as other characters in the drama.

At least part of Monahan’s costume won’t cost him anything. The bartender is slightly over 5 feet tall and wears glasses that his children say look like Harry Potter’s.

“It all just fits,” Monahan said.

— Alan Blank