aerial view of Western's campus at night facing northwest, with golden lights surrounded by dark trees

WWU’s Department of Theatre and Dance invites audiences ‘Into the Woods’

The spring musical opens June 5 at the Performing Arts Center Mainstage

by Allie Van Parys

University Communications intern

Actors portraying Rapunzel and The Witch in WWU’s production of “Into the Woods” rehearse on the Performing Arts Center Mainstage. Photo by Mars Lippert.

Director of “Into the Woods,” Heather Dudenbostel, is an assistant professor of voice and dramatic arts as well as the director of opera at Western’s College of Fine and Performing Arts. Dudenbostel approaches teaching with a focus on helping students develop healthy, efficient and balanced production of sound combined with authentic and compelling acting. Dudenbostel offered WWU News insight into how theatre productions at Western are put together and what makes this performance of “Into the Woods” distinct.

WWU: What is the process of picking shows and why was “Into the Woods” chosen?  

Cast members of “Into the Woods” prepare for opening night. Photo by Mars Lippert.

Dudenbostel: We have to consider specific parameters like the size of our pit, how many microphones we have, how big are our dressing rooms. So we have some structure around what type of show and how big a show can be.  

We knew it was going to be with an orchestra. This year isn’t one to do something with a small rock band ensemble. Those are also great. That streamlines the decisions about what musicals we do. We also need the cast to be a certain size. That brought us down to just a small handful of shows for this year.  

I actually didn’t know if we had the capacity to do “Into the Woods,” but our costume designer brought it up. I, of course, love it and had thought about it. If our production colleagues and team feel like there’s a doable show, that’s wonderful, because it’s really important that all aspects of the show are feasible.

I got really excited. The top of 2025, so January, is when we discuss and decide all the shows for the theatre season. We had a few others in the running, but pretty much we knew that “Into the Woods” was going to be the one.  

WWU: What makes this production of “Into the Woods” stand out from others?  

Dudenbostel: Our concept for the show is untraditional. Our “Into the Woods” takes place in a living room of a house where we see young characters in a homemade fort fall asleep while being read to. It’s within the context between their dream and subconscious that the world of “Into the Woods” comes to life.  

The show is a mashup of all kinds of things. It’s these fairy tales bleeding into these coming-of-age ideas of young people moving from children, teens, into their college age – the age of our students.  

Our young college students are still dealing with those feelings of ‘who am I?’ and ‘where am I going?’ The things they’re grappling with – the comforts of home and the complication of their future – are really what inspired this concept.

The script and the score are original; word for word. We purchased the rights to perform this play. So we can change the concept, but we cannot change the language. So, we are adding some theatrical material before the show to set up the world I’m describing.  

WWU: Tell me a bit about the costumes.  

Dudenbostel: In this production, we have some brilliant student designers. There are student scenic designers, lighting designers, props team and some really incredible costume folks. The theatre and dance department has a costume shop where they are worked on, and some of the pieces are pulled from our current collection. However, for most of “Into the Woods,” our faculty costume designer, Sarah Joe Monaghan, with assistants, student designers, and our costume shop manager, built the costumes.  

Three student actors rehearse for “Into the Woods.” Photo by Mars Lippert.

There are nods to traditional design approaches in “Into the Woods,” you’ll see this in characters like the Baker and Baker’s wife, but the overall design is unique to this production and concept.

Some of the pieces are inspired by things you’d find around the house, like the Witch’s dress, which is beautifully designed by student Galen Soleimanipour. The costumes for the stepsisters are inspired by grandma’s couch pattern and pillows.

Jack’s Mother has a unique look: Diet Coke Mom is what we’re calling her. It’s kind of timeless, like, is she ’50s? Is she now?

The show is a mixture of almost timeless with little nods to a traditional approach.

WWU: What’s your favorite part of putting together a production and what are you looking forward to the most?

Dudenbostel: It’s such a beautiful show, and it’s such a great one for a young person to develop their skills through. It’s just the observation of that – seeing the students. The performances are important, but really, it’s those late nights where we’re all tired, where you’re trying to get this one moment to land just right, and that feeling of it finally happening. Everyone in the cast lights up and freaks out because it’s so magical. Those moments are just the best.  

“Into the Woods” opens Friday, June 5, at the Performing Arts Center Mainstage Theatre. Friday, there is a performance at 7:30 p.m. Saturday offers a matinee at 2 p.m. and an evening performance at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday has a performance at 2 p.m. Western students can receive free balcony tickets or discounted floor tickets at the box office the day of each showing by presenting their WWU ID – first come, first served. Non-student tickets can be bought online ranging from $16 to $28. 

Allie Van Parys is an intern with the Office of University Communications. She is majoring in Journalism-Public Relations and minoring in English and Communication Studies.